Franklin's electrostatic machine

Franklin's electrostatic machine
on display at the Franklin Institute

Franklin's electrostatic machine is a high-voltage static electricity-generating device used by Benjamin Franklin in the mid-18th century for research into electrical phenomena. Its key components are a glass globe which turned on an axis via a crank, a cloth pad in contact with the spinning globe, a set of metal needles to conduct away the charge developed on the globe by its friction with the pad, and a Leyden jar – a high-voltage capacitor – to accumulate the charge. Franklin's experiments with the machine eventually led to new theories about electricity and inventing the lightning rod.

Background

Main article: Benjamin Franklin § Inventions and scientific inquiries

Leyden jar experiment

Franklin was not the first to build an electrostatic generator. European scientists developed machines to generate static electricity decades earlier. In 1663, Otto von Guericke generated static electricity with a device that used a sphere of sulfur.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200961">Lemay 2009, p. 61.</ref> Francis Hauksbee developed a more advanced electrostatic generator around 1704 using a glass bulb that had a vacuum. He later replaced the globe with a glass tube of about 2.5 feet (0.76 m) emptied of air.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200961">Lemay 2009, p. 61.</ref> The glass tube was a less effective static generator than the globe, but it became more popular because it was easier to use.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200962">Lemay 2009, p. 62.</ref>

Machines that generated static electricity with a glass disc were popular and widespread in Europe by 1740.<ref name="FOOTNOTEGrimnes2014495">Grimnes 2014, p. 495.</ref> In 1745, German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist and Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek discovered independently that the electric charge from these machines could be stored in a Leyden jar, named after the city of Leiden in the Netherlands.<ref name="FOOTNOTEGrimnes2014495">Grimnes 2014, p. 495.</ref>

In 1745, Peter Collinson, a businessman from London who corresponded with American and European scientists, donated a German "glass tube"<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005185">Talbott 2005, p. 185.</ref> along with instructions how to make static electricity, to Franklin's Library Company of Philadelphia.<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen199061">Cohen 1990, p. 61.</ref> Collinson was the library's London agent and provided the latest technology news from Europe.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200958–59">Lemay 2009, pp. 58–59.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTECrane195448">Crane 1954, p. 48.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEPasles2008119">Pasles 2008, p. 119.</ref> Franklin wrote a letter to Collinson on March 28, 1747,<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200967">Lemay 2009, p. 67.</ref> thanking him, and saying the tube and instructions had motivated several colleagues and him to begin serious experiments with electricity.<ref name=Letter>"From Benjamin Franklin to Peter Collinson, 28 March 1747". National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2015.</ref>

Collinson gift of "glass tube" used for producing static electricity

In 1746, Franklin began working on electrical experiments with Ebenezer Kinnersley after he bought all of Archibald Spencer's electrical equipment that he used in his lectures. Later, he was also associated with Thomas Hopkinson and Philip Syng in experimentation with electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTEMaclean1877142">Maclean 1877, p. 142.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005182">Talbott 2005, p. 182.</ref> In the summer of 1747 they had received an electrical system from Thomas Penn.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200975">Lemay 2009, p. 75.</ref> While no records exists to tell exactly what parts were included in the system, historian J. A. Leo LeMay believes it was a combination of an electricity generating machine, a Leyden jar, a glass tube, and a stool that was electrically insulated from the ground.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200975">Lemay 2009, p. 75.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEGarche2013596">Garche 2013, p. 596.</ref> This gave Franklin a complete system to experiment with generating and storing electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTECrane195448">Crane 1954, p. 48.</ref>

