China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Introduction
Published in Ahmad Shahid Khan, Saurabh Kumar Mukerji, Electromagnetic Fields, 2020
Ahmad Shahid Khan, Saurabh Kumar Mukerji
The concept of static electricity is not a new one. The ability of rubbed amber to attract light particles was recorded in 600 bce by the Greek thinker Thales of Miletus. For nearly 2,000 years, this concept remained almost confined to history. Then in 1296 ce, a magnetic compass was reportedly brought to Venice from the court of Kublai Khan by Marco Polo. In 1600 an English scientist, William Gilbert, demonstrated the effect on a compass of a metalized sphere (similar to earth), and published De Magnete. The word “electricity” was first used by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646 and the first electrostatic machine was reportedly built by Otto Von Guericke in 1650. In 1733 Charles Du Fay discovered two kinds of charges, which he called positive and negative. He also noted the attraction and repulsion of unlike and like charged particles. In 1735 conducting and dielectric properties were demonstrated by Stephen Grey. In 1745 the Leyden jar, the first capacitor, was invented by E. J. G. Von Kleist and P. V. Musschenbrock independently. In 1746 Benjamin Franklin classified electricity into negative (excess of electrons) and positive (deficiency of electrons). He also demonstrated the electrical nature of lightning and invented the lightning conductor in 1752. In 1787, M. Lammond invented the telegraph. In 1790 Alessandro Volta found that the chemistry acting on two dissimilar metals generates electricity, and in 1800 he invented the voltaic pile battery.
Lightning Injuries
Published in Leslie A. Geddes, Handbook of Electrical Hazards and Accidents, 1995
Our first scientific knowledge of the nature of lightning came from Benjamin Franklin who conducted his many well-known experiments on electricity, beginning about 1750. Before that time, It was known that certain substances, e.g. glass, wood, sulfur balls etc., when rubbed with silk or wool, became electrified and attracted or repelled objects and often produced long sparks if rubbed briskly. At that time it was believed that there were two kinds of electricity, artificial and natural (lightning). In 1747 the Leyden jar (capacitor), capable of storing substantial charge (electric fluid) was described by von Kleist of Karmin and about the same time by van Musschenbroek of Leyden. With the Leyden Jar, the charge produced by frictional electricity could be stored and stout sparks were produced when the jar was discharged.
Capacitance
Published in Adrian Waygood, An Introduction to Electrical Science, 2013
A year later, in 1746, before details of von Kleist’s invention had even been published, a Dutch physicist working at the University of Leiden, Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761), independently invented an almost identical device which became known as a ‘Leiden Jar’ or ‘Leyden Jar’, the forerunner of what we know, today, as a capacitor.
Strategies for ultrahigh outputs generation in triboelectric energy harvesting technologies: from fundamentals to devices
Published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2019
To overcome the limitation of the materials, a new type of TENGs was suggested, based on metal-metal contact for current amplification [8,36]. In the structure, an Al layer was added underneath the positive-charged layer (i.e. Al) and the direct electrical connection of the positive-charged layer to the earth (ground) induced the efficient charge separation in the layer, based on Volta’s electrophorus. This provided substantially larger electric potential at even low-frequency regime, producing an enhanced instantaneous output current of 1.22 mA. The shape of the single current peak was seen to be totally different from those in two-layered TENGs. Chung et al. also demonstrated a new TENG generation mechanism involving the Leyden jar effect, where a capacitor was combined with the TENG. The TENG was composed of a capacitor, a TENG unit and a cylinder containing the TENG. In the capacitor, the charges that the TENG generated were temporarily stored and by the metal-metal contact, they were released to the electrode, which produced a large peak current. Interestingly, the internal impedance of the TENG was decreased to 100 kΩ by the contact.