Propelling water far away with static electricity

Let's take a look!

What type of experiment is this?

Experimental procedure and explanation:

• Here, we use static electricity to propel water over a long distance
• Then, we punch a small hole in the side of the plastic bottle (in this case, we used thumbtacks, and we let an adult perform this task to avoid injury). (Another method is to open it with a pin vise.) When water is inserted into the plastic bottle, water is propelled out of the hole. For the velocity of the flow at this time, see The Height of Water and Its Energy (reference).
• We rub the straw with tissue paper to accumulate the static electricity. At this time, negative electricity remains in the straw.
• When this is placed close to the flow of water, the water is drawn toward the straw, and the flow is bent slightly upward. This will cause the water to be propelled over a long distance.
• This phenomenon may be attributed to the properties of the water. A molecule of water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, and the two hydrogen atoms congregate on one side. Then, the hydrogen atom side becomes positive and the oxygen atom side becomes negative.
• Furthermore, positive electricity (charge) and negative electricity (charge) mutually attract each other.
• A straw rubbed with tissue paper possess a negative electricity, and when it is brought close to water, the positive side (hydrogen atom side) of the water molecule changes direction and is attracted toward it. Conversely, the side that is farther from the straw is the negative side (oxygen atom side). The negative side of the straw and the positive side of the water mutually attract each other and the flow of water is bent toward the straw.
• Static electricity tends to accumulate when the air is dry and may not work well in environments with high humidity.
• This experimental video was produced with the support of JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 18K03956.

[Keywords]	Static electricity
[Related items]	The Height of Water and Its Energy

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