Stable, Unstable and Metastable Charged Droplets

Abstract

Experiments with charged water droplets show the existence of the metastable states predicted by Cahn as well as the well-known unstable state predicted by Lord Rayleigh. The charge lost at metastability is completely recovered with time, whereas the charge lost at instability is only partially recovered. The recovery of charge may be a space-charge effect, or it may be a result of electrification that accompanies the exchange of water vapor.