the kite experiment

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The kite experiment, 19 october 1752, the kite experiment.

I. Printed in The Pennsylvania Gazette , October 19, 1752; also copy: The Royal Society. II. Printed in Joseph Priestley, The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments (London, 1767), pp. 179–81.

Franklin was the first scientist to propose that the identity of lightning and electricity could be proved experimentally, but he was not the first to suggest that identity, nor even the first to perform the experiment. 4 For many years pioneer electricians had noted the similarity between electrical discharges and lightning, and in 1746 John Freke in England and Johann Heinrich Winkler in Germany separately advanced the idea of identity and suggested theories to account for it. Franklin’s later adversary the Abbé Nollet wrote to the same effect in 1748. 5 Franklin and his Philadelphia collaborators, working independently, also observed the similarities, and in his letter of April 29, 1749, to John Mitchell on thundergusts he took as the basis for his entire discussion the hypothesis that clouds are electrically charged. 6 In the “minutes” he kept of his experiments he listed under the date of November 7, 1749, twelve particulars in which “electrical fluid agrees with lightning,” and noted further that “the electrical fluid is attracted by points,” but that it was not yet known whether this property was also in lightning. “But since they agree in all other particulars wherein we can already compare them, is it not probable they agree likewise in this? Let the experiment be made.” 7

However obvious the suggestion of such an experiment may now seem, no one had made it before. Herein lies Franklin’s principal claim to priority in this great discovery. A test of lightning required the prior discoveries embodied in the “doctrine of points,” of which he was the undisputed author, and the knowledge he had gained of the role of grounding in electrical experiments. It was the pointed metal rod, with its peculiar effectiveness in electrical discharge, which both led to the suggestion and facilitated the experiment.

In the following March Franklin, writing to Collinson, suggested that pointed rods, instead of the usual round balls of wood or metal, be placed on the tops of weathervanes and masts, and that they would draw the electrical fire “out of a cloud silently,” thereby preserving buildings and ships from being struck by lightning. 8 He repeated the suggestion in July 1750 in his “Opinions and Conjectures,” with the important addition that a wire be run down from the rod to the ground or water, and he then proposed the “sentry-box” experiment. This was the first public suggestion of an experiment to prove the identity of lightning and electricity. 9

According to Joseph Priestley, who almost certainly received his information directly from Franklin about fifteen years later, he did not perform the experiment himself at once because he believed a tower or spire would be needed to reach high enough to attract the electrical charge from a thunder cloud, and there was no structure in Philadelphia he deemed adequate for the purpose. Presumably he was waiting until Christ Church steeple, then in the early discussion stage, should be erected. 1 English scientists, who could have read Franklin’s proposal when it was published in Experiments and Observations in April 1751, apparently failed to recognize its significance. But about a year later, in the spring of 1752, when a translation had been published in Paris, the French reaction was very different. Delor, “master of experimental philosophy,” repeated most of Franklin’s experiments before the King, and then in May Dalibard, Franklin’s translator, and Delor each set up apparatus which performed successfully the “Philadelphia experiment” of drawing electricity from a thunder cloud. 2 Word of these achievements awoke the English electricians, and during the summer of 1752 the experiment was repeated several times in England as well as in France and Germany. 3

At some time during 1751 or 1752 Franklin got the idea that he could send his conductor high enough by means of a kite, and that if it were flown during a thunder shower, the wet string might serve to bring the electrical charge down within reach. When the idea first came to him and just when he carried it out cannot be established with absolute certainty. Priestley wrote that the famous experiment with kite and key took place during June 1752, and the present editors believe there is no good reason to doubt the correctness of this date. If so, then Franklin performed his experiment before he learned of what Dalibard and Delor had done in France.

