Electrostatic generator

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An electrostatic generator, or electrostatic machine, is a mechanical device that

produces static electricity, or electricity at high voltage and low continuous current. The
knowledge of static electricity dates back to the earliest civilizations, but for millennia it
remained merely an interesting and mystifying phenomenon, without a theory to explain
its behavior and often confused with magnetism. By the end of the 17th Century,
researchers had developed practical means of generating electricity by friction, but the
development of electrostatic machines did not begin in earnest until the 18th century,
when they became fundamental instruments in the studies about the new science of
electricity. Electrostatic generators operate by using manual (or other) power to transform
mechanical work into electric energy. They develop electrostatic charges of opposite
signs rendered to two conductors, using only electric forces.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Description
o 1.1 Friction machines

1.1.1 History

1.1.2 Friction operation
o 1.2 Influence machines

1.2.1 History
o 1.3 Modern electrostatic generators
• 2 Fringe science and devices
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 Further reading
• 6 External links

[edit] Description
Electrostatic machines are typically used in science classrooms to safely demonstrate
electrical forces and high voltage phenomena. The elevated potential differences
achieved have been also used for a variety of practical applications, such as operating X-
ray tubes, medical applications, sterilization of food, and nuclear physics experiments.
Electrostatic generators such as the Van de Graaff generator, and variations as the
Pelletron, also find use in physics research.
Electrostatic generators are classically separated on two kinds: friction machines and
influence machines.

[edit] Friction machines

[edit] History

Typical friction machine using a glass globe, common in the 18th century

Martinus van Marum's Electrostatic generator at Teylers Museum

The first electrostatic generators are called friction machines because of the friction in the
generation process. A primitive form of frictional electrical machine was constructed
around 1663 by Otto von Guericke, using a sulphur globe that could be rotated and
rubbed by hand. It may not actually have been rotated during use.[1] , but inspired many
later machines that used rotating globes. Isaac Newton suggested the use of a glass globe
instead of a sulphur one (Optics, 8th Query). Francis Hauksbee improved the basic design
[2]
.

Generators were further advanced when G. M. Bose of Wittenberg added a collecting

conductor (an insulated tube or cylinder supported on silk strings). In 1746, Watson's
machine had a large wheel turning several glass globes with a sword and a gun barrel
suspended from silk cords for its prime conductors. J. H. Winkler, professor of physics at
Leipzig, substituted a leather cushion for the hand. Andreas Gordon of Erfurt, a Scottish
Benedictine monk, used a glass cylinder in place of a sphere. Jesse Ramsden, in 1768,
constructed a widely used version of a plate electrical generator. By 1784, the van Marum
machine could produce voltage with either polarity. Martin van Marum constructed a
large electrostatic machine of high quality for his experiments (currently on display at the
Teylers Museum in the Netherlands).

In 1785, N. Rouland constructed a silk belted machine which rubbed two grounded hare
fur covered tubes. Edward Nairne developed an electrostatic generator for medical
purposes in 1787 which had the ability to generate either positive or negative electricity,
the first named being collected from the prime conductor carrying the collecting points
and the second from another prime conductor carrying the friction pad. The Winter
machine possessed higher efficiency than earlier friction machines. In the 1830s, Georg
Ohm possessed a machine similar to the van Marum machine for his research (which is
now at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany). In 1840, the Woodward machine was
developed from improving the Ramsden machine (placing the prime conductor above the
disk(s)). Also in 1840, the Armstrong hydroelectric machine was developed and used
steam as a charge carrier.

[edit] Friction operation

The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or
repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which leads to static electricity, can be
generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the
phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-
conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result
of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on
top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve
charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases
amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, e.g., substances
that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge.
Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive
objects in contact generate charge imbalance too, but retain the charges only if insulated.
The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of
each object. Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the
electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other
phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.
[edit] Influence machines

