Lord+Kelvin's+Thunderstorm

=Lord Kelvin's Thunderstorm =)=

While it does definitely sound super cool and sophisticated, Lord Kelvins Thunderstorm is a very simple apparatus to recreate.

The principles behind the device are quite simple. The basic principles involve conduction, induction, charged particles and a small charge to be induced on one bucket,

To start the process a charge must be induced on one bucket. In accordance with the diagram, say we placed a slight negative charge on the right bucket. This will cause the left Inciter ring (charger) to also be negatively charged attracting positively charged water particles to fall through that side of the dropper. When these positively charged particles fall into the left bucket, it creates a positive charge on the left bucket and right inciter ring.This then causes the right, positively charged, inciter ring to attract negative particles which will then fall into the right bucket creating an even stronger negative charge. It then becomes a vicious circle and the process carries on. As the charges build up, two phenomena can happen. First, if the containers are close together or have a small extension protruding from them, a small spark can often been seen arcing between the two extensions due to the difference in charge. Or, secondly, if the apparatus is spaced apart, after a longer period of time, the buckets will eventually build up so much charge that they will start repelling the similarly charged water drops and shoot them away from the bucket in random directions.