Water Bending Take 2: Crucial Experiments and Theory

At SESAPS 24 I presented a challenge: Find experiments that allow us to determine the main reason a thin stream of water bends near an electric charge! I will now present some of the main experiments pinpointing the microscopic reason behind this phenomenon. These experiments can all be (and have been) carried out at standard undergraduate (or even high school) physics laboratories. The experiments lead to the definite, but potentially controversial, conclusion that the polar nature of the water molecule is NOT the dominant cause, contrary to commonly held beliefs. Rather, I advocate that triboelectric charging is the main culprit. These conclusions are supported by a few simple conceptual and theoretical arguments. If time allows, I will introduce the intriguing behavior of non-polar liquids near an electric charge.