![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||
|
How are the rings made negative or positive in the first place? They must have a charge to begin with to start the system off- otherwise there would be no difference between the water droplets on either side and nothing would happen. Either way either the description is lacking- it needs to be added that the rings need to be intially charged or it needs to be stated how the rings become initially positive and negative on their own 81.179.187.5 20:10, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
"This is a private video. If you have been sent this video, please make sure you accept the sender's friend request." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.244.191 ( talk) 21:42, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
How much power does this thing generate? Can it be used to generate a stream of power instead of lightning bolts? What is a good efficiency comparison to say... a turbine generator? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.168.139.24 ( talk) 23:57, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
can it be implemented as solid state? (i.e. without water with electrons and magnets..., something without moving parts) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.109.234.81 ( talk) 05:57, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
It is my humble opinion that the reference to hydroelectric power in the last paragraph does not agree with the topic of electrostatic generators and the production of static charges. 1bobwhite ( talk) 17:31, 20 May 2010 (UTC)
Indeed. "As with other forms of hydroelectric power, the energy here ultimately comes from the gravitational energy released by letting the water drops fall." Were this true, it would seem that increasing one or more of the vertical dimensions would increase the power produced. Yet, it is far from obvious how this could happen. Surely it is the proximity of the rings to the water source that allows them to attract water with opposite charge. And it is difficult to see how the distance to the bucket could affect the power. If nothing else, there's some explaining to do in the last paragraph. JKeck ( talk) 03:06, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
On further reflection, I realized that, while it's the electrostatic force that pulls the charged water to the oppositely charged ring, it's gravity that has to pull the water to the like-charged bucket (and keeps the charges "together"). While the energy wording is of course correct, phrasing it in terms of force may make for a clearer explanation. JKeck ( talk) 02:34, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
The origin of the energy that can be extracted/discharged is from the gravitational potential of the elevated water. A higher water drop would put more energy into the system, but there would be no guarantee that more energy would be harvested. The article indeed states that the device is not an efficient generator, that much energy is wasted to heat as drops/droplets simply splash into the reservoirs. I can't avoid pondering how the design could be optimized for other applications than physics demonstration, though. Ideally, one would want the electrical field to brake the droplets to a soft landing. Also, regarding the undesirable occurrences of droplet-ring discharge, shouldn't it be possible to separate the droplets from the rings mechanically, by extending the pipes through the rings? The microscopic version referred to near the end of the article reportedly achieves an efficiency of 48%, which is not that bad. Elias ( talk) 09:47, 6 March 2023 (UTC)
So what is happening anyway? From what i can tell, OH- and H3O+ naturally exists in the container. The electric field guides the ions to the positive and negative container. But then, how does is the potential increased? There are no free electrons or something... 130.89.234.108 ( talk) 16:37, 4 July 2010 (UTC)
71.139.165.48 ( talk) 08:02, 30 November 2012 (UTC) Graeme Bartlett ( talk) 11:01, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
The 'detailed article' in the links says to electrically bond the two (or more I guess) drippers. Maybe this should be in the main article too. 71.139.165.48 ( talk) 08:03, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
This part seems to contradict what you are saying, but doesn't immediately make sense to me: "Investigations of the Kelvin Electrostatic Generator under various controlled conditions showed that it operated with tap water, distilled water (non-deionised) and a saturated solution of NaCl.[10] It was also found that the generator worked well even if the two liquid streams originate from different electrically insulated reservoirs. A model was proposed in which the electric charge results from the separation of the positive aqueous hydrogen ion and the negative aqueous hydroxyl ion as the water droplets form." Elias ( talk) 08:56, 6 March 2023 (UTC)
The article states, "Otherwise, the container-end of each wire must dip into the water. In the latter case, the charge resides on the surface of the water, not outside of the containers."
This is incorrect. As charge is deposited by the wires into the water, it almost instantly moves away from the wire and the water to the outer surface of both metal containers. The repulsion of each unit of charge pushes the charge as far away from the like charges as possible. This is why, if a static electricity generator includes metal spheres, the electric potential will be highest on the outside of the spheres, and is why, if there is a sharp point, the potential will be greatest at the tip. The location of a spark, if any, shows where the potential is greatest.
If someone has time to find reliable references for these facts, the article's mistake should be corrected. David Spector ( talk) 00:43, 21 April 2016 (UTC)
In the current version, "Otherwise," refers to the case where the containers are not made of metal. Elias ( talk) 09:54, 6 March 2023 (UTC)
I am missing references to the dimensions of the device in relation to the efficiency, plus some absolute values regarding the generated power (i.e. achievable voltage, current, the amount of water required to "generate" a specific amount of energy, as well as the simplest question: How long does it take until a electric spark can be seen in a standard lab setup?). How does the length and diameter of the rings effect the operation, what about the speed of the drops or streams? 147.161.138.200 ( talk) 01:48, 28 December 2023 (UTC)