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Experimental demonstration of the role of cohesion in electrostatic dust lofting
Author(s) -
Hartzell C.M.,
Wang X.,
Scheeres D.J.,
Horányi M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/grl.50230
Subject(s) - electric field , cohesion (chemistry) , physics , gravitational field , gravitation , charged particle , classical mechanics , mechanics , ion , quantum mechanics
The cohesion between small dust particles plays an important role in determining the electrostatic force required to loft charged dust off a surface. On airless, celestial bodies, the cohesive bond between dust particles can be stronger than the gravitational force. Assuming that the charge on dust particles is given by Gauss' law, a theoretical model considering both cohesive and gravitational forces has predicted that intermediate‐sized particles require the smallest electric field strength to loft. We experimentally confirm that, for a given electric field, intermediate‐sized particles are lofted, while smaller and larger particles do not move.