When amber, sulfur, or glass are rubbed with certain materials, they produce electrical effects.<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen199028">Cohen 1990, p. 28.</ref> Franklin theorized this "electrical fire" was collected from this other material somehow, and not produced by the friction on the object.<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005184">Talbott 2005, p. 184.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200971">Lemay 2009, p. 71.</ref> He decided to retire early from his printing business, still in his early forties, to spend more time studying electricity. In 1748, Franklin turned over his entire printing business to his partner David Hall.<ref name="FOOTNOTEWaldstreicher2005126–127">Waldstreicher 2005, pp. 126–127.</ref> He moved into a new Philadelphia home with his wife, where he built a laboratory to conduct experiments and research new electrical theories.<ref name="FOOTNOTEFinger201285">Finger 2012, p. 85.</ref><ref name=HomeLab>"Franklin's Lightning Rod". The Franklin Institute. 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.</ref> Franklin experimented not only with the electrostatic machine with the glass globe, but also with the Leyden jar.<ref name="FOOTNOTETucker200540">Tucker 2005, p. 40.</ref> He kept a detailed journal of his research in a diary called "Electrical Minutes" that has since been lost.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200991">Lemay 2009, p. 91.</ref> Franklin's machine was given to Library Company of Philadelphia by Franklin's grandson in 1792,<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005185">Talbott 2005, p. 185.</ref> and is currently on display at the Franklin Institute.

The glass globe spinning against the bottom pad develops static charge, which is conducted away by metal needles at top.

Description

Franklin's machine used a belt and pulley system that could be operated by one person turning a crank.<ref name="FOOTNOTETucker200540">Tucker 2005, p. 40.</ref> A large pulley was attached to the crank handle, and a much smaller pulley was attached to a large glass globe. An iron axle passed through the globe. This allowed the globe to be rotated at high speed.<ref name="FOOTNOTESecor1975214">Secor 1975, p. 214.</ref> When the crank was turned, the glass globe rubbed against a leather pad, which generated a large static charge, similar to the electrical charge that could be created by rubbing a glass tube with wool cloth by hand. The machine was unique improvement over others made in Europe at the time, as the glass globe could be spun faster with much less labor.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200972">Lemay 2009, p. 72.</ref> A few revolutions of the handle were all that were needed to charge a Leyden jar.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200972">Lemay 2009, p. 72.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTECohen1956440">Cohen 1956, p. 440.</ref>

The electricity produced by the machine, in the form of sparks, passed through a set of metal needles positioned close to the spinning globe. The electric charge continued passing through a beaded iron chain, which acted as a conductor, to a Leyden jar that received the electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTEMcNichol200610–16">McNichol 2006, pp. 10–16.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEGregory18228">Gregory 1822, p. 8.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEMcGrath20011335">McGrath 2001, p. 1335.</ref> Franklin called the sparks produced by the machine "electrical fire".<ref name="FOOTNOTECrane195448">Crane 1954, p. 48.</ref>

The glass globes, known as "electerizing globes",<ref name="FOOTNOTEBridenbaugh201263">Bridenbaugh 2012, p. 63.</ref> were made of glass that was scientifically designed to produce static electricity effectively.<ref name="Green">"The Wistars and their Glass 1739 – 1777". WheatonArts. 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2016.</ref> Franklin specified the materials to be used in the glass formula, and the globes were manufactured by Caspar Wistar, a close associate of Franklin.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200975">Lemay 2009, p. 75.</ref> Wistarburgh Glass Works also made scientific glass for the Leyden jars Franklin used in the 1750s.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200975">Lemay 2009, p. 75.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEBridenbaugh201263">Bridenbaugh 2012, p. 63.</ref>

Electrical principles

Franklin's experiments with Leyden jars progressed to connecting several Leyden jars together in a series, with "one hanging on the tail of the other". All of the jars in the series could be charged simultaneously, which multiplied the electrical effect.<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen1956460">Cohen 1956, p. 460.</ref> A similar apparatus had been created earlier by Daniel Gralath. Franklin called this device an "electrical battery",<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005185">Talbott 2005, p. 185.</ref> but that term later came to have a different meaning, referring instead to a set of one or more galvanic cells. At that time, the word "battery" was a military term for a group of cannons.<ref name="FOOTNOTELynn2009136">Lynn 2009, p. 136.</ref> Franklin was the first to apply the terms "positive" and "negative" to electricity.

