II. On the time-relations of the excursions of the capillary electrometer, with a description of the method of using it for the investigation of electrical changes of short duration

Abstract

In a preliminary note “On a Method of Determining the Value of Rapid Variations of a Difference of Potential by Means of the Capillary Electrometer,” I indicated briefly the results of an investigation of the time-relations of the excursions of the capillary electrometer. The object of the present paper is to give further details concerning the method of measurement which I then put forward, and to describe the experiments which led to it. The theory of the instrument has been treated by Lippmann, Hermann, and others, mainly from a mathematical stand-point, and the phenomena have been ascribed to polarization, but no adequate attempt appears to have been made to establish by actual measurement the accuracy of the formula for the time-relations, nor to ascertain whether there were any other influences at work besides those assumed in stating the problem. Poiseuille’s experiments on the velocity of the flow of liquids through capillary tubes seem to have been overlooked, and no sufficient investigation made of the effect of the form and dimensions of the tubes upon the rate of movement of the meniscus.