Things 2 Build

1745 – Capacitor/Layden Jar – Pieter van Musschenbroek

Pieter van Musschenbroek and his assistant, while trying to get sparks using glass with in it water, a wire and a charged  glass tube.  His assistant held the jar in his left and with the wire in the water and the other end of the wire in the charged tube.
When he touch the wire there was a large spark and he felt a in his body.

Later they would add a stopper and wire with a ball.  This became know as the layden jar, named after the  university of Leyden where the experiment was done.

There was another person Von Kleist who may have done the experiment first, but Pieter van Musschenbroek account was clear and repeated by other. 

Pieter van Musschenbroek was also the first to use the term physics.

Experiment – Layden Jar

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1729 – Conduction – Stephen Gray

Stephen Grey was a dyer by profession, but had interests in astronomy and natural sciences. His education  was mostly self educated.  We he retiremented he experimented with static electricity. In one experiment he used a glass tube which he kept the ends closed with cork, to keep the tube clean.

He noticed that when he rubbed the glass tube the cork, attracted items. He put a stick into the cork and was able to extend attraction. He began to do experiments to see how far he could extend the effects.

This was the beginning of experiments with conduction, the ability to move electrons through materials.

Experiment – Conduction

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