Wimshurst machine OPTIKA SCIENCE

Wimshurst Machine OPTIKA SCIENCE.

The Wimshurst machine is a high-voltage electrostatic generator developed between 1880 and 1883 by British inventor James Wimshurst (1832 - 1903). It has a distinctive appearance with two large counter-rotating discs (rotating in opposite directions) mounted in a vertical plane, two crossed bars with metal brushes, and two metal spheres separated by a distance where the sparks jump. It is based on the triboelectric effect, in which charges accumulate when two different materials rub against each other.

These machines belong to a class of generators that create electric charges by electrostatic induction. Early machines in this category were developed by Wilhelm Holtz (1865 and 1867), Agosto Toepler (1865), and J. Robert Voss (1880). Older machines are less efficient and exhibit an unpredictable tendency to change polarity. The Wimshurst machine does not have this defect.

In a Wimshurst machine, the two insulation disks and their metal sectors rotate in opposite directions passing through the metal cross neutralizing bars and their brushes. An imbalance of charges is induced, amplified and stored by two pairs of metal combs with the points located near the surface of each disk. These collectors are mounted on an insulating support and connected to a terminal output. Positive feedback increases the charge accumulation exponentially until the dielectric breakdown voltage of the air generates a spark.

Specifications:

• With this generator it is possible to perform the most significant electrostatic experiments
• Spark: 25-30 mm
• Disc diameter: 300 mm

Wimshurst machine OPTIKA SCIENCE.