Kelvin water dropper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kelvin water dropper, named for Lord Kelvin, is a type of electrostatic generator. Kelvin referred to the device as his water-dropping condenser. The device uses falling water drops to generate voltage differences by utilizing the electrostatic induction occurring between interconnected, oppositely charged systems. ^{[1] [2]}

Water runs down from the top, with slightly positively-charged water attracted to the negative ring and slightly negative water attracted to the positive ring. The charged water flows through the ring and into a container. The charges then build up in the ring connected to the container opposite it - attracting even more charge. This results in a positive feedback loop. ^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ Brief explanation of the setup
2. ^ Instructions on building your own dropper
3. ^ http://www.csiro.au/helix/experiments/dhexpkelvin.shtml