Biefeld–Brown effect
Pseudoscientific phenomenon / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Biefeld–Brown effect is an electrical phenomenon that produces an ionic wind that transfers its momentum to surrounding neutral particles. It describes a force observed on an asymmetric capacitor when high voltage is applied to the capacitor's electrodes.[1] Once suitably charged up to high DC potentials, a thrust at the negative terminal, pushing it away from the positive terminal, is generated.[2] The effect was named by inventor Thomas Townsend Brown who claimed that he did a series of experiments with professor of astronomy Paul Alfred Biefeld, a former teacher of Brown whom Brown claimed was his mentor and co-experimenter at Denison University in Ohio.[3]
It has been suggested that this article be merged into Electrogravitics. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2023. |
The use of an asymmetric capacitor, with the negative electrode being larger than the positive electrode, allowed for more thrust to be produced in the direction from the low-flux to the high-flux region compared to a conventional capacitor.[2] These asymmetric capacitors became known as Asymmetrical Capacitor Thrusters (ACT).[4] The Biefeld–Brown effect can be observed in ionocrafts and lifters, which utilize the effect to produce thrust in the air without requiring any combustion or moving parts.[1]
In his 1960 patent titled "Electrokinetic Apparatus," Brown refers to electrokinesis to describe the Biefeld–Brown effect, linking the phenomenon to the field of electrohydrodynamics (EHD).[1][2] Brown also believed the Biefeld–Brown effect could produce an anti-gravity force, referred to as "electrogravitics" based on it being an electricity/gravity phenomenon.[5] However, there is little evidence that supports Brown's claim on the effect's anti-gravity properties.[6]