The thorny way of truth - Free Energy Community

91petection of a force between a charged metal foil and a current-carryingconductorRalph Sansbury1120 Park Avenue. New York, New York 10028(Received 30 January 1984; accepted for publication 7 September 1984)An experiment is described which demonstrates a force between static charges on a metal foil anda large steady electric current in a wire. The observed force vectors cannot be readily explained interms of diamagnetism, paramagnetism, eddy currents, thermal convection currents, or thePoynting electric field associated with a dc current outside the path of the current.INTRODUCTIONEarly attempts to explain the magnetic force due to currentcarryingwires in terms of electrostatic forces culminated inMaxwell's electromagnetic field theory. However, the twofundamental forces remained separate, yet it was establishedthat they had a common speed of propagation throughspace.Technologies initiated by Maxwell's theory have occupiedscientists for more than a century. Interest in the underlyingconnection between magnetic and electrostatic forceswaned. Could there be another relation between the twoforces which is not implied by Maxwell's theory? Speculationalong the.se lines led to the experiment described in thispaper. It revealed the existence of a mechanical interactionbetween static electric charges on a metal foil and a steadyelectric current in a metallic conductor. The experimentproved unsuitable for measuring the magnitude of the interactionforce, but gave a threshold value which it must haveexceeded.1. EXPERIMENTFigure 1 is a simplified diagram of the apparatus usedby the author at MIT in which (1) was a 14-cm-long thintorque bar of balsa wood, suspended at its midpoint on a 72-cm-long AWG 40 copper wire (2) inside a glass-topped, cubicwooden enclosure (3) 2 ft on a side. The inside surfaces ofthe wooden box were covered with aluminum foil. The suspensionwire was connected to an adjustable, regulated + 3-kV high-voltage .supply (4) and a 2x2-cm silver foil (5)mounted with its face vertically at one end of the balsatorque bar. The second terminal was connected to a U-shaped current conductor (6) and a laboratory ground.The glass top (7) consisted of two plates with a narrowgap between them through which the suspension wirepassed. On this top stood a 41 -cm-high cardboard tube (8).The suspension wire attached to a piece of cardboard placedover the upper opening of the tube. The wire fell through thetube, the slot between the glass plates and down to the centerof the cubic enclosure which prevented air drafts from blowingagainst the silver vane. The 0.95-cm-diameter U-shapedcopper conductor passed through the holes in the enclosurewall. The U conductor had 50-cm-long legs spaced 10 cmapart. It was held in a horizontal plane. The silver foil wasarranged to face the cross bar of the U-shaped conductorwith a clearance of approximately 3.5 cm. Heavy leads froma + 1000-A, 8-V, adjustable, regulated dc current supplywere connected to the two ends of the U conductor.If/is a force normal to the plane of the silver foil and /isthe effective length of the balsa torque bar, then the twisttorque experienced by the suspension wire isT=f{in].'(1)The wire parameters which determine the angular deflection6 were:wire length =L = 0.72 m,wire radius = r = 3.94 X 10~^ m,'O I- Experimental setup: (I) torque bar, (2) suspension wire, (3) glnss-^opped wooden box. (4) + 3-kV voltage supply, (5) silver foil, (6) U-shaped^"ffeni conductor, (7) glass top plates, (8) cardboard tube. (9) current sup-moment of inertia of wire section = / = irr*/2 = 3.79xlO-"'m\torsion modulus of copper = /? = 4.3x 10'" N/m'.