Thanks to the kind offer by Professor Mark Horenstein the ESA now has a web site on the Internet. Mark, a member of the ESA Executive Council, volunteered to set up and manage our Home Page. As a result, the ESA can now supply information about the Electrostatics Society of America as well as general information related to electrostatics to anyone who has a computer and a connection to the Internet. Be sure and thank Mark for all his efforts when you see him.
The address or URL (Universal Resource Locator) for the ESA Home Page is http://eng.bu.edu/~mnh/esa.html
If you have access to the Internet, I suggest you check it out right away. If you do, you will always be able to say "I remember when all this Internet stuff just started in the ESA. Back then you could just get a little information, and nobody really knew how big it would become or how useful a tool it would become for people engaged in electrostatics."
Many of you are like me and do not yet have an e-mail address at home. However, I am fortunate in that I have an address at work; so, I do have access to the Internet. Without access at home you could say I'm not really into this Internet thing in a big way just yet. However, my limited access to the Internet has convinced me that we are about to see a revolution in the way everyone conducts business. Consequently, it also means that we will also see the business of electrostatics go through this revolution. As members of the ESA, we can either lead or follow in the changes that will occur. In either case the revolution has started; and, by default, we are in it. In the future we will need a few good books on electrostatics on our bookshelf and access to the Internet. If we are missing the latter, it will be like missing the formulas in our books. We can try to survive without the Internet, but it will be very difficult.
Using the Internet and going through the ESA Home Page we will (at some time in the future) be able to quickly locate most of the information ever written about any subject related to electrostatics. With the Internet we will have access to all the information we need to solve that problem or develop that product. Remember, the result of the revolution will be to make us more knowledgeable in electrostatics. It's a good revolution; no blood will be shed, and we will all become wiser and more proficient in electrostatics.
For the Friendly Society,
Al Seaver
As I am writing this, a large can of popcorn sits on my dining room table. It is cylindrical, about 30 cm high and 25 cm diameter. Inside, the can is divided into thirds and is filled with caramel corn, butter corn and cheese corn. The cheese corn, bright orange, has my attention.
A month ago, I was called to investigate a cheese explosion. Sounds bizarre. In a factory, a cheese slurry was being sprayed into a drying oven,to create cheese powder. This is then sold to put on popcorn and potato chips. And you guessed it. The dry cheese powder entered into a dust explosion. Was it static that caused the ignition? I don't know yet, and maybe we will never be sure, but someone has said that a grounding strap was left off the apparatus ...!
Glenn Schmieg
The Electrostatics Society of America has been in existence for over 20 years. During that time it has justified its title as "The Friendly Society". Attendance at just one Conference will convince you it’s a worthy description.
A roster including members names, addresses and fields of interest is sent to every member. Our bimonthly Newsletter covers topics of interest presented by our members for publication. The range of subjects covered in our Conferences as well as the Newsletter is extensive, including electrostatic crop spraying and seed sorting; Xerography; electrostatic finishing with paint, powder and flock; electrostatic discharge; electrets; physiological effects of fields; etc.. The common thread running through all of these diverse fields, of course, is electrostatics. Included in this Newsletter is an application for membership in ESA. We seek new members, especially recent graduates and those who are new in the electrostatic business. These people bring new ideas which serve to provoke new thoughts. Pass the application on to a potential member, post it at an appropriate location, or give it to a friend. Make a few copies. This article and Newsletter can help inform potential members about our Society.
Dick Bergen
A catalog of books on electrostatics, is available from The Electrostatic Source. The 35 page brochure with over 50 titles offers descriptions of publications in various electrostatic diciplines including fundamentals, dialectrics, ESD and hazards, applications, laboratory work, mathematics, and others. The catalog provides a single source for essential but hard to locate publications on electrostatic processes as well as their applications. For a free copy of this catalog contact: The Electrostatic Source, 16525 Jackson Oaks Dr., Morgan Hills, CA 95037, tel: (408) 779-7774, fax: (408) 779-3638, email: electro@garlic.com.
In the Jan\Feb issue of the Newsletter (#124) Glenn Schmieg posed the following problem:
A capacitor has a voltage, V, across it. Find the work needed to move a charge, q, along the dotted path shown (from A to B). A "regular" student will say there is no problem. Just
Work = Voltage x Charge
It comes from the definition of voltage. Another student may say that the field outside a capacitor is zero; therefore Work = zero. What gives?
Glenn Schmieg
Warning: The Electricity Around You May Be Hazardous To Your Health, by Ellen Sugarman, 1992. This book is one more of the many available which describe electrostatic fields and their possible dangers. The first few chapters are carefully written and provide some technical information on field levels and a review of certain fundamental science facts. Also included here are many stories about schools and neighborhoods that have protested against “stray” radiation. There would be something here of value no matter which side you take. But, as the author says, WARNING! There are misprints and other errors. As the book moves on, the lapses become more frequent. Readers should be careful and critical. A glossary at the end has very poor definitions. Field is described as, "The radiation emenating from an electric source", and malathion is "A hormone produced by the pineal gland". (Actually malathion is a trademark for a particular chemical insecticide.) There are four appendices which may be the best part. Here one can find lists of major studies, job risks, fields from appliances, and resources.
Glenn Schmieg
*Professor S. Edward Law, an active ESA member, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. The announcement reads, "S. Edward Law, Brooks Distinguished Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, (was elected) for contributing to the science and engineering of electrostatics and the development of beneficial agricultural and biological applications."
In hearing the news, Bob Gundlach, one of the founding members of ESA, made a comment for all ESA members when he said, "For many years Ed has fascinated us in our ESA conferences with his reports on agricultural applications of electrostatics, mainly in efficient spraying of pesticides onto farm crops. We extend our congratulations to Ed for his considerable contributions, and this recognition he has been awarded for his work.