[edit] History

Frictional machines were, in time, gradually superseded by the second class of instrument
mentioned above, namely, influence machines. These operate by electrostatic induction
and convert mechanical work into electrostatic energy by the aid of a small initial charge
which is continually being replenished and reinforced. The first suggestion of an
influence machine appears to have grown out of the invention of Volta's electrophorus.
The electrophorus is a single-plate capacitor used to produce imbalances of electric
charge via the process of electrostatic induction. The next step was when Abraham
Bennet, the inventor of the gold leaf electroscope, described a "doubler of electricity"
(Phil. Trans., 1787), as a device similar to the electrophorus, but that could amplify a
small charge by means of repeated manual operations with three insulated plates, in order
to make it observable in an electroscope. Erasmus Darwin, W. Wilson, G. C.
Bohnenberger, and (later, 1841) J. C. E. Péclet developed various modifications of
Bennet's device. In 1788, William Nicholson proposed his rotating doubler, which can be
considered as the first rotating influence machine. His instrument was described as "an
instrument which by turning a winch produces the two states of electricity without
friction or communication with the earth". (Phil. Trans., 1788, p. 403) Nicholson later
described a "spinning condenser" apparatus, as a better instrument for measurements.

Others, including T. Cavallo (who developed the "Cavallo multiplier", a charge multiplier
using simple addition, in 1795), John Read, Charles Bernard Desormes, and Jean Nicolas
Pierre Hachette, developed further various forms of rotating doublers. In 1798, The
German scientist and preacher Gottlieb Christoph Bohnenberger, described the
Bohnenberger machine, along with several other doublers of Bennet and Nicholson types
in a book. The most interesting of these were described in the "Annalen der Physik"
(1801). Giuseppe Belli, in 1831, developed a simple symmetrical doubler which
consisted of two curved metal plates between which revolved a pair of plates carried on
an insulating stem. It was the first symmetrical influence machine, with identical
structures for both terminals. This apparatus was reinvented several times, by C. F.
Varley, that patented a high power version in 1860, by Lord Kelvin (the "replenisher")
1868, and by A. D. Moore (the "dirod"), more recently. Lord Kelvin also devised a
combined influence machine and electromagnetic machine, commonly called a mouse
mill, for electrifying the ink in connection with his siphon recorder, and a water-drop
electrostatic generator (1867), which he called the "water-dropping condenser".

Holtz's influence machine.

Between 1864 and 1880, W. T. B. Holtz constructed and described a large number of
influence machines which were considered the most advanced developments of the time.
In one form, the Holtz machine consisted of a glass disk mounted on a horizontal axis
which could be made to rotate at a considerable speed by a multiplying gear, interacting
with induction plates mounted in a fixed disk close to it. In 1865, August J. I. Toepler
developed an influence machine that consisted of two disks fixed on the same shaft and
rotating in the same direction. In 1868, the Schwedoff machine had a curious structure to
increase the output current. Also in 1868, several mixed friction-influence machine were
developed, including the Kundt machine and the Carré machine. In 1866, the Piche
machine (or Bertsch machine) was developed. In 1869, H. Julius Smith received the
American patent for a portable and airtight device that was designed to ignite powder.
Also in 1869, sectorless machines in Germany were investigated by Poggendorff.

The action and efficiency of influence machines were further investigated by F. Rossetti,
A. Righi, and F. W. G. Kohlrausch. E. E. N. Mascart, A. Roiti, and E. Bouchotte also
examined the efficiency and current producing power of influence machines. In 1871,
sectorless machines were investigated by Musaeus. In 1872, Righi's electrometer was
developed and was one of the first antecedents of the Van de Graaff generator. In 1873,
Leyser developed the Leyser machine, a variation of the Holtz machine. In 1880, Robert
Voss (a Berlin instrument maker) devised a form of machine in which he claimed that the
principles of Toepler and Holtz were combined. The same structure become also known
as the Toepler-Holtz machine. In 1878, the British inventor James Wimshurst started his
studies about electrostatic generators, improving the Holtz machine, in a powerful
version with multiple disks. The classical Wimshurst machine, that become the most
popular form of influence machine, was reported to the scientific community by 1883,
although revious machines with very similar structures were previously described by
Holtz and Musaeus. In 1885, one of the largest-ever Wimshurst machines was built in
England (it is now at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry). In 1887, Weinhold
modified the Leyser machine with a system of vertical metal bar inductors with wooden
cylinders close to the disk for avoiding polarity reversals. M. L. Lebiez described the
Lebiez machine, that was essentially a simplified Voss machine (L'Électricien, April
1895, pp. 225-227). In 1894, Bonetti[3] designed a machine with the structure of the
Wimshurst machine, but without metal sectors in the disks. This machine is significantly
more powerful than the sectored version, but it must usually be started with an externally-
applied charge.

