Scaling phenomena in electrochemical systems

Lene Oddershede

The Niels Bohr Institute, ,Blegdamsvej 17 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark


Abstract: We present two very different experiments both involving electrohydrodynamics. One is the electro- chemical etching of a metallic wire and the other is the displacement of an initially horizontal interface between water and oil onto which an orthogonal electrical field is applied. We have observed some common behavior of the two systems: In the dynamical process through which the system is evolving there exists a critical point around which several of the parameters describing the system exhibit scale invariant behavior. One intriguing fact is that the emerging scaling exponents describing the two different systems within the uncertainties are identical.