Electrostatic charging of a conducting sphere using another conducting sphere at constant voltage

This study uses results of classical electrostatics to predict the resulting voltage of a conducting sphere that is charged by a second sphere maintained at a constant voltage. The voltage of the charged sphere is calculated as a function of the charging voltage and the size ratio of the two spheres. Theoretical predictions are verified experimentally using conducting spheres of various sizes and a Faraday ice pail apparatus. The results may seem somewhat counterintuitive. For example, a charging sphere held at 100 V will charge another sphere of equal size only to 69.3 V by contact.