… Would not these pointed Rods probably draw the Electrical Fire silently out of a Cloud before it came nigh enough to strike,Īnd thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible Mischief!”įollowing a series of experiments on Franklin’s own house, lightning rods were installed on the Academy of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania) and the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) in 1752. “upright Rods of Iron, made sharp as a Needle and gilt to prevent Rusting, and from the Foot of those Rods a Wire down the outside of the Building into the Ground “When rain has wet the kite twine so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it streams out plentifully from the key at the approach of your knuckle, and with this key, a phial, or Leyden jar, may be charged.”įranklin’s electrical experiments led to his invention of the lightning rod. He surmised that this could help protect buildings from lightning by attaching: In a letter to England with directions for repeating the experiment, Franklin wrote: Instead, he used the kite to collect some electric charge from a storm cloud, just enough to show that lightning was electrical. Others were indeed electrocuted in performing lightning experiments during the months immediately following Franklin’s experiment.įranklin was aware of the dangers and did not perform this experiment, as pictured in popular literature. Franklin was careful to stand on an insulator, keeping dry under a roof to avoid the danger of electric shock. In 1752, Franklin conducted his kite experiment in Philadelphia, successfully extracting sparks from a cloud.įranklin described the experiment in the Pennsylvania Gazette. In 1748, he constructed a multiple plate capacitor, that he called an “electrical battery” by placing eleven panes of glass sandwiched between lead plates, suspended with silk cords, and connected by wires.įranklin was the first to label terminals as positive and negative, respectively, and he was the first to discover the principle of conservation of charge. In recognition of his work with electricity, Franklin received honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale universities.įranklin published a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a lightning storm. Drawing Electricity from the Skyįranklin started exploring the phenomenon of electricity in 1746 when he saw lectures demonstrating static electricity. Franklin was a writer, painter, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, statesman, and diplomat.Īs a scientist, he was a significant figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.Īs an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. Benjamin Franklinīenjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790) was an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. West created this oil on slate, as a study for a larger, but an unrealized portrait. While he was in London, West befriended Franklin, a fellow Pennsylvanian, but did not create this painting of the American statesman until after his death. West was born in Pennsylvania, in 1738, when the American colonies were still part of the British Empire. This dramatic painting commemorates the 1752 experiment in Philadelphia in which Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that lightning is a form of electricity. “Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky” by Benjamin West depicts the American founding father, conducting his kite experiment to ascertain the electrical nature of lighting.
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