Why the Water Bridge does not collapse

TL;DR

This paper investigates the water bridge phenomenon, proposing that surface tension, rather than electric fields, is responsible for its stability, challenging previous explanations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel explanation that attributes the water bridge's stability solely to surface tension, dismissing the role of electric fields.

Findings

Surface tension supports the water bridge.

Electric field does not prevent breakup into drops.

Previous theories attributing stability to electric forces are challenged.

Abstract

In 2007 an interesting phenomenon was discovered: a thread of water, the so-called water bridge (WB), can hang between two glass beakers filled with deionized water if voltage is applied to them. We analyze the available explanations of the WB stability and propose a completely different one: the force that supports the WB is the surface tension of water and the role of electric field is not to allow the WB to reduce its surface energy by means of breaking into separate drops.