Abstract
MANY workers1,2 have measured the voltage difference required for the passage of a spark between spherical electrodes as a function of their radii and separation. Few measurements, however, have been made of the potential difference necessary to effect charge transfer between two spheres by means of a discharge process in the range of separations 5 × 10−3 cm to 10−1 cm. This information was required in order to develop the quantitative applications of the calculations of Davis3 (on the electrostatic forces between conducting spheres situated in an electric field) to the atmospheric problems of the coalescence of water droplets4 and the inductive theory of electrification of thunderstorms5,6.
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References
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Latham, J., Freisen, R. B., and Mystrom, R. E., Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc., 92, 407 (1966).
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LATHAM, J., FREISEN, R. Critical Potential Differences for Charge Transfer between Separated Spheres. Nature 212, 1345 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/2121345a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2121345a0
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