Electrostatic Charge

Insecticide Spray.

An insecticide is a chemical that kills insects.

Crops (plants grown for food) are sometimes sprayed from an aircraft with
an insecticide to reduce the amount of the crop which gets eaten by insects.

The advantage of spraying crops from an aircraft
is that large areas can be sprayed very quickly.

The disadvantage is that it is difficult to control
where the spray will fall on the fields.
Some parts of the field will receive more insecticide than others.
Some insecticide is blown away on the wind
and does not fall on the crop at all.

If the insecticide is given a static charge as it leaves the aircraft
then much more of the spray reaches its target
and the spray droplets are spread out more evenly.

This happens because the insecticide droplets with the static charge
are attracted to the crop even though the crop is neutral (uncharged).
See the page for neutral objects for the explanation.

The insecticide droplets spread out more evenly because
they all have the same charge - see paint spraying.

        Headings        Electrostatic Charge        Search        Questions        

gcsescience.com              Contents             Index              Quizzes             gcsescience.com

Copyright © 2011 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.