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og1764
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Homework Statement
I'm in the middle of a Year 11 open physics practical, and my partner and I have decided to attempt to find the angle of deflection of a stream of water when an electric field is placed near it. In order to do this experiment, we have a lot of 9V batteries, a voltmeter, a rheostat, tap water, and a small copper tube, which looks like (this). It is based on the principle that an electrostatically charged object, when brought close to a stream of a polar liquid like water, will cause that stream to deflect. Our hypothesis was that as the voltage increases, so would the angle of deflection.
Homework Equations
In terms of equations that are being used, we aren't at this point. It's just trying to collect data. Our current data is just comprised of zeroes.
The Attempt at a Solution
We set up the practical, there was a current flowing and our voltmeter was giving readings. However, when we brought the copper tube next to the stream, it did not deflect. At least not visibly. Going to the extreme, I connected 8 of the 9V batteries together, and there was still no deflection.
I am currently at a loss as to where to go next. Changing to distilled water may be a solution, however due to the cost, I thought I should ask for some help as to what to do next. Any feedback is more than welcome, as it may be that our experiment is merely wrong and will never work.
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