Instability of a Charged Droplet in an Inhomogeneous Electrostatic Field of a Rod of Finite Thickness

Resumo

The instability of a charged droplet of an ideal liquid in an inhomogeneous electrostatic field of a rod of finite thickness maintained at a constant electrostatic potential is investigated within the framework of analytic asymptotic calculations. It is shown that the mode amplitudes and the drop oscillation frequencies increase with the rod thickness. The critical conditions of instability of the droplet reduce by several times as compared with the critical conditions of implementation of its instability in the electrostatic field of an infinitely thin filament maintained at a constant electrostatic potential. An analytic dependence between the charge and field parameters, critical for implementation of the instability of a charged droplet in an inhomogeneous electrostatic field and dependent on the rod thickness, is found.