The Wimshurst Machine
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The Wimshurst Machine was invented in the 1880s by James Wimshurst. It is an electrostatic generator that generates sparks of electricity. When you turn the crank, the two disks pass one another in opposite directions. As they do, an intial charge from the air causes the metallic sectors to charge one another as they pass. These charges are collected by the pointed "combs" on the sides of the machine and stored in the cylindrical leyden jars--early capacitors. When the charge stored in the jars is large enough, the machine sparks between its two arms. Smaller, more frequent sparks can be achieved by moving the two arms closer together, and larger, less frequent sparks by moving them furth apart. This machine can create sparks of about 2.5 inches. |
