The Electrification of Liquid Drops

Abstract

Charges on drops breaking up in electric fields were investigated and it was found they could all be explained by the ordinary laws of electrostatic induction, with allowance for contact potential differences Electrification due to splashing was also studied and again the effects could be explained by contact potentials alone so that theories put forward of double layers to explain previous experiments were unnecessary A warning is given of the necessity of making due allowance for possible electrification by splashing in interpreting experimental results and a critical examination of an experiment of Zeleny is reported