Static electricity
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[edit] History
[edit] Discovery of static electricity
In 600 BC it was discovered that rubbing a piece of amber with cat fur would cause it to attract small pieces of paper. This discovery led to the invention of the first apparatus for the mass production of static electricity, in which a number of cats are attached to the rim of a rotating wheel, aligned such that their fur comes into contact with a specially shaped block of amber.
Maintenance of the device proved to be almost impossible as any engineer attempting to remove the wheel from its mountings would be instantly lacerated by the sharp claws of the highly charged cats, so the 17th century German scientist Otto von Guericke improved on the design by replacing the cats with balls of sulphur.
[edit] The golden age of static electricity
By the early 1700s the uses for static electricity were growing in number and variety, and maintaining the supply of cats and sulphur presented great problems. A method of storing and transporting static electricity was clearly needed.
Early attempts to use cardboard boxes for this job proved unreliable and dangerous, as the electricity would leak from the bottom of the box and cause contamination of the ground. This proved especially problematic for sheep farmers as the escaped electricity would cause the sheeps' wool to stand on end. Any slight breeze would pick up the sheep and carry them for miles, much like a dandelion seed. The static electricity would then accumulate in the atmosphere, causing lightning.
Enter the Dutch physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek who hit upon the revolutionary idea of storing the electricity in a jar. This proved much more reliable because a simple lid could be used to prevent the electricity from spilling out. His invention was titled the Leyden jar because nobody could remember how to spell "van Musschenbroke".
Later in the 1700s Benjamin Franklin became interested in static electricity after one of his regular kite-flying sessions was interrupted by a thunderstorm. Franklin went on to harness the power of static electricity for numerous purposes, leading to the invention of the lightning rod, the glass harmonica, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses, the urinary catheter and the US Constitution. Franklin also attempted to use static electricity as a method of execution; while he failed to scale up van Mushenbrok's invention to human electrocution size, variants of his ideas are still used today in Kentuckistan Fried Chicken franchises the world over.
[edit] Static electricity today
Static electricity is mainly used today for its ability to make people's hair stand on end. This is useful not only for fashion purposes and in barber shops, but also for the production of horror films and, surprisingly, the pasteurisation of milk.
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