Electrostatic Cancellation of Gravity Effects in Liquid Mixtures

Abstract

We point out that a spatially-varying electric field can be used to cancel the effect of gravity in liquid mixtures by coupling to the different components' permittivities. Cancellation occurs if the system under consideration is small enough. For a simple ``wedge'' electrode geometry we show that the required system size and voltage are practical, easily realizable in the Lab. Thus this setup might be a simple alternative to more expensive or hazardous options such as the space-shuttle, drop-tower, or magnetic levitation experiments.