Through his research, Franklin was among first to prove the electrical principal of conservation of charge in 1747:<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005184">Talbott 2005, p. 184.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200972">Lemay 2009, p. 72.</ref> a similar discovery was made independently in 1746 by William Watson. Franklin wrote detailed letters and documents about his experiments with the electrostatic machine and Leyden jars.<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005184">Talbott 2005, p. 184.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEMcNichol200616">McNichol 2006, p. 16.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEMalmivuoPlonsey199513">Malmivuo & Plonsey 1995, p. 13.</ref> In 1749, Franklin made a list of several ways in which lightning was similar to electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTEMorgan200312">Morgan 2003, p. 12.</ref> He concluded that lightning was essentially nothing more than giant electric sparks, similar to the sparks from the static charges produced by his electrostatic machine.<ref name="FOOTNOTEMorgan200312">Morgan 2003, p. 12.</ref> He referred to static electricity as "electric fire", "electric matter", or "electric fluid".<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen1956460">Cohen 1956, p. 460.</ref> The term "electric fluid" was based on the idea that a jar could be filled and refilled when it became empty.<ref name="FOOTNOTEGrimnes2014495">Grimnes 2014, p. 495.</ref> That led to the revolutionary idea of "electrical fire" as a type of motion or current flow rather than a type of explosion.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200972–75">Lemay 2009, pp. 72–75.</ref>

Several 18th-century electric terms were derived from his name. For example, static electricity was known as "Franklin current",<ref name="FOOTNOTEGrimnes2014496">Grimnes 2014, p. 496.</ref> and "Franklinization" is a form of electrotherapy where Franklin shocked patients with strong static charges, to treat patients with various illnesses.<ref name="FOOTNOTESchiffer2003136, 137">Schiffer 2003, pp. 136, 137.</ref><ref name=Americana>"Electro-therapeutics". The Encyclopedia Americana: A universal reference library comprising the arts and sciences. Scientific American Compiling Department. 1905.</ref>

Leyden jar battery at the Franklin Institute science museum and the associated museum label that is below it

Lightning rod invention

Kite apparatus for safe study of atmospheric electricity and lightning

See also: Thunder house

Franklin invented the lightning rod based on what he learned from experiments with his electrostatic machine. <ref name="FOOTNOTEMaclean1877142">Maclean 1877, p. 142.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTECoulson195032">Coulson 1950, p. 32.</ref> Franklin and his associates observed that pointed objects were more effective than blunt objects at "drawing off" and "throwing off" sparks from static electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005182">Talbott 2005, p. 182.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTELeMay1987600">LeMay 1987, p. 600.</ref> This discovery was first reported by Hopkinson.<ref name="FOOTNOTEFinger201285">Finger 2012, p. 85.</ref> Franklin wondered if this discovery could be used in a practical invention. <ref name="FOOTNOTEIsaacson2004137–145">Isaacson 2004, pp. 137–145.</ref> He thought something could be made to attract the electricity out of storm clouds, but first he had to verify that lightning bolts really are giant electric sparks.<ref name="FOOTNOTEIsaacson2004137–145">Isaacson 2004, pp. 137–145.</ref> He wrote Collinson and Cadwallader Colden letters about this theory,<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200986–96">Lemay 2009, pp. 86–96.</ref> and he described the kite experiment in the October 19, 1752 issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette.<ref name="FOOTNOTEIsaacson2004141">Isaacson 2004, p. 141.</ref><ref>Franklin, Benjamin (October 19, 1752). "The Kite Experiment". The Pennsylvania Gazette. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010.</ref><ref>"Kite Experiment". Benjamin Franklin Historical Society. Retrieved March 1, 2022.</ref> (Tom Tucker of the Isothermal Community College doubts the account, however, because of ambiguities in the account and points that out in his book Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and his Electric Kite Hoax.<ref name="FOOTNOTETucker2005">Tucker 2005.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEMatthews2003">Matthews 2003.</ref> Others disagree with this view, arguing that Franklin would not make up such a fake story because he valued the integrity of the scientific community.<ref name="FOOTNOTESchiffer2004">Schiffer 2004.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEBoese2015">Boese 2015.</ref>)