In 1898, the Pidgeon machine was developed with a unique setup by W. R. Pidgeon. In
October 28 of that year, Pidgeon presented this machine to the Physical Society after
several years of investigation into influence machines (beginning at the start of the
decade). The device was later reported in the Philosophical Magazine (Dec. 1898, pg.
564) and the Electrical Review (Vol. XLV, pg. 748). A Pidgeon machine possesses fixed
inductors arranged in a manner that increases the electrical induction effect (and its
electrical output is at least double that of typical machines of this type [except when it is
overtaxed]). The essential features of the Pidgeon machine are, one, the combination of
the rotating support and the fixed support for inducing charge, and, two, the improved
insulation of all parts of the machine (but more especially of the generator's carriers).
Pidgeon machines are a combination of a Wimshurst Machine and Voss Machine, with
special features adapted to reduce the amount of charge leakage. Pidgeon machines excite
themselves more readily than the best of these types of machines. In addition, Pidgeon
investigated higher current "triplex" section machines (or "double machines with a single
central disk") with enclosed sectors (and went on to receive British Patent 22517 (1899)
for this type of machine).

Multiple disk machines and "triplex" electrostatic machines (generators with three disks)
were also developed extensively around the turn of the century. In 1900, F. Tudsbury
discovered that enclosing a generator in a metallic chamber containing compressed air, or
better, carbon dioxide, the insulating properties of compressed gases enabled a greatly
improved effect to be obtained owing to the increase in the breakdown voltage of the
compressed gas, and reduction of the leakage across the plates and insulating supports. In
1903, Alfred Wehrsen patented an ebonite rotating disk possessing embedded sectors
with button contacts at the disk surface. In 1907, Heinrich Wommelsdorf reported a
variation of the Holtz machine using this disk and inductors embedded in celluloid plates
(DE154175; "Wehrsen machine"). Wommelsdorf also developed several high-
performance electrostatic generators, of which the best known were his "Condenser
machines" (1920). These were single disk machines, using disks with embedded sectors
that were accessed at the edges.

[edit] Modern electrostatic generators

An example of a common modern device using high voltage (a "plasma globe", that does
not use static electricity)

Electrostatic generators had a fundamental role in the investigations about the structure of
matter, starting at the end of the 19th century. By the 1920s, it was evident that machines
able to produce greater voltage were needed. The Van de Graaff generator was
developed, starting in 1929, at MIT. The first model was demonstrated in October 1929.
The basic idea was to use an insulating belt to transport electric charge to the interior of
an insulated hollow terminal, where it could be discharged regardless of the potential
already present on the terminal, that does not produce any electric field in its interior. The
idea was not new, but the implementation using an electronic power supply to charge the
belt was a fundamental innovation that made the old machines obsolete. The first
machine used a silk ribbon bought at a five and dime store as the charge transport belt. In
1931 a version able to produce 1,000,000 volts was described in a patent disclosure.
Nikola Tesla wrote a Scientific American article, "Possibilities of Electro-Static
Generators" in 1934 concerning the Van de Graaff generator (pp. 132-134 and 163-165).
Tesla stated, "I believe that when new types [of Van de Graaff generators] are developed
and sufficiently improved a great future will be assured to them". High-power machines
were soon developed, working on pressurized containers to allow greater charge
concentration on the surfaces without ionization. Variations of the Van de Graaff
generator were also developed for Physics research, as the Pelletron, that uses a chain
with alternating insulating and conducting links for charge transport. Simplified Van de
Graaff generators are commonly seen in demonstrations about static electricity, due to its
high-voltage capability, producing the curious effect of making the hair of people
touching the terminal, standing over an insulating support, stand up.

Between 1945 and 1960, the French researcher Noël Felici developed a series of high-
power electrostatic generators, based on electronic excitation and using cylinders rotating
at high speed and hydrogen in pressurized containers.It has very large sparks.

[edit] Fringe science and devices

These generators have been used, sometimes inappropriately and with some controversy,
to support various fringe science investigations. In 1911, George Samuel Piggott received
a patent for a compact double machine enclosed within a pressurized box for his
experiments concerning radiotelegraphy and "antigravity". Much later (in the 1960s), the
Testatika was built by German engineer, Paul Suisse Bauman, and promoted by a Swiss
community, the Methernithans. Testatika is an electromagnetic generator based on the
1889 Pidgeon electrostatic machine, said to produce "free energy" available directly from
the environment.

