The self-filling siphon, and why can't it be done?

[Nabo00o]

Oh damn, I got the best Idea in I've had in a while now!!!!
This can get interesting....

Edit: Siphons in most (probably all setups) are governed by hydrostatics.
What I did in those drawing was to reverse the place the water's weight rested on, now they instead hanged in the roof, but then all that weight/suction power got absorbed (just like in normal hydrostatics).
But, what if that water hanged directly from the output of a capillary tube?
(think before you speak )
Naboo

Edit yet again: This is damn interesting!

[onthecuttingedge2005]

@onthecuttingedge2005
In your opinion, what would the best available structure or material be for a homemade capillary tube?
I ask because I want to do some serious experimentation in this area, as I've already seen, it seems like slightly different materials have very different properties. As you surely agree the biggest nut to crack then is how to make the water flow out of it again.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

Naboo

try researching it with low boiling point Alcohol instead of water. I think the solution is the boiling point of the liquid medium breaking the capillary surface tension via pressure.

here is a Mercury fountain that uses Mercury's low boiling point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1FnF5zUPEE

Jerry

[Nabo00o]

I think the solution is the boiling point of the liquid medium "breaking the capillary surface tension via pressure."

Dead on!
I'll try to show some sketches soon. It will also show just why my setup didn't work and why we can overcome that problem!

Julian

[onthecuttingedge2005]

You might try something like this.

Jerry

[Nabo00o]

I'm not sure exactly how that works, well I'm not yet that experienced with capillary structures.
Anyway here's my idea to why my previous theory didn't work. Basically it was all the time a hydrostatic system, it had just been reversed. Instead of making the fluid rest on the ground and thus making its weight equally compensated for, it now hanged from the roof so to say, and thus its weight will be compensated for by the structure it is hanging from. It is is really just like turning the a normal hydrostatic example upside down, and then you are working with negative pressures instead of positive ones.

I made these examples just to show my thinking, the ones to the left are the purely theoretical ones, while the ones to the right are made to handle the air-bubble problem when you increases the surface of a pipe or container too much. I think this also explains siphoning pretty well, you are working hydrostatic pressures as in any normal container with an outlet, but instead of working with positive pressures you are working with negative ones. (if that makes sense):