A "thunder house" example

To test his theory, Franklin proposed a potentially deadly experiment, to be performed during an electrical storm, where a person would stand on an insulated stool inside a sentry box, and hold out a long, pointed iron rod to attract a lightning bolt.<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen199028">Cohen 1990, p. 28.</ref> A similar but less dangerous version of this experiment was first performed successfully in France On May 10, 1752, and later repeated several more times throughout Europe, though after a fatality in 1753 it was less frequently tried. Franklin declared that this "sentry-box experiment" showed that lightning and electricity were one and the same.<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen199028">Cohen 1990, p. 28.</ref>

Franklin realized that wooden buildings could be protected from lightning strikes, and the deadly fires that often resulted, by placing a pointed iron on a rooftop, with the other end of the rod placed deep into the ground. The sharp point of the lightning rod would attract the electrical discharge from the cloud, and the lightning bolt would hit the iron rod instead of the wooden building. The electric charge from the lightning would flow through the rod directly into the earth, bypassing the structure, and preventing a fire.<ref name="FOOTNOTESchafer199258">Schafer 1992, p. 58.</ref>

Franklin's friend Kinnersley traveled throughout the eastern United States in the 1750s demonstrating man-made "lightning" on model thunder houses to show a how an iron rod placed into the ground would protect a wooden structure. He explained that lightning followed the same principles as the sparks from Franklin's electrostatic machine. These lectures by Kinnersley were widely advertised, and were one of the ways Franklin's lightning rod was demonstrated to the general public.<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005188">Talbott 2005, p. 188.</ref>

Legacy

One of Joseph Priestley's
"electrostatic machines"

Main articles: Luigi Galvani and Joseph Priestley

Franklin distributed copies of the electrostatic machine to many of his close associates to encourage them to study electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTELemay200975">Lemay 2009, p. 75.</ref> Between 1747 and 1750, Franklin sent many letters to his friend Collinson in London about his experiments with the electrostatic machine and the Leyden jar, including his observations and theories on the principles of electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTETalbott2005182">Talbott 2005, p. 182.</ref> These letters were collected and published in 1751 in a book entitled Experiments and Observations on Electricity.<ref name=Letter/><ref name="FOOTNOTEMcNichol200619">McNichol 2006, p. 19.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTEFranklin1751">Franklin 1751.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTECohen1956432, 478">Cohen 1956, pp. 432, 478.</ref>

While Joseph Priestley was writing about the history of electricity, Franklin encouraged him to use an electrostatic machine to perform the experiments he was writing about. Priestly designed and used his own variations of Franklin's machine.<ref name="FOOTNOTEPyensonGauvin200293">Pyenson & Gauvin 2002, p. 93.</ref> While replicating the electrical experiments, some unanswered questions prompted Priestly to design additional experiments, leading to additional discoveries. In 1767, he published a 700-page book on his findings called The History and Present State of Electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTEJackson200564–66">Jackson 2005, pp. 64–66.</ref><ref name="FOOTNOTESchofield1997140–150">Schofield 1997, pp. 140–150.</ref>

Eighteenth-century scientific laboratories usually contained some form of hand-operated electrostatic machine. Italian scientist Luigi Galvani had an electrostatic generator in his laboratory, where experiments with frog legs led him to conclude that animals generated a vital force, an animal electricity.<ref name="FOOTNOTEAvery2016207">Avery 2016, p. 207.</ref> Another Italian scientist, Alessandro Volta, disagreed with Galvani's claim that the electrical effects were due to something peculiar to living matter, and he demonstrated that electricity can be generated merely by placing wet, salty material in between two different metals. This led directly to the invention of the first practical electric battery, the voltaic pile.

