Inspired by [Phil's comment on this answer][1]...

Bending the dipole to make it more like a V can also serve to get the impedance to 50 ohms.

Likewise, bending the ground plane leads for a 1/4 wave whip alters the the antenna's impedance.

Backing up a little bit, my understanding of antenna matching is to get the impedance at the feedpoint of the antenna equal to the impedance of the feed line. With Ohm's Law being V=IR, the antenna should be (or can be) designed such that the voltage and current of the standing wave produces the desired impedance.

I have 2 closely related questions:

• Specifically regarding Phil's comment, why does bending a dipole antenna change its impedance?

• What's the "mental" model of how an antenna's impedance is determined? I'm trying to get a better intuition of how slightly changing an antenna (like bending the ground plane leads) changes the impedance [1]: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/151214/96775

Inspired by Phil's comment on this answer...

Bending the dipole to make it more like a V can also serve to get the impedance to 50 ohms.

Likewise, bending the ground plane leads for a 1/4 wave whip alters the the antenna's impedance.

Backing up a little bit, my understanding of antenna matching is to get the impedance at the feedpoint of the antenna equal to the impedance of the feed line. With Ohm's Law being V=IR, the antenna should be (or can be) designed such that the voltage and current of the standing wave produces the desired impedance.

I have 2 closely related questions:

• Specifically regarding Phil's comment, why does bending a dipole antenna change its impedance?

• What's the "mental" model of how an antenna's impedance is determined? I'm trying to get a better intuition of how slightly changing an antenna (like bending the ground plane leads) changes the impedance

Inspired by [Phil's comment on this answer][1]...

Bending the dipole to make it more like a V can also serve to get the impedance to 50 ohms.

Likewise, bending the ground plane leads for a 1/4 wave whip alters the the antenna's impedance.

Backing up a little bit, my understanding of antenna matching is to get the impedance at the feedpoint of the antenna equal to the impedance of the feed line. With Ohm's Law being V=IR, the antenna should be (or can be) designed such that the voltage and current of the standing wave produces the desired impedance.

I have 2 closely related questions:

• Specifically regarding Phil's comment, why does bending a dipole antenna change its impedance?

• What's the "mental" model of how an antenna's impedance is determined? I'm trying to get a better intuition of how slightly changing an antenna (like bending the ground plane leads) changes the impedance [1]: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/151214/96775

Inspired by [Phil's comment on this answer][1]...

Bending the dipole to make it more like a V can also serve to get the impedance to 50 ohms.

Likewise, bending the ground plane leads for a 1/4 wave whip alters the the antenna's impedance.

Backing up a little bit, my understanding of antenna matching is to get the impedance at the feedpoint of the antenna equal to the impedance of the feed line. With Ohm's Law being V=IR, the antenna should be (or can be) designed such that the voltage and current of the standing wave produces the desired impedance.

I have 2 closely related questions:

• Specifically regarding Phil's comment, why does bending a dipole antenna change its impedance?

• What's the "mental" model of how an antenna's impedance is determined? I'm trying to get a better intuition of how slightly changing an antenna (like bending the ground plane leads) changes the impedance [1]: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/151214/96775