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An electrostatic generator, or electrostatic machine, is an electrical generator 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 ...
An engineering drawing of a Wimshurst machine, from Hawkins Electrical Guide Wimshurst machine in operation Quadruple sector-less Wimshurst machine. The Wimshurst machine or Wimshurst influence machine is an electrostatic generator, a machine for generating high voltages developed between 1880 and 1883 by British inventor James Wimshurst (1832–1903).
The Kelvin water dropper, invented by Scottish scientist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) in 1867, [1] is a type of electrostatic generator. Kelvin referred to the device as his water-dropping condenser. The apparatus is variously called the Kelvin hydroelectric generator, the Kelvin electrostatic generator, or Lord Kelvin's thunderstorm.
A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator which uses a moving belt to accumulate electric charge on a hollow metal globe on the top of an insulated column, creating very high electric potentials. It produces very high voltage direct current (DC) electricity at low current levels.
In 1843, Armstrong designed a full-scale electrostatic generator on electrically insulating legs. These machines, with 46 steam jets, he called his "hydroelectric generators". One was set up at the Royal Polytechnic Institution in London and another was exported to the USA. These were fearsome machines, making a deafening noise, and the 22-inch ...
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. [1] The glass tube was a less effective static generator than the globe, but it became more popular because it was easier to use. [2]
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).
An electrostatic pinwheel, or corona spinner, attached to a small Wimshurst machine (electrostatic generator) is shown stationary and rotating. Ion wind, ionic wind, corona wind or electric wind is the airflow of charged particles induced by electrostatic forces linked to corona discharge arising at the tips of some sharp conductors (such as points or blades) subjected to high voltage relative ...
