OBSOLETE TEXT-ONLY FILE

New version Feb 2007:  http://amasci.com/freenrg/wasser.html














WASSERFADDEN EXPERIMENT                               1996 William Beaty
(WATER-THREAD)

Two brimful glasses of water are placed adjacent to each other on an
insulating panel, and moved so their rims are nearly touching. A short
length of thread is wetted and placed so as to bridge across the rims of
the glasses.  A high voltage, low current power supply or electrostatic
generator is connected to the water in the glasses, with one lead going to
one glass, the other lead to the other. 

When the power supply is turned on, the water is reported to flow along
the thread. If the thread is short and very thin, the flow will carry the
thread along.  The thread will be entirely pumped into the ?NEGATIVE?? 
glass, but the conductive bridge of water will not break when the thread
has left it.  A short thread of pure water will be left behind.  If the
high-voltage supply is disconnected, the water thread falls apart.  There
are reports that the water in the core of the thread flows in one
direction, while water in the surrounding shell flows opposite. 

Is this real?  I don't know, I haven't tried the experiment myself.  How
can electrostatic forces counteract surface tension and give a thread of
water a stable existence?  What determines the thickness of the water
thread?  Could giant waterthreads be made by using a 100KV power supply? 
Why are there oppositely directed water flows in the thread? Does the
structure require surface contaminants?  Can a larger thread be made by
using larger currents?  Will dye in the water show how the flow takes
place?

Charles Yost, editor of ELECTRIC SPACECRAFT JOURNAL, has apparently
discovered an atmospheric analog to the wasserfadden demo.  In exploring
spark discharges with a Schlerien optical system, he observed a polished
spherical electrode which seemed to emit a narrow stream of charged wind
when operated at high potential.  The stream is visible in the Schlerien
system as a thread apparently thinner than 1mm, and he has seen threads as
long as ?5? cm.  They transport charged air, as shown by microammeter
readings from a probe stuck into the air-threads.