Inserting a dielectric medium reduces the electrostatic force between charged objects.
the verdict
SUPPORTED
the evidence backs this
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
2 sources for · 0 against
Peer-reviewed literature establishes that inserting a non-polar dielectric medium or increasing the dielectric constant between charged objects weakens their electrostatic interaction.
AbstractUsing the reexpansion technique, the interaction between a conducting plane and a partially charged dielectric particle is studied for an axisymmetric case including the effects of the higher order polarization. The partial charge on a particle surface is seen to redistribute, apparently due to the polarization which occurs even though the particle is an insulator. The redistribution depends on the dielectric constant and on the gap between the particle and the conducting plane. In some instances, the charge redistributes on to the back side of the particle against the conducting plane, and as a result, the electrostatic interaction decreases simply by an increase of the dielectric constant. This is seen to be especially obvious in the case of a small initially charged area or patch that is positioned against a conducting plane, and when the particle is located in a gap of a certain size. The electrostatic interaction decreases with an increase of the dielectric constant within a certain range, even when the particle is in contact with the conducting plane, e.g., in the case of a small initially charged area. Because this range of the dielectric constant is equivalent to that of a normal polymer, these effects could result in a large error in the estimation of the electrostatic interactions in the case of the normal approximation of the contact electrification of a particle.
[Electrostatic interactions of charged groups in an aqueous medium and their effect on the formation of the secondary structures of polypeptide chains].
Analysis of experimental data shows that interaction of charges in an aqueous medium is satisfactorily evaluated by macroscopic dielectric water permeability even at small (approximately 3--4 A) distances. It has been shown that a non-polar molecule located between the charges weakens their interaction. At the same time interaction between charges situated on the non-polar molecules somewhat increases. An estimate is made of the free energy loss of alpha- and beta-structures of polypeptides, resulting from the insertion of charged groups as well as of the free energy of interactions involving charged groups in different secondary structures.
Published in Molekuliarnaia biologiia
Everything we examined (3) — 2 independent sources
This check searched the claim as stated. It did not run a separate search for evidence against it.