#63 blog post

Static electricity has been involved in experiments since the 1700s. One of the first experiments with static electricity involved the Leyden Jar. The Leyden jar was invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek. This was the first capacitor and were used to conduct experiments involving electricity. The original model was a glass bottle partially filled with water with a metal wire passing through the cork that was used to close the bottle. Another invention that was used for early static electricity experiments was the Wimshurst machine. The Wimshurst machine is an electrostatic device for generating high voltages developed between 1880 and 1883 by James Wimshurst. "It has a distinctive appearance with two large contra-rotating discs mounted in a vertical plane, two cross bars with metallic brushes, and a spark gap formed by two metal spheres." The device did not have the previous disadvantage to temporarily and randomly switch its polarity. Overall the static electricity within history has progressed over the years.