Experiments in a floating water bridge

Woisetschläger, Jakob; Gatterer, Karl; Fuchs, Elmar

doi:10.1007/s00348-009-0718-2

Cited by 63 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…We limit ourselves to quote the fascinating experiment of the formation of the floating water bridge [77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84] where surprisingly water gets self-piped in presence of high voltages and becomes able to flow in the absence of any container from one beaker to another. A possible explanation of this effect along the lines of the QED approach has been proposed [85].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Dynamics at the Root of Metamorphosis in Living Organisms

Giudice

Spinetti²,

Tedeschi³

2010

Water

125

103

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Liquid water has been recognized long ago to be the matrix of many processes, including life and also rock dynamics. Interactions among biomolecules occur very differently in a non-aqueous system and are unable to produce life. This ability to make living processes possible implies a very peculiar structure of liquid water. According to modern Quantum Field Theory (QFT), a complementary principle (in the sense of Niels Bohr) holds between the number N of field quanta (including the matter field whose quanta are just the atoms/molecules) and the phase Ф. This means that when we focus on the atomic structure of matter it loses its coherence properties and, vice versa, when we examine the phase dynamics of the system its atomic structure becomes undefined. Superfluid liquid Helium is the first example of this peculiar quantum dynamics. In the present paper we show how consideration of the phase dynamics of liquid water makes the understanding of its peculiar role in the onset of self-organization in living organisms and in ecosystems possible.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Dynamics at the Root of Metamorphosis in Living Organisms

Giudice

Spinetti²,

Tedeschi³

2010

Water

125

103

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“…The experiment is easy enough to reproduce, needing only standard demineralized water and a high voltage power supply (able to give 20kV at low amperage). Due to its relative simplicity and its spectacular features, the phenomenon has become popular in science fairs, videos in the web, forums and some recent publications, specially those by Fuchs et al [9][10] [11] [12], in which different experiments employing thermal imaging, LDA, Schlieren visualization and neutron scattering were performed on the floating water bridge. The first reference of a controlled experiment dates back to 1893 [13], when the English engineer Lord Armstrong presented a modified version of the floating water bridge in a public presentation, among some other experiments involving high voltages and fluids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building water bridges in air: Electrohydrodynamics of the floating water bridge

Marin

Lohse

2010

Physics of Fluids

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The interaction of electrical fields and liquids can lead to phenomena that defies intuition. Some famous examples can be found in Electrohydrodynamics as Taylor cones, whipping jets or noncoalescing drops. A less famous example is the Floating Water Bridge: a slender thread of water held between two glass beakers in which a high voltage difference is applied. Surprisingly, the water bridge defies gravity even when the beakers are separated at distances up to 2 cm. In the presentation, experimental measurements and simple models are proposed and discussed for the stability of the bridge and the source of the flow, revealing an important role of polarization forces on the stability of the water bridge. On the other hand, the observed flow can only be explained due to the non negligible free charge present in the surface. In this sense, the Floating Water Bridge can be considered as an extreme case of a leaky dielectric liquid (

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“…3 More generally, the deformation of liquid/air or liquid/liquid interfaces after the application of an external electric field is usually indicated as electrowetting. 4 Recent phenomenological studies [5][6][7][8][9] have drawn attention to an appealing effect, observed more than one century ago: 10 an intense electric field can coax water into leaping a tenths of millimeters gap between two glass beakers, forming a floating bridge. The phenomenon has been ascribed to unknown properties of water.…”

Section: Istituto Per I Processi Chimico-fisici Cnr Viale Ferdinandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…19 In this context it should have to be remarked that all water-bridge experiments starts as a capillary water channel which stabilizes and increases in diameter when the applied voltage exceeds a certain value. [5][6][7][8][9][10] Together with the formation of the capillary bridge a significant mass flow is set up from the anode to the cathode beaker. After stabilization, a current is observed in both directions suggesting for a layered structure of the bridge whose establishment is not unambiguously confirmed or refused.…”

Section: Istituto Per I Processi Chimico-fisici Cnr Viale Ferdinandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication: An extended model of liquid bridging

Saija

Aliotta

Fontanella

et al. 2010

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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Recent phenomenological studies have drawn attention to an appealing effect, observed for the first time in 1893, today known as water-bridge. The phenomenon has been ascribed to unknown properties of water. We report some experimental results showing that, contrary to a widely common belief, the phenomenon is not to be related with water neither with a property of hydrogen bonded networks. Using a very simple model, we show that the liquid bridge phenomenon is originated by electrostatic effects and can be reproduced in any dense fluid with no respect of its peculiar molecular properties. This basic approach is able to reproduce many of the experimentally observed features of the bridge formation. In perspective of future investigations, the possible phenomena responsible of the bridge stability, after its formation, are briefly discussed.

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Experiments in a floating water bridge

Cited by 63 publications

References 40 publications

Water Dynamics at the Root of Metamorphosis in Living Organisms

Water Dynamics at the Root of Metamorphosis in Living Organisms

Building water bridges in air: Electrohydrodynamics of the floating water bridge

Communication: An extended model of liquid bridging

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