Why Does a Razor Blade Move Away from a Charged Body on Water?

AI Thread Summary
A razor blade placed on the water surface moves away from a charged body due to induced surface charges that create an electric field. This phenomenon occurs because a charged object induces a charge distribution in nearby conductors, leading to a concentration of charge at edges, like those of the razor blade. The resulting electric field may interact with water molecules, potentially increasing pressure near the blade and causing it to float away. Participants in the discussion express a need for credible sources to better understand and explain this effect. Overall, the interaction between charged bodies and conductors can lead to intriguing physical behaviors that merit further exploration.
ellinas
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why does a razor blade placed on the water surface move away from a charged body?
 
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I didn't know it did. Can you give us a pointer to a reference that discusses this experiment?
 
could be due to eddy currents
 
Never heard of it. But..

A charged body near a conductor will induce a surface charge, distributed so that there is zero electric field within it (this is similar to dielectrics, and should very weakly attract the conductor, in the absence of other effects). Such a distribution always has to be concentrated at any points or edges (compared to flat surfaces), and so the highest charge density (and strongest electric field) should occur along the razor blade. This most likely transfers charge to water molecules there, or at least raises the water pressure near the blade (dielectric fluid prefers being near high charge density), floating the razor blade in the opposite direction, but that's a bit of a guess.
 
guys hasn't any idea on this?
 
ellinas said:
guys hasn't any idea on this?

As I said, it would help a lot if you could list a credible source for this claim, so that we can go read about it and help to explain it to you. Without a credible source for us to look at, it is unlikely you will get much more than wild guesses.
 
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