The charge acquired by a spherical ball bouncing on an electrode: comparison between theory and experiment

This paper presents an experimental study of the dynamics of a conducting ball in a poorly conducting liquid subjected to an electric field. When the applied voltage is constant the ball bounces regularly on the lower electrode. The minimum voltage for lift-off, as well as the time of flight between contacts, depends on the charge acquired by the ball during the contact with the electrode. The experiments have been done with liquids of different conductivities and we have found that there is no influence of the conductivity on the lift-off voltages. We have also registered and studied the current pulses produced when the ball gets in contact with the lower electrode