How much charge is there on a pulsating Taylor cone?

Abstract

The authors show that the capillary wave frequency spectrum of a charged droplet also gives an accurate estimate for the Taylor cone [Proc. R. Soc. London A 280, 383 (1964)] pulsation frequency. For low conductivity liquids and relatively large radius emitters, this frequency is mainly influenced by the anchoring radius at the emitter tip. For smaller tips the net amount of charge on the Taylor cone becomes increasingly significant. For example, the charge on pulsating Taylor cones with anchoring radii of 65 and 50μm increases from 57% to 74%, when expressed as a percentage of the Rayleigh limit [Philos. Mag. 14, 184 (1882)] of the corresponding droplets with the same radii.