Re: Oil Dielectric Properties

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz" <acmdq@xxxxxxxxxx>

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Scott Bogard" <teslas-intern@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Antonio,
>     I think Chris meant for the salt to be removed, and replaced 
> with some non-conducting oil.  But you spurred an idea, I may be 
> mistaken, but I believe water is a conductor, when it is liquid, 
> but to the best of my knowledge, ice is not.  Would it be possible 
> to use frozen distilled water as a dielectric?  Or does ice 
> actually conduct a little?  just curious.
> Scott Bogard.

Ok. I didn't perceive that the salt would be removed... Ice is said to
be an insulator, but I could not find data about how good. I made then a
simple experiment, that is what I use to test for good insulators.
Inside the freezer of my refrigerator, I put an electroscope and charged
it. I put then an ice cube over the electroscope and touched it. The
electroscope discharged immediately. So, if ice is an insulator, doesn't
seem to be much better than water. Maybe with pure water the results are
better.

About a capacitor with oil dielectric, the problem is really how to keep
the plates apart. Note that a significant force appears between
oppositely charged plates, tending to approximate them, and so the
plates must be solidly fixed in place. The use of insulating structures
to support the plates would provide surfaces where sparks can track, and
I wonder if it's not simply a better idea to use the usual solid
dielectrics.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz