How Does Microgravity Affect Electrical Phenomena?

[uiriamu]

Dear Experts,

Are there any effects that could be induced with electrity in a microgravity environment that can not be induced with 1 g such as superconductivity ?

uiru

 

[Andy Resnick]

It's not that new effects can be induced; it's that the relevant length and time scales increase and become accessible to experimental observation/manipulation. For example, the capillary length increases, making the region 'near' a moving contact line become visible. In hard-sphere colloids, the settling times are longer so the particles are larger, the dynamics of individual particles can then be observed directly rather than using ensemble methods (light scattering, etc).

For electrical effects, I would think that you would be looking at how electrical fields are coupled to hydrodynamics or even piezo-electic effects; I don't know which specific number would be most relevant, but perhaps the Lundquist, Elsasser, or Magnetic Reynolds number. Or invent your own!