EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC-FIELDS ON PARTICLE TRAJECTORIES

Gas bubbles moving in aqueous electrolytes deviate from straight traje ctories upon the application of electric and magnetic fields. The reas ons for such deviation are considered and the possibility of determini ng the charge of the bubbles by methods based on electrophoresis and a pplied magnetic field are assessed. It is shown that the electric-fiel d-induced deviation of gas flows from the vertical trajectory cannot b e used to evaluate the charge on a bubble because of the detrimental i nfluence of electroosmotic water transfer. The use of applied magnetic fields for the determination of the charge on bubbles produced by ele ctrolysis is hindered by magnetoelectrohydrodynamic effects.