Re: magnetising water?

[Joseph Bellina <jbellina@saintmarys.edu>]

This reminds me of magnetic water purifying systems which are marketed in 
this country.  I really don't know how well they work, but it seems to 
me that you could ask the student to reproduce his results using 
distilled, deionized water...he could perhaps just be removing some 
impurity from the water.

cheers

 On Fri, 30 Aug 1996, Mark Sylvester wrote:

> One of my students has come back from the summer with his IB Extended Essay
> work for my perusal, and I find myself mystified: he claims to have
> "magnetised" water.
>
> He presented me with his apparatus: the outer iron armature of a motor, with
> its coil in place, with the rotating part replaced by a plastic cylinder
> with inlet and outlet tubes. Inside this goes a soft iron cylinder filling
> most of the space, so that the water has to flow round it.
>
> He presented me with his results: (i) he claims that the flow rate of the
> water decreases markedly when a current flows through the coil (ii) he
> measured density and refractive index and found no change after the water
> had passed through the device (iii) he did controlled measurements of
> conductivity and found a clearly detectable drop in this parameter after the
> water had been "magnetised". The  water gradually reverted to normal over a
> few days.
>
> Next he presented me with his reference. This is a "normal looking" science
> book in terms of density of text, diagrams and formulas. I am unable to
> evaluate it beyond this because it is in Russian. The title translates
> roughly as "Magnetising of Water Systems" and the author is V. I. Klassen.
> Publisher is Moscow "Chemistry" 1982. The student is unable to explain very
> clearly what he understands from this book, but says the effect has
> something to do with the bond angle in the water molecule changing. I am
> mystified and skeptical.
>
> I've asked him to reproduce his measurements in our lab: in the meantime,
> can anyone enlighten me as to what this effect might be? Is there a
> reference in English, or at least a name for the phenomenon that I might
> follow up?
>
>
> Mark.
>
> Mark Sylvester
> UWCAd, Duino, Trieste, Italy.