Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: charged insulators

On Mon, 6 Jul 1998, LUDWIK KOWALSKI wrote:

Suppose that the surface of a liquid insulator, such as oil, is
electrified by spraying charge on it, as described by others. Then it is
mixed with a glass rod. This should produce a macroscopically uniform
charge distribution withinh the volume of oil. An electrified cloud can
probably also be viewed, in the first approximation, as uniform. (Only
within a small volume region?) Ludwik Kowalski

I've seen a fascinating version of volume-charge. If a thick plate of
clear acrylic plastic is placed in a large-diameter particle beam, the
charged particles penetrate, but they slow to a stop at a particular
depth. A layer of charged plastic builds up (not 2D, more like 1 or 2 mm
thick). If a nail is placed on the edge of this layer and driven into the
plastic, there is a flash, and a fractal network of fine silver lines is
burned into the deep plastic layer during the discharge.

There was an example of this at the Museum of Science in Boston: a block
of plastic about 1" thick and 12" square, with several of these layers of
discharge-damage created at different depths. Some of the pathways were
burned black, and appeared to be several mm wide.

If the particle beam energy was continuously swept during the particle
implantation, or if the energy had a wide population distribution (thermal
source), then the layer could be made much thicker.

I once saw a demonstrator who had a stack of smaller 1/2" thick
charge-implanted plates. He was keeping them in dry ice so that the charge
would not spread so much that the "discharge" demonstration no longer
worked.

((((((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb@eskimo.com www.eskimo.com/~billb
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits science projects, tesla, weird science
Seattle, WA 206-781-3320 freenrg-L taoshum-L vortex-L webhead-L