After Franklin's death, two iconic artifacts from his research, the original "battery" of Leyden jars, and the "glass tube" that was a gift from Collinson in 1747, were given to the Royal Society in 1836 by Thomas Hopkinson's grandson Joseph Hopkinson, in accordance with Franklin's will.<ref name="FOOTNOTECohen1956454B">Cohen 1956, p. 454B.</ref>

See also

• Wistarburgh Glass Works
• Corbett's electrostatic machine
• Van de Graaff generator

References

Sources

• Avery, John Scales (2016). Science and Society. World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-3147-73-7.
• Boese, Alex (2015). "The Electric Kite Hoax". The Museum of Hoaxes. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
• Bridenbaugh, Carl (2012). The Colonial Craftsman. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-14473-3.
• Cohen, I. Bernard (1956). Franklin and Newton: An Inquiry Into Speculative Newtonian Experimental Science and Franklin's Work in Electricity as an Example Thereof. Harvard University Press.
• Cohen, I. Bernard (1990). Benjamin Franklin's Science. Harvard University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-674-06659-5. Peter Collinson glass tube Franklin gift.
• Coulson, Thomas (1950). Joseph Henry: His Life and Work. Princeton University Press. The atmosphere of Philadelphia gave him and his associates exceptional opportunity to exercise their skill with the electrostatic machine. As a result, many of their experiments were of an original character. The famous kite experiment enabled the Philadelphia group to established what had been surmised by others, that lightning was identical to the mild charge of electricity produced by the friction of the electrostatic machine. Franklin invented the lightning rod, which goes down in history as the first practical electrical invention.
• Crane, Verner Winslow (1954). Benjamin Franklin and a Rising People. Little, Brown and Company.
• Finger, Stanley (2012). Doctor Franklin's Medicine. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0191-8.
• Franklin, Benjamin (1751). "Experiments and Observations on Electricity". E. Cave. Retrieved 28 October 2016 – via Smithsonian Libraries.
• Garche, Jürgen (2013). Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources. Newnes. ISBN 978-0-444-52745-5.
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• Jackson, Joe (2005). World on Fire. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-03434-5.
• LeMay, J. A. Leo (1987). Benjamin Franklin: Writings. Penguin Group USA. ISBN 978-0-940450-29-5.
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• Lynn, Barry C. (2009). Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-55703-7.
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• Matthews, Robert (June 1, 2003). "Benjamin Franklin 'faked kite experiment'". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
• McGrath, Kimberley A. (2001). The Gale Encyclopedia of Science: Catastrophism-Eukaryotae. Gale Group. ISBN 978-0-7876-4372-0.
• McNichol, Tom (2006). AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-04702-6.
• Morgan, Edmund Sears (2003). Benjamin Franklin. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10162-1.
• Malmivuo, Jaakko; Plonsey, Robert (1995). Bioelectromagnetism: Principles and Applications of Bioelectric and Biomagnetic Fields. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505823-9.
• Pasles, Paul C. (2008). Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12956-3.
• Pyenson, Lewis; Gauvin, Jean-François (2002). Art of Teaching Physics. Les Éditions du Septentrion. ISBN 978-2-89448-320-6.
• Schafer, Larry E. (1992). Taking Charge: An Introduction to Electricity. NSTA Press. ISBN 978-0-87355-110-6.
• Schiffer, Michael B. (2003). Draw the Lightning Down. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23802-8.
• Schiffer, Michael B. (2004). "Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax (review)". Technology and Culture. 45 (4): 839–840. doi:10.1353/tech.2004.0202. S2CID 109344397.
• Schofield, Robert E. (1997). Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley. Penn State Press. ISBN 0-271-04083-1.
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• Talbott, Page (2005). Search of a Better World. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-1-4379-6732-6.
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• Waldstreicher, David (2005). Runaway America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-8090-8315-2.

External links

• Benjamin Franklin's electrical apparatus (electrostatic machine) at Smithsonian National Museum of American History
• The Amazing Adventures of Ben Franklin – Scientist & Inventor / Opposites Attract with picture of glass globe on top
• Franklin's Electrostatic Generator information and picture from University of Maryland Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. Archived 2016-12-06 at the Wayback Machine