Almost never during these years did Franklin report a particular electrical experiment until some time had elapsed and this affair seems to have been no exception. Word of Dalibard’s and Delor’s successes reached Philadelphia toward the end of August and the Pennsylvania Gazette of August 27 carried a short account reprinted from the May issue of the London Magazine . During September Franklin erected a lightning rod on his own house, ingeniously equipping it with bells that would ring when the wire became charged and thus notify him when the atmosphere above the house was electrified. 4 Then at last, on October 19, he printed in the Gazette a brief statement about the kite experiment with instructions for repeating it. The text of this statement, transmitted to Collinson, was read to the Royal Society on December 21. Neither in this paper nor at any later time did Franklin—or Priestley on his behalf—ever claim priority in carrying out the experiment he had been the first to propose. 5

The same October 19 issue of the Gazette also announced that Poor Richard for 1753 was then “In the Press, and speedily will be published”; in that almanac Franklin printed for the first time precise instructions for the erection of lightning rods for the protection of buildings. 6 The sequence of events in this somewhat complicated chain may be clarified by the following chronology:

Unfortunately, Franklin’s statement of the kite experiment has not been found in his own handwriting. Two text versions survive: that printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette of October 19, 1752, reprinted below; and a copy in the hand of Peter Collinson, now in the Royal Society. 7 Aside from unimportant variations in paragraphing, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, the Collinson copy differs from the Gazette version in several respects: (1) It is headed “From Benn: Franklin Esqr To P Collinson” and is dated “Philadelphia Octo: 1: 1752.” (2) At the end, following the words “compleatly demonstrated,” Collinson skipped the equivalent of about three lines, then added in two lines: “See his Kite Experiment” and “to be printed with the rest.” These lines were later struck out. (3) In the intervening space and running on to the right of the two canceled lines appears the following insertion not in Collinson’s hand, but in one which is strikingly like that of William Watson: “I was pleased to hear of the Success of my experiments in France, and that they there begin to Erect points on their buildings. Wee had before placed them upon our Academy and Statehouse Spires.” (4) The paper is endorsed in the hand of a Royal Society clerk: “Letter of Benjamin Franklin Esq to Mr. Peter Collinson F.R.S. concerning an Electrical Kite. Read at R.S. 21 Decemb. 1752. Ph. Trans. XLVII . p. 565.”

These text differences present several puzzles. The heading and date (item 1) have led several writers 8 to believe that the text which follows is an extract of a letter from Franklin to Collinson of October 1, written more than two weeks before the statement was printed in the Gazette . In that case the Gazette text would be an extract from this earlier letter to Collinson. This is possible, but it leaves unexplained Franklin’s undated letter to Collinson, assigned below (p. 376) to the latter part of October, in which he wrote that he was sending, among other items, “my kite experiment in the Pennsylvania Gazette .” If what he had printed in the Gazette was indeed a passage from a letter already sent to Collinson, there would seem to have been no need to send him another copy of it. Conceivably, Collinson’s pen slipped when he wrote “Octo: 1,” as it occasionally did in referring to other Franklin letters, and he should have written “19,” “21,” or “31,” in which case he might have been copying the Gazette statement enclosed in Franklin’s later letter. Subsequent correspondence between the two men does not clarify the point.

The canceled addendum at the bottom (item 2) seems to have been intended as an instruction to a printer. Possibly Collinson first meant this paper for the printer of the 1753 Supplement of Experiments and Observations , and then decided to submit this copy to the Royal Society instead. But the question remains unexplained why he should have written “See his Kite Experiment,” when this document itself is the kite experiment, and is the only account of it we have in Franklin’s own words. The endorsement (item 4) presents no problem. The fact that the paper is lodged in the Royal Society makes it clear that this endorsement was added later for filing purposes after it had been printed in the Philosophical Transactions .