[edit] See also

• List of electrostatic generator patents
• Electrostatic motor
• Electrometer (also known as the "electroscope")
• Electret
• Static electricity

[edit] References
1. ^ Schiffer, Michael Brian (2003). Bringing the Lightning Down: Benjamin
Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment. Univ. of
California Press. ISBN 0520248295.
http://books.google.com/books?id=QQuk6bH2apcC&printsec=frontcover&vq=el
ectrostatic&dq=otto+guericke&lr=&as_brr=0.,p.18-19
2. ^ Hauksbee, Francis (1709). Psicho-Mechanical Experiments On Various
Subjects. R. Brugis.
3. ^ http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq/bonetti.html Instructions for building a Bonetti
machine
[edit] Further reading
• C. L. Stong, "Electrostatic motors are powered by electric field of the Earth".
October, 1974. (PDF)
• Oleg D. Jefimenko , "Electrostatic Motors: Their History, Types, and Principles
of Operation". Electret Scientific, Star City, 1973.
• G. W. Francis (Author) and Oleg D. Jefimenko (Editor), "Electrostatic
Experiments: An Encyclopedia of Early Electrostatic Experiments,
Demonstrations, Devices, and Apparatus". Electret Scientific, Star City, 2005.
• V. E. Johnson, "Modern High-Speed Influence Machines; Their principles,
construction and applications to radiography, radio-telegraphy, spark
photography, electro-culture, electro-therapeutics, high-tension gas ignition, and
the testing of materials". ISBN B0000EFPCO
• Alfred W. Simon, "Quantitative Theory of the Influence Electrostatic Generator".
Phys. Rev. 24, 690–696 (1924), Issue 6 – December 1924.
• J. Clerk Maxwell, Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (2nd ed.,Oxford, 1881),
vol. i. p.294
• J. D. Everett, Electricity (expansion of part iii. of Deschanels Natural Philosophy)
(London, 1901), ch. iv. p. 20
• A. Winkelmann, Handbuch der Physik (Breslau, 1905), vol. iv. pp. 50-58
(contains a large number of references to original papers)
• J. Gray, "Electrical Influence Machines, Their Historical Development and
Modern Forms [with instruction on making them]" (London, I903). (J. A. F.)
• Silvanus P. Thompson, The Influence Machine from Nicholson -1788 to 1888,
Journ. Soc. Tel. Eng., 1888, 17, p. 569
• John Munro, The Story Of Electricity (The Project Gutenberg Etext)
• A. D. Moore (Editor), "Electrostatics and its Applications". Wiley, New York,
1973.
• Oleg D. Jefimenko (with D. K. Walker), "Electrostatic motors". Phys. Teach. 9,
121-129 (1971).
• W. R. Pidgeon, "An Influence-Machine". Proc. Phys. Soc. London 12(1)1
(October 1892) 406–411 and 16(1) (October 1897) 253–257.

[edit] External links

• Electrostatic Generator - Interactive Java Tutorial National High Magnetic Field
Laboratory
• "Electrical (or Electrostatic) Machine". 1911 encyclopedia.
• "How it works : Electricity". triquartz.co.uk.
• Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz, "Electrostatic Machines".
o "Operation of the Wimshurst machine".
• "Doublers of Electricity", 2007 Phys. Educ. 42 156-162.
• American Museum of Radio: Electrostatic Machines
• The Bakken Museum: frictional generators
 • "Articles on Electrostatics from those that actually made the discoveries".
Experiments with non conventional energy technologies.
• Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), "On Electric Machines Founded on
Induction and Convection". Philosophical Magazine, January 1868.
• Bill Beaty, "'Kelvin's Thunderstorm'; Lord Kelvin's water-drop electrostatic
generator". 1995.
• M. Hill and D. J. Jacobs, "A novel Kelvin Electrostatic Generator", 1997 Phys.
Educ. 32 60-63.
• Paolo Brenni (Author) and Willem Hackmann (Editor), "The Van de Graaff
Generator: An Electrostatic Machine for the 20th Century". Bulletin of the
Scientific Instrument Society No. 63 (1999)
• Nikola Tesla, "Possibilities Of Electrostatic Generators". Scientific American,
March, 1934. (ed., Available .doc format)
• Lyonel Baum, "1,000,000 Volts, Felici's electrostatic generator". 2000.

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