Re: FUN: high-speed electrostatic air-threads

[jmclean@chem.ucsd.edu (James Mclean)]

William Beaty says:
> stream of air.  I have a needle at large negative potential wrt earth, and
> a 30cm stream of fast-moving air of 1mm diameter being shot from the
> needle's tip.

This may be splitting hairs, but what evidence do you have that there is
actually a stream of air, as in a wind?  For instance, when such a wind
reached the water surface, it would have to go somewhere - I would expect
to be able to see some disturbance other than the furrows you described.

To throw out an alternative, could the furrows be caused by charging the
mist particles, which then would repell each other away from the charging
site?  This would require much less mass transport between tip and water.
Would this also be consistant with your observations?

-- 
--James McLean
jmclean@chem.ucsd.edu
post doc
UC San Diego, Chemistry