Null-result test for effect on weight from large electrostatic charge

TL;DR

This study conducted high-voltage electrostatic tests on objects to detect any weight change, finding no effect within a 2-gram measurement precision, thus challenging certain theoretical predictions involving scalar fields.

Contribution

First high-voltage, unipolar, meter-scale static test for electro-gravitic effects, providing experimental evidence against classical Kaluza theory predictions.

Findings

No measurable weight change detected within 2 grams

Falsifies large buoyancy force predictions of classical Kaluza theory

Introduces a parameterization for organizing electro-gravitic experiments

Abstract

We report test results searching for an effect of electrostatic charge on weight. For conducting test objects of mass of order 1 kilogram, we found no effect on weight, for potentials ranging from 10 V to 200 kV, corresponding to charge states ranging from $10^{-9}$ to over $10^{-5}$ coulombs, and for both polarities, to within a measurement precision of 2 grams. While such a result may not be unexpected, this is the first unipolar, high-voltage, meter-scale, static test for electro-gravitic effects reported in the literature. Our investigation was motivated by the search for possible coupling to a long-range scalar field that could surround the planet, yet go otherwise undetected. The large buoyancy force predicted within the classical Kaluza theory involving a long-range scalar field is falsified by our results, and this appears to be the first such experimental test of the classical Kaluza theory in the weak field regime where it was otherwise thought identical with known physics. A parameterization is suggested to organize the variety of electro-gravitic experiment designs.