(Some ESA members may not know that Bob Gundlach was also honored by election to the National Academy of Engineering a couple of years ago. ESA is proud of both of these fine gentlemen. Ed)
This conference, held every four years, will take place at the University of Poitiers on June 4 - 6, 1997. For information contact L.E.A. U.R.A. 191 du C.N.R.S; Laboratoire de Physique et Mecanique des Fluides; Batiment de Physique; 40, avenue du Recteur Pineau; 85022 POITIERS; FRANCE. The deadline for abstracts of proposed papers is April 30, 1996.
This summer school & workshop on electrohydrodynamics will be held at the International Centre for Mechanical Sciences in Udine, Italy. The school begins on July 22, 1996 and ends at noon on July 26. The workshop will begin at noon on the 26th and end at noon on the 27th. Interested persons should contact Professor Antonio Castellanos at:
Dpto. de Electronica y
Phone: (34) 5 423 41 90
Fax: (34) 5 423 94 34
Electromagnetismo
Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n
Facultad de Fisica
41012 Sevilla, Spain
e-mail: castellanos@cica.es
In response to Glenn Schmieg's article on this subject in the last Newsletter, we received a wonderful long letter from Lance Jerale. Glenn's prediction that Lance would have his students doing soap bubble experiments "next month" was not correct. Lance’s students have been doing this "for years". His students especially enjoy blowing a stream of bubbles at the terminal of a van de Graff generator. He says, "So often in electrostatics we think we know exactly what will happen, but as a very wise man once said, "Tain't necessarily so." It would be reasonable to expect the flock (?) of bubbles to dash headlong into the high voltage terminal to commit a very quick and painless version of bubble suicide. But no - that's not what happens! The first bubble does, indeed, meet the quick and expected fate, but the others, seeing what happened to their leader, actually stop in mid-air and reverse course - beautifully following the electrostatic lines of force - only to wind up on the floor, ceiling, or on a person." He says that explaining this phenomenon is an interesting exercise. He cites the following bubble references:
Soap Bubbles by C. V. Boys
Demonstrate Induction and Repulsion with Soap Bubbles and the van de Graff Generator by Robert P. Prigo, American Journal of Physics, Vol. 44, No.6, June 1976, Pg. 606.
Using Your Model van de Graff Generator
by Gordon R. Gore, The Science Teacher, Vol.39, Pg. 48.Recently Bill Cheney brought to my attention an article on Benjamin Franklin. It appeared in Harvard Magazine, November/December, 1995. The article discusses many of the famous and widely known ideas, but also emphasized a bit of Franklin's playfulness. He was not always devoted to practical ideas, and he pursued many that were considered "pure fun". The article includes several colored photographs of antique apparatus and an excellent annotated bibliography.
Glenn Schmieg
For the last decade "blow dryers" have been very popular. Used commonly by both men and women, they sell between 10 and 20 dollars. ( I have never personally had much use for these.) (Nor have I. Ed)
Now a new advertisement appears for an antistatic dryer, at 30 dollars. What is it? Does it blow out ions? Does it blow out a chemical to coat the hair? Appeal to the membership: take one apart, and tell us in the next Newsletter
Glenn Schmieg
Almost every month we hear of a new development in the world of the ultrasmall. A timer motor or a smaller resistor or even a minuscule wrench. Sometimes these very small constructions have close connections to classical ideas of electricity. Would you like to try making a few estimates? All of the information below is quite real - taken from a recent article.
a) Estimate the capacitance of an aluminum grain 10 m in diameter, isolated in space.
b) If the same grain has a 1-m thick insulating oxide layer (k = 8), and is surrounded by a conducting shell, what is the new capacitance?
c) If a single electron were added in each case above, what would be the change in voltage?
The answers are given later in this Newsletter. I believe the size of the effect in c) will surprise you. Even if you don't calculate, make a guess before you look.
Glenn Schmieg
We have recently received from Dr. Albert Kufeld, Curator at The Baaken, A Library and Museum of Electricity in Life, a number of articles relating to the early use of electricity by the medical profession. Among these was the following article which is a facsimile of Franklin's report of his famous kite experiment which established the identity of lightning and electricity. This is taken from THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS of 1753 which are in the Medtronic Archives.
Emery Miller
As most of you know, Our Society offers an award each year for the Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year. Such teachers are to be nominated for the award by any ESA member. This award is for $500.00 or equivalent. We also offer $50.00 Outstanding Student Awards each year to students who have done outstanding work in electrostatics or a related field, We need your cooperation to locate these potential awardees. Let me have your nominations so they can be considered with other nominees.
Emery Miller
A major theme within this year's ESA Annual Meeting will be demonstrations. Several demonstrations are already planned but we are still looking for more. If you have a demonstration you would like to present, contact Glenn Schmieg (3224 A N. Oakland, Milwaukee, WI 53211, Ph: 414-332-1327) or Al Seaver (see end of Newsletter for address). Also, we will have a computer with output that can be displayed on the overhead projector. If you have a special software program relating to electrostatics that you would like to demonstrate, contact Al Seaver for further details.
Al Seaver
A recent letter from Dr. Kisler advises that he has retired from Polaroid Corp. where he was Directror of Electrostatic Control Systems Lab. He now lives at 292 Pine Crest Beach Drive, E. Falmouth, MA 02536 and plans to do consulting work in any area involving electrostatic problems or applications.
It may be of interest to some of our members to learn of two other Home Pages that are on the Internet and accessable on our ESA Home Page. They are:
Al Seaver
To get the lower registration fee, register by May 18th. See the enclosed brochure for details.
a)C is about 10e-18, or 1 aF.
b) C is enlarged by a factor of 40.
c) 290 mV and 7 mV