Criterion of instability of a charged drop in an electrostatic suspension

The criterion of the realization of the instability of a charged drop, motionless in the superposition of gravitational and uniform electrostatic fields, is derived in an analytical way. An analytical expression is found for the connection of the critical values of the Rayleigh parameter and the Taylor parameter corresponding to the charge. It is revealed that the suspension, when used to check the Rayleigh criterion cannot, in essence, give the exact size of the criterion. © 2015, Allerton Press, Inc.