#63 Blog Post

The Leyden Jar was a device designed by Pieter van Masschenbroek in 1975 to store electric charge. Originally the Leyden Jar was made of a glass bottle filled a little bit with water to act as a conductor. The jar had a metal wire passing through a cork which closed the jar. At this time there was no outer plate. Later the design changed to a metal foil coating part of the inner surface and a conductor foil wrapped around the outside surface. The jar is also now charged by an electrostatic generator connected to the inner electrode, with the outer plate being grounded. Additionally, the inner and outer surfaces store opposite charges that are equal in amount.
The Wimshurst Machine, was designed between 1880 and 1883 by James Wimshurt to generate high voltages. The device consisted of two large contra-rotating discs, that are mounted in a vertical plane, two cross bars with metallic brushes, and a spark gap. This device creates electric charges through the concept of electrostatic induction. This works when the two insulated disks and the metal sectors rotate in opposite directions passing the crossed metal neutralizer bars and brushes, creating an imbalance of charges. The positive feedback increases the accumulated charges until the dielectric breakdown voltage of the air is reached which is what makes the sparks which jumps across the gap of the two disks.