Measurements on electrical properties of water while acoustically levitated

Abstract

With the use of an acoustic levitator, I remotely measured the capacitance of water, with the idea of obtaining the dielectric constant. A water droplet was trapped inside the central node of the acoustic field and its capacitance measured, the field was then turned on and off to allow the measurement of the electrodes without the water and to calculate the difference. The capacitance was measured with the help of a self build LC-circuit that relies on the resonance between a capacitor and inductor. To verify measurements a Fluke PM6306 RCL-meter was used with the same measurement routine. Resistance was also measured using the same RCL-meter at different frequencies and salt concentrations to see the effect on the resistivity. The droplet was placed at the same node and two small electrodes were brought into the droplet on either side.