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On This Day in 1752: Benjamin Franklin Flies His Kite
June 10, 2021 at 06:06 AM EDT
By WeatherBug's Ali Husain
On June 10th, 1752, a thunderstorm began to form over Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Benjamin Franklin decided to fly a kite.
His infamous experiment determined the link between lightning and electricity, helping him perfect his lightning rod.
A common misconception about Franklin’s experiment is that he discovered electricity—which is simply not the case. Electric forces had been recognized for thousands of years, and static electricity had been explored extensively by scientists. Franklin’s experiment simply demonstrated the link between lightning and electricity.
To prove this connection, Franklin had to devise an experiment that would successfully collect the electricity from the lightning. To do so, he attached a small rod to his kite (an early design for the lightning rod), connected by a hemp string that was then tied to a silk string that then in turn had a key hanging from it. The hemp string would be wetted by the rain, conducting electricity. The silk string, however, would stay dry as it was held by Franklin, keeping the conductivity at a minimum.
Another common misconception is that the kite was struck by lightning. If this were so, Benjamin Franklin likely would have been electrocuted on the spot. Instead, the lightning rod simply picked up the ambient charge from the storm.
When Franklin noticed that strands of hemp were standing straight, he brought his finger to the key and felt a spark. He captured the electric charge using a Leyden jar, a primitive version of a battery. These jars work by sealing a vial that is partially filled with water, then feeding a thick cable that’s capable of storing a large charge into said vial. The electricity flowed down the key and into the Leyden jar, thus he was able to capture some of that electric charge, proving the connection between lightning and electricity.
Sources: history.com, Franklin Institute
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Story Image: Lightning via Pixabay
His infamous experiment determined the link between lightning and electricity, helping him perfect his lightning rod.
A common misconception about Franklin’s experiment is that he discovered electricity—which is simply not the case. Electric forces had been recognized for thousands of years, and static electricity had been explored extensively by scientists. Franklin’s experiment simply demonstrated the link between lightning and electricity.
To prove this connection, Franklin had to devise an experiment that would successfully collect the electricity from the lightning. To do so, he attached a small rod to his kite (an early design for the lightning rod), connected by a hemp string that was then tied to a silk string that then in turn had a key hanging from it. The hemp string would be wetted by the rain, conducting electricity. The silk string, however, would stay dry as it was held by Franklin, keeping the conductivity at a minimum.
Another common misconception is that the kite was struck by lightning. If this were so, Benjamin Franklin likely would have been electrocuted on the spot. Instead, the lightning rod simply picked up the ambient charge from the storm.
When Franklin noticed that strands of hemp were standing straight, he brought his finger to the key and felt a spark. He captured the electric charge using a Leyden jar, a primitive version of a battery. These jars work by sealing a vial that is partially filled with water, then feeding a thick cable that’s capable of storing a large charge into said vial. The electricity flowed down the key and into the Leyden jar, thus he was able to capture some of that electric charge, proving the connection between lightning and electricity.
Sources: history.com, Franklin Institute
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Story Image: Lightning via Pixabay