Role of polarization and charge on the levitation of a single particle in an electric field

摘要

Reports from the literature have shown that sand grains in a desert storm generate charges by contact electrification while wind transport of particles is related to charge separation. In most observations, electric fields of many kilovolts are measured during the dust storm. Authors have claimed that polarization of particle may be responsible for the lifting of particles from the ground as a result of the Earth's electric field. In this study, we report a preliminary result of the effect of charge and polarization on charged particle in an electric field. We observe that for a charged particle especially spherical polymer; polarization effect may not be solely responsible for the levitation whereas for a spherical metal particle, the lifting is only due to polarization.