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Re: mist maker

On Wed, 17 May 2000, Wolfgang Rueckner wrote:

Using 150 V/m for the E-field at the surface of the Earth and Gauss' law, I
calculate an electron density of about 10^-9 per sq m on the surface of the
Earth. That doesn't seem like much of a source for an ion generator. Did
I miss something fundamental here? Wolfgang

Is that coulombs per sq meter? Or electrons per sq meter?

An ion generator would be rated in terms of ions per second, or coulombs
per second (Amperes). In the past I've bought a couple of these devices at
garage sales, since they make a dandy current-limited high-voltage power
supply for electrostatic demonstrations. Their short circuit current is
around 10 microamps. If the entire output current goes into production of
singly-ionized air molecules, that would be:

(1e-5 coul/sec)/(1.6e-19 coul/ion) = 6.3e13 ions/sec

If a waterfall can expel charged droplets at a rate of 10 microamperes,
then it can rival a commercial ion generator. The health effects of ions
are controversial, but they certainly do serve as smoke precipitators (air
cleaners.)


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