Not sure if I should keep using this thread as a blog/mirror for the experimental notes I am writing in a separate private document, but...
- I found that by slightly touching with the anode the water surface so that the discharge rate is low (countable) it’s possible to create large spheres that at first seem as if composed of water plasma. I attempted this with the initially used paper clip (mild steel/mostly Fe) with a sharpened tip, 1M K2CO3, cylindrical copper cathode, 550V.
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- Upon video frame analysis it looks that they are glowing from incandescence by the contact patch with the water surface, at times apparently without directly involving the metal tip of the anode, which is interesting. This means it’s the water itself, or ions emitted from it (potassium? Carbon from K2CO3?) that is glowing.
- I believe one of the main reasons why I was (still am, but less at the moment) having problems with electrolyte splashing is that the anode wire can vibrate wildly. The steel paper clip that I used in the first tests was thick and rigid enough as to not vibrate as much as with the other wires. The reason I sharpened it was to reduce the surface area in contact with the electrolyte as with the thinner wires.