Talk:Space cloth

Category

I see continuous attempts to put this article in Category:Electrical resistance and conductance instead of Category:Electromagnetism. The article has virtually nothing to do with resistance and conductivity. All the references are electromagnetics textbooks. I wrote this article. It is about electromagnetics. Constant314 (talk) 05:17, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

See WP:CAT. Articles have to be put in the most appropriate cat. To say it is in electromagnetics textbooks is a specious argument because there are not a lot of textbooks on Electrical resistance and conductance. And also WP:NOTPAPER. And saying you wrote the article smacks of WP:OWN. 121.98.204.148 (talk) 05:58, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

Resistance and conductivity is not the most appropriate category. Constant314 (talk) 06:01, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

I don't get your comment "wil over an anon" and I don't see the relevance of WP:NOTPAPER. I'll make it easy for you. Find one reliable source that suggest space cloth is a topic covered under resitance or conductivity. Constant314 (talk) 06:19, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

Let's stick to the most important question: "What is the most relevant category for this article?" Category:Electromagnetism is a broad category. If there is a subcategory of it that this article fits in, the article should be in that subcategory, and not in the broad parent category. --Srleffler (talk) 01:45, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. However, I do not see an appropriate subcategory of electromagnetics. As I pointed out, all the references are electromagnetics textbooks. You see the concept of space cloth comes up in the discussion of electromagnetic waves in free space. I is a concept similar to Impedance of free space which is in the category of electromagnetics. Constant314 (talk) 01:49, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

Some possibilities: Category:Transmission lines, Category:Telecommunications engineering, Category:Distributed element circuits. We don't have to pick just one of course, but we should try to get it out of the broad category if we can.--Srleffler (talk) 01:54, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

Space cloth is a hypothetical surface that fills all of space. It isn't physical. It isn't made out of anything. It is a useful concept. I have only seen the term come up in general electromagnetics textbooks. Constant314 (talk) 01:58, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

I understand that it's hypothetical. What is this conceptual material used for? Is it used in the design or analysis of transmission lines? If so, it's a good fit in that category. Is it used in telecommunications engineering? It is certainly a distributed element circuit, albeit a hypothetical one. You've mentioned textbooks several times. Is this only a pedagogical concept, not used in practical engineering?--Srleffler (talk) 02:04, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

Yes, it can be used in the calculation if the characteristic impedance of ideal transmission lines. Crawford also points out that it would not be a perfect absorber of radio waves. The concept is as fundamental as the impedance of free space, which is also useful in calculating the impedance of transmission lines. If the goal is just to get it out of Category:Electromagnetism then I would suggest Category:Electrodynamics. It may be distributed, but it is not a circuit element. Category:Electromagnetic radiation is another possibility. Constant314 (talk) 02:21, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

I would have no objection to moving the article to Category:Electromagnetic radiation. Constant314 (talk) 02:34, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

I would also have no objection to Category:Electrical resistance and conductance and Category:Transmission lines as additional categories.Constant314 (talk) 13:59, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm opposed to Category:Electromagnetic radiation. Space cloth isn't really relevant to EM radiation per se. I see it as more relevant to the transmission line than to the radiation. I'm hoping our anonymous colleague will weigh in as well so we can get a consensus on one or several narrower categories.--Srleffler (talk) 04:41, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

What about Category:Electrodynamics? As an aside, let me ask, what is the purpose of categories? Constant314 (talk) 05:09, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

Could you elaborate on why you oppose radiation? I know it sounds like a narrow category, but if you look at the other topics in it, I think that space cloth fits in with them. Constant314 (talk) 15:16, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Categorization for the guideline. The goal is to allow reader's to browse for articles based on the topics' defining characteristics. We do that by identifying which "branches" of the category tree the article belongs in, and putting it in the most specific categories we can.

I'll go along with Category:Electromagnetic radiation. My thinking was that space cloth is about the containment of the waves rather than the waves themselves, but I realize now that there isn't really a good category under Electromagnetism for that. Category:Transmission lines is in the telecommunications branch, not under EM.--Srleffler (talk) 06:08, 4 March 2023 (UTC)