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Registered Member #3540
Joined: Sun Dec 26 2010, 06:23PM
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Hi, all of you people who are (hopefully) much smarter than me
For his Elementary School's Science Fair project, my 9 year old son wants to create a Lichtenberg figure within an acrylic block. Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations on how we might gain access to a Wimshurst machine or a Van de Graaff generator to electrically charge the acrylic block? We live in Austin, Texas. I am hoping someone can offer a contact name at the University of Texas Physics Department, or perhaps a local business or individual with one of these machines, who wouldn't mind helping a young boy to become a future scientist. Thank you in advance!
Registered Member #540
Joined: Mon Feb 19 2007, 07:49PM
Location: MIT
Posts: 969
For Lichtenberg figures trapped within acrylic, the charge needs to be distributed evenly throughout the insulator. A normal high voltage device would make a field that would go through the insulator but wouldn't distribute the charge through it. That's why they use particle accelerators to get the electrons into the acrylic.
Registered Member #2901
Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
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What would happen if you put some clear epoxy into a metal mold at high voltage, stirred it with an electrode also at high voltage for a while, let it solidify while keeping the mold at high voltage and then grounding the mold?
Registered Member #3093
Joined: Mon Aug 09 2010, 11:40PM
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Pinky's Brain wrote ...
What would happen if you put some clear epoxy into a metal mold at high voltage, stirred it with an electrode also at high voltage for a while, let it solidify while keeping the mold at high voltage and then grounding the mold?
I thought a litchenburg figure worked by charging the inside, but by doing so would make it a capacitor with itself. the outside and inside of the figure are the plates. You have to charge the inside only. then, you release that charge with a sharp point. Regardless, the electric shock that is produces is pretty powerful. I'd not recommend making them there, if at all.
Registered Member #2901
Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
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william L wrote ...
I thought a litchenburg figure worked by charging the inside
I always forget there is no charge inside a conductor.
How about creating an electret from epoxy by letting it solidify between a ground and HV electrode and then drilling a hole into it from the side that was grounded? Assuming there is some charge mobility while it is liquid there should be stored charge inside when it solidifies, and the (grounded) drill should increase the electric field inside the electret (hopefully to the point where breakdown occurs).
Of course to not waste most of the material the voltage should be pretty close to the breakdown strength in the first place ...
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Can you help me find use of a Wimshurst machine or a Van de Graaff generator?
