Ben Franklin's Kite
circa
June 1752
More can be found at http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/kite/index.htm. (The animation at the top of the page is off. Ben Franklin did not experience a lightning strike.)
The
pointed wire was to provide a sufficiently high electric field that
enough current would be attracted to to allow Franklin to do his experiments.
(The sharper the object, the greater the electric field is around
it.) The silk ribbon was to act as an insulator between himself an
the wet conducting twine. The key provided several sharp points for
visible discharge of the electron current descending the twine.
What did it show? After collecting the cloud's charge, Ben Franklin performed a series of experiements which showed that the charge from the clouds behaved in the same manner and negatively charged bojects. This was scienctific evidence that lightning comes from electricity and is not fire. once it was established that lightning comes from electricity it can try to be explained. However, not much progress was made in explaining the source of lightning for about another 100 years. |
by Tony Wayne ...(If you are a teacher, please feel free to use these resources in your teaching.)
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