Peter L. Peres wrote:

> *>I'd like to see how they attach 20kV++ to an
> *>aluminium foil antennae and get no ionised air...
>
> By putting ion detectors around the device in a vacuumed chamber. If you
> get too few ions to explain the thrust you have a problem.
>
> Remember that vacuum is a dielectric. With air you can 'explain' what
> happens by saying that the ions get accelerated (more exactly the
> dielectric of different density which is charged air) yada yada. With
> vacuum there is nothing to be accelerated. Yet, vacuum is a very valid
> dielectric, it has its dielectric constant Epsilon0 and works fine in any
> capacitor. The problem with the explanation is, what is 'compressed' and
> 'accelerated' by the device in a vacuum, once the ion gauges prove that it
> is not ions. I am not a physicist but for me the fact that vacuum has a
> dielectric constant at all is a strangeness by itself. As you know any
> capacitor stores a part of the charge in the dielectric, using well-known
> polarisation mechanisms. Now, try to picture this for vacuum. Oops. And
> don't say no energy is stored there. Epsilon0 says otherwise.


My apologies Peter, I was actually referring to
the test in air. The test in vacuum should show
few ions as it is quite hard to ionise nothing... ;o)

Even if this device was suspended in a vacuum
chamber 2m in diameter it would still be 1m from
a wall, and able to exert electrostatic forces
on the "wall". Vacuum chambers are generally glass
or metal, both having respective electrostatic
properties.
-Roman

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