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An electrostatic pinwheel, or corona spinner, attached to a small Wimshurst machine (electrostatic generator) is shown stationary and rotating. Ion wind, ionic wind, corona wind or electric wind is the airflow of charged particles induced by electrostatic forces linked to corona discharge arising at the tips of some sharp conductors (such as points or blades) subjected to high voltage relative ...
For instance, the charged particles making up the solar wind follow spiral paths along magnetic field lines. The velocity of each particle as it gyrates around a field line can be treated similarly to a thermal velocity in an ordinary gas, and in an ordinary gas the mean thermal velocity is roughly the speed of sound.
However, this effect works using either polarity for the electrodes: the small or thin electrode can be either positive or negative, and the larger electrode must have the opposite polarity. [4] On many experimental sites it is reported that the thrust effect of a lifter is actually a bit stronger when the small electrode is the positive one. [1]
The effect is not directly dependent on electrical polarity, as the ions may be positively or negatively charged. Reversing the polarity of the electrodes does not alter the direction of motion, as it also reverses the polarity of the ions carrying charge. Thrust is produced in the same direction, either way.
The movement of charge between the Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and the ionosphere is known as the global atmospheric electrical circuit. Atmospheric electricity is an interdisciplinary topic with a long history, involving concepts from electrostatics , atmospheric physics , meteorology and Earth science .
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Galactic winds are strong stellar winds made up of charged particles, ejecta, and varying amounts of hot and cool gas, interacting with enough force that the ejecta's kinetic energy is converted to thermal energy. [5] [6] The resulting effect is a massive gust of rapidly expanding super-heated gases that can span the length of a galaxy.
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