Nonlinear capillary oscillation of a charged drop

In the quadratic approximation with respect to the amplitudes of capillary oscillation and velocity field of the liquid moving inside a charged drop of a perfectly conducting fluid, it is shown that the liquid drop oscillates about a weakly prolate form. This refines the result obtained in the linear theory developed by Lord Rayleigh, who predicted oscillation about a spherical form. The extent of elongation is proportional to the initial amplitude of the principal mode and increases with the intrinsic charge carried by the drop. An estimate is obtained for the characteristic time of instability development for a critically charged drop.