Cylinder-type Electrostatic Machine
date: label: date made
content: ca 1780
name: label: associated person
content: Nairne, Edward
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism. Natural philosophers, scientists, and instrument makers created many ingenious devices to generate electrostatic charges starting in the 1600s. These machines varied in size and technique but all involved rotary motion to generate a charge, and a means of transferring the charge to a storage device for use.
label: Description (Brief)
content: This machine, made around 1780, includes a steel T-shaped charge collector or prime conductor mounted to one side of the cylinder and a leather pad with silk cloth to mounted on the other side. Both mounts are adjustable by means of wooden screws set in the base. During the 1750s electrical researchers refined the design of electrostatic machines by replacing earlier spherical globes with a glass cylinder, a design used for many years. This change increased the surface area of the glass in contact with the rubbing pad and improved the efficiency of the generator. There is no extant maker's mark on the machine although it is of the type designed by Edward Nairne in the 1780s. Nairne (1726-1806) of England made electrical and other scientific devices.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Electrostatic Machines
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Middlebury College
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.315180
label: catalog number
content: 315180
label: accession number
content: 216217
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cylinder-type frictional electrostatic machine
label: Object Name
content: electrostatic generator
label: Other Terms
content: cylinder-type frictional electrostatic machine; Electrostatic Devices
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 20 1/2 in x 27 1/2 in x 22 1/2 in; 52.07 cm x 69.85 cm x 57.15 cm