Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Other early studies noting the interaction of static electricity with water and reported in the English language include: Francis Hauksbee "Physico-Mechanical Experiments on Various Subjects". (1719) William Watson, "Experiments and Observations Tending To Illustrate The Nature and Properties of Electricity". (MDCCXLVI) (1741)
Armstrong Hydroelectric Machine. The Armstrong effect is the physical process by which static electricity is produced by the friction of a fluid. It was first discovered in 1840 when an electrical spark resulted from water droplets being swept out by escaping steam from a boiler.
Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material. The charge remains until it can move away by an electric current or electrical discharge . The word "static" is used to differentiate it from current electricity , where an electric charge flows through an electrical conductor .
Hygroelectricity is a type of static electricity that forms on water droplets and can be transferred from droplets to small dust particles. The phenomenon is common in the Earth's atmosphere but has also been observed in the steam escaping from boilers (see Armstrong effect ).
The generation of static electricity from the relative motion of liquids or gases is well established, with one of the first analyses in 1886 by Lord Kelvin in his water dropper which used falling drops to create an electric generator. [114]
Stray static electric charges on the experimenter's body, clothes, or nearby apparatus, as well as AC electric fields from mains-powered equipment, can induce additional charges on parts of the container or charged object C, giving a false reading. The success of the experiment often requires precautions to eliminate these extraneous charges:
Gas was abruptly cut off to 135 Rancho Palos Verdes homes due to landslide movement. Now, losing electricity is a real, and dangerous, possibility.
Electrostatic machines are typically used in science classrooms to safely demonstrate electrical forces and high voltage phenomena. The elevated potential differences achieved have been also used for a variety of practical applications, such as operating X-ray tubes, particle accelerators, spectroscopy, medical applications, sterilization of food, and nuclear physics experiments.