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The first electroscope was a pivoted needle (called the versorium), invented by British physician William Gilbert around 1600. [1] [2] The pith-ball electroscope and the gold-leaf electroscope are two classical types of electroscope [2] that are still used in physics education to demonstrate the principles of electrostatics.
Canton is now mainly remembered for his work in electrostatics, [2] particularly the invention of the pith ball electroscope, and his studies in atmospheric electricity. [8] He is honoured with a blue plaque at the site of his old school in his hometown of Stroud. [9]
Gold-leaf electroscope, showing induction (labelled polarity of charges), before the terminal is grounded. Using an electroscope to show electrostatic induction. The device has leaves/needle that become charged when introducing a charged rod to it. The leaves bend the leave/needle, and the stronger the static introduced, the more bending occurs.
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, particle accelerators, spectroscopy, medical applications, sterilization of food, and nuclear physics experiments.
The collector, consisting of a series of metal points, was added to the machine by Benjamin Wilson about 1746, and in 1762, John Canton of England (also the inventor of the first pith-ball electroscope in 1754 [38]) improved the efficiency of electric machines by sprinkling an amalgam of tin over the surface of the rubber. [11]
A gold-leaf electroscope (E), a sensitive detector of electric charge, is attached by a wire to the outside of the pail. When the charged ball is lowered into the pail without touching it, the electroscope registers a charge, indicating that the ball induces charge in the metal container by electrostatic induction. An opposite charge is induced ...
Torsion is used to give a measurement more sensitive than repulsion of gold leaves or cork-balls. It consists of a glass cylinder with a glass tube on top. In the axes of the tube is a glass thread, the lower end of this holds a bar of gum lac, with a gilt pith ball at each extremity.
English: Diagram showing how a pith-ball electroscope works. The molecules (yellow ovals) that make up the pith ball (A) consist of positive charges (atomic nuclei) and negative charges (electrons) close together. Bringing a charged object (B) near the pith ball causes these charges to separate