The water thread experiment is a phenomenon that occurs when two containers of deionized water, placed on an insulator, are connected by a thread, then a high-voltage positive electric charge is applied to one container, and a negative charge to the other. At a critical voltage, an unsupported water liquid bridge is formed between the containers, which will remain even when they are separated. The phenomenon was first reported in 1893 in a public lecture by the British Engineer William Armstrong.
The bridge as observed in a typical configuration has a diameter of 1–3 mm so the remains intact when pulled as far as 25 millimetres (0.98 in), and remains stable up to 45 minutes. The surface temperature also rises from an initial surface temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) up to 60 °C (140 °F) before breakdown.
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Famous quotes containing the words water, thread and/or experiment:
“But the beggar gazes on calamity
And thereafter he belongs to it, to bread
Hard found, and water tasting of misery.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“I often wish for the end of the wretched remnant of my life; and that wish is a rational one; but then the innate principle of self-preservation, wisely implanted in our natures, for obvious purposes, opposes that wish, and makes us endeavour to spin out our thread as long as we can, however decayed and rotten it may be.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“That which we call sin in others, is experiment for us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)