The Influence of Humidity on the Conductive Properties of Electrostatically Lofted Grains Público
Einhorn, Mica (Spring 2025)
Abstract
This study investigates electrostatic charging mechanisms of insulating particles in humid environments. These mechanisms are relevant to known electrostatic effects in mesoscale organisms, such as insects. While electrostatics are crucial in the world of these organisms, the specific charging mechanisms remain largely a mystery. Previous research indicates that ticks and nematodes, which inhabit high humidity environments, behave as electrical conductors when ambushing prey. This paper explores whether humidity enhances the charging capabilities of these organisms. We hypothesize that a water coating improves the conductive properties of insulators by allowing freely moving ions on the surface, thus enabling ticks and nematodes to exhibit conductive behavior.
To test this hypothesis, a theoretical model was designed involving a charged copper sphere suspended above a spherical glass grain on a grounded plate. The sphere was lowered until the grain was lofted or "jumped" toward the copper. Initial tests on silver-coated spheres showed slight discrepancies between experimental and predicted values, attributed to the approximation of the copper sphere as a point charge. Subsequent experiments on spherical glass grains, with varying humidity levels, revealed no clear humidity dependence on "jump height." These experiments also prove that polarization force is an insufficient explanation as to why the grains are lofted. Trials taken at constant voltage and humidity showed variability in "jump height" indicating the presence of static electricity.
Final experimentation proves the grains are capable of being lofted at both positive and negative polarities, proving that static electricity alone cannot account for the observed behavior. The findings suggest that at greater distances, static electricity dominates, while at closer distances, an induced polarization force influences the grains' charge.
Table of Contents
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Prominence of Electrostatics in Nature 1
1.2 Significance of studies on Ticks and Nematodes 5
1.3 Electrostatics in the Lives of Ticks 6
1.4 Electrostatics in the Lives of Nematodes 7
1.5 Humidity and Electrostatics 10
2 Approach 13
2.1 Image Charge Approach 14
2.2 Calculating Jump Height (hc) for a Conductive Sphere 16
2.3 Calculating Jump Height (hp) for a Dielectric Sphere 17
3 Experiments 19
4 Results and Discussion 22
4.1 Charging Mechanisms to Consider 22
4.2 Experiments Performed on Conductive Spheres 25
4.3 Impact of Humidity Variations on Jump Height (h) of Glass Grains at Different Voltages: Data Collection as Compared to hc Found Using Maxwell’s Prediction for a Conductive Sphere on a Conductive Plate 28
4.4 Error Test Data Collection: Multiple Trials with Constant Humidity and Voltage 30
4.5 Impact of Humidity Variations on Jump Height (h) of Glass Grains at Different Voltages: Data Collection as Compared to Jump Height (hp) of a Dielectric Sphere 32
4.6 Influence of Polarity on Jump Height (h) of Glass Grains 33
5 Conclusion 36
5.1 Future Work 38
Bibliography 40
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