Experiment worth trying (Easy).

1) Science accepts that when things are grounded they are negating eachothers electrical charge, and ionization.

2) Water conducts and dissipates electricity and static electricity.

Buy some small seeds that float. Sunflower seeds or smaller. Get a pot or bucket of water and let it sit in a room for awhile, a room with no air circulating, until you know the water has no current, AKA standing water. Sprinkle them in a bucket or big pot of water. Watch them, or leave them for awhile.

Why do the seeds gather together?

You can try this with a toilet bowl, too.

[edit on 18-11-2005 by Esoteric Teacher]

Is it because the "surface of water" naturally tries to fix blemishes in itself and the seeds create subtle surface-density changes which the the water tries to close up, thus pushing them together?

Could also be gravity. Every object has its own gravitational pull. If these seeds are put in water AND float freely, then they are at (vertical) equilbrium, and so can only be pulled from side to side through the gravity of other seeds.

Equilibrum is acheved when the density of the liquid counteracts the gravitational pull of gravity for the floating object.

its surface tension guys.



[edit on 18-11-2005 by Shadow88]

In an isolated condition like a pot or toilet bowl, there is no gound. If objects carry their own electric charge (in this case the seeds) they are not grounded out. The gravity idea above will do the same (or perhaps is the same) thing.

The seeds will lightly tug on each other. If this is the case, then the larger the group the stronger the tug on the remaining separated sees.

one other note

Temp changes, even earth - moon tides, and your proximity to the water (if all objects have their own gravity) will cause some type of movement of the water. Do these currents cause a charge to develope that could cause this grouping as well?

Originally posted by Shadow88
its surface tension guys.
[edit on 18-11-2005 by Shadow88]

Exactly. We did this experiment in junior high school physical science and talked about surface tension and why water seems to bulge in one direction or the other and why things float to the center.

It'll do it with plain old water, ionized water, and so on and so forth.

Jah. One of those really cool things that just pops up everynow and then.

ivanglam - For it to be gravity, the seeds would have to be insanely heavy. I don't wanna do the math, but suffice to say that you and I don't noticeably attract when we're in water, or on land, so they most definitely don't.

LOL that would be funny to watch though!

All the kids at the swimming pool, looking really anxious as they get pulled toward each other, ending up floating around, stuck together. Although it would be useful at a high school dance to get it going, you know how no one would go dance and it took the bravest two to run on and start dancing, just as a slow dance came on! oh no! the horrible memories!

Yeah, but then you get stuck with the gross kid who pees. Not cool.

I

this happens with my cereal every morning.

Thanks guys for your input. I was sure there was at least one scientific reason for this, but was unaware of some said viewpoints. Thanks for the contributions.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
Jah. One of those really cool things that just pops up everynow and then.

ivanglam - For it to be gravity, the seeds would have to be insanely heavy. I don't wanna do the math, but suffice to say that you and I don't noticeably attract when we're in water, or on land, so they most definitely don't.

I wasn't sure... I do believe though that i said "could be gravity" and not that it is for sure.

IMO, it is gravity. 2 strings holding similar weighted keys on the ends suspened by a string sevral meters long will enentually come closer to eachother (in a closed enviroment)(not much, but just enough to be measurable) even with gravity pulling them down. IMO, this is what I think happens inside the bowl.

Seccond guess would probably be surface tension. But IMO, to me gravity makes alot more sense.

Originally posted by Esoteric Teacher

2) Water conducts and dissipates electricity and static electricity.


[edit on 18-11-2005 by Esoteric Teacher]

actually water doesn't conduct electricity. it is the impurities in the water that conduct electricity. pure water is a very good insulator as it has no free electrons