At instantaneous height , the image charge is a distance below the real charge, giving force with . Multiplying by and using rest at gives
The induced-conductor potential energy is , not the full energy of a pair of independently movable charges. On the falling branch, integrate the reciprocal speed:
The last integral is by . Hence the fall time of a charge toward a grounded plane in the electrostatic Newtonian model is
For there is no force and the particle remains at rest.