This leaves for consideration item 3, the short paragraph added to Collinson’s paper which mentions the French experiments and the erection of “points” in France and Philadelphia. The facts that it is written in a different hand from Collinson’s and that it is clearly an addition have not been considered by previous commentators. The paragraph has been taken as evidence that lightning rods were erected on the Academy building and the State House (Independence Hall) before October 1, 1752. The words are doubtless Franklin’s, though they have not been traced with certainty to any surviving document of his. If they were in fact part of a letter of October 1 to Collinson which also contained the original text of the statement on the kite experiment, then they must have been added to Collinson’s copy by someone else, probably Watson, who saw the original letter and thought this passage more important than Collinson had done. Or the paragraph may have been part of the later undated letter, probably of late October (the full text of which may not have been printed in the 1753 Supplement), with which Franklin enclosed the item on the kite experiment from the Gazette . Whatever the source, the paragraph must have been written by about November 1, 1752, in order for it to be read to the Royal Society as part of the report on the kite experiment on December 21 and printed as such in the Philosophical Transactions . 9 The probable date for the erection of the two Philadelphia lightning rods is not materially affected in any case. The problem of the source of this added paragraph is not resolved by any printed version of Franklin’s account. The Philosophical Transactions printed the text from Collinson’s copy. The Gentleman’s Magazine and London Magazine and the 1753 Supplement to Experiments and Observations also printed the report, but all three followed the dating and text of the Gazette version, not the Collinson copy. 1

It will be noticed that Franklin’s paper is not really an account of the kite experiment, but rather a brief statement that the experiment had taken place, followed by instructions as to how it could be successfully repeated. Franklin never, so far as is known, wrote out a narrative of his experience. The most detailed account that has survived is that which Joseph Priestley inserted in 1767 in his History of Electricity . There is every reason to believe that he learned the details directly from Franklin, who was in London at the time Priestley wrote the book. Franklin encouraged him to undertake the work and Priestley acknowledged in his preface the information Watson, Franklin, and Canton had supplied him. The account of the kite experiment, as Priestley wrote it about fifteen years after the event, may err in some details through faulty memory on Franklin’s part or misunderstanding on the Englishman’s, but it is probably correct in all major respects. In any case, since it is the nearest thing we have to a contemporary, first-hand account of one of the most famous episodes in Franklin’s career, it is reprinted here directly following Franklin’s statement.

I. Franklin’s Statement

Philadelphia, October 19

As frequent Mention is made in the News Papers from Europe, of the Success of the Philadelphia Experiment for drawing the Electric Fire from Clouds by Means of pointed Rods of Iron erected on high Buildings, &c. it may be agreeable to the Curious to be inform’d, that the same Experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia, tho’ made in a different and more easy Manner, which any one may try, as follows. 2

Make a small Cross of two light Strips of Cedar, the Arms so long as to reach to the four Corners of a large thin Silk Handkerchief when extended; tie the Corners of the Handkerchief to the Extremities of the Cross, so you have the Body of a Kite; which being properly accommodated with a Tail, Loop and String, will rise in the Air, like those made of Paper; but this being of Silk is fitter to bear the Wet and Wind of a Thunder Gust without tearing. To the Top of the upright Stick of the Cross is to be fixed a very sharp pointed Wire, rising a Foot or more above the Wood. To the End of the Twine, next the Hand, is to be tied a silk Ribbon, and where the Twine and the silk join, a Key may be fastened. This Kite is to be raised when a Thunder Gust appears to be coming on, and the Person who holds the String must stand within a Door, or Window, or under some Cover, so that the Silk Ribbon may not be wet; and Care must be taken that the Twine does not touch the Frame of the Door or Window. As soon as any of the Thunder Clouds come over the Kite, the pointed Wire will draw the Electric Fire from them, and the Kite, with all the Twine, will be electrified, and the loose Filaments of the Twine will stand out every Way, and be attracted by an approaching Finger. And when the Rain has wet the Kite and Twine, so that it can conduct the Electric Fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from the Key on the Approach of your Knuckle. At this Key the Phial may be charg’d; and from Electric Fire thus obtain’d, Spirits may be kindled, and all the other Electric Experiments be perform’d, which are usually done by the Help of a rubbed Glass Globe or Tube; and thereby the Sameness of the Electric Matter with that of Lightning compleatly demonstrated.

II. Priestley’s Account

To demonstrate, in the completest manner possible, the sameness of the electric fluid with the matