Voltages produced at the polarized mercury-electrolyte interface

The electrical potential differences which arise across the length of capillary tubes containing 1 N perchloric acid and mercury drops are studied experimentally and theoretically for constant acceleration and different lengths of the drops of mercury. A relatively simple theory explains many features of the voltage on the experimental parameters. The results suggest that surface modes exist on the mercury drops which, in association with the Gibbs-Thompson effect, is the coupling between the mechanical and electrochemical phenomena.