On Sat, 11 Oct 2008, Jones Beene wrote: > I think yes. In fact, if there was available a Graneau type of discharge > apparatus, I would at least compare the results of a gel, of a given > mass, to regular water of the identical mass.
Lol, I *almost* did this with a big energy-storage cap bank back in 1993 or so. I was exploding small 2cm chunks of jello at various KV levels (stuck onto heavy wire electrodes.) The goal was to crudely test "container-less" water explosions. But I didn't compare them to the same with a container. Interesting result: below 2KV the jello acts as a resistor and melts from the heat. At a certain threshold voltage it explodes with a huge bang, and it launched a large tupperware bowl a couple of feet into the air (the bowl was there to contain the wet spatter.) At slightly higher threshold the sound is loud enough to completely shatter the tupperware bowl. PS Here at the UW, Dr. Pollack is down the hill and acoss the street from me. I had a long lunch with him this summer, discussing the weird psychology of science and the "suppression" of new ideas by the Peer Review process. He was already quite familiar with this phenomenon because of response to his book. For example, on Amazon book reviews there's a 'skeptic' spewing venom about Pollack's suggestion that neuron function might not be based upon sodium channels. (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ beaty chem washington edu Research Engineer billbamascicom UW Chem Dept, Bagley Hall RM74 206-543-6195 Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195-1700
