Floating water bridge

Floating water bridge

A floating water bridge is a natural phenomenon formed when beakers of deionized water exposed to high voltages form an unsupported "liquid bridge" between them, observed in an experiment at the Graz University of Technology.

The bridge as observed has a diameter of 1-3mm and has remained intact even when pulled as far as 25mm, and has remained stable up to 45 minutes. The surface temperature also rises; water with an initial surface temperature of 20 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees.

Researchers filled two 100 mL beakers of deionized water to roughly 3 mm below the edge of the beaker, and exposed the water to 15 kV dc with a high-voltage generator. After building up electric charge, the water then spontaneously rose over the glass walls and formed a "water bridge" between them. When one beaker was slowly pushed away from the other, the structure remained. When the voltage is raised to 25kV, the structure has been pulled apart as far as 25mm.

The water generally travels from anode to cathode, but the direction may vary for reasons the researchers were unable to determine. The bridge collapses into a series of water droplets instantaneously when the voltage is turned off. The bridge does not form with ionized water and does not remain when ions are added to the water. The structure is also sensitive to other electric fields in its vicinity and will bend toward or away from them.

Researchers have not yet figured out exactly how this phenomenon occurs, but speculate that the electrostatic charges on the surface of the water cause the water molecules to become highly ordered and form a microstructure that will remain stable.

References

cite journal
last = Fuchs
first = Elmar C.
coauthors = Woisetschläger, Jakob; Gatterer, Karl; Maier, Eugen; Pecnik, René; Holler, Gert; and Eisenkölbl, Helmut
title = The floating water bridge.
journal = J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.
volume =
issue = 40
pages = 6112–6114
date = 21 September 2007
url = http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0022-3727/40/19/052/
doi = 10.1088/0022-3727/40/19/052
id =
accessdate = 2007-09-29

cite news
last = Zyga
first = Lisa
title = Water forms floating 'bridge' when exposed to high voltage
work = Science News
language = English
date = 2007-09-28
url = http://www.physorg.com/news110191847.html
accessdate = 2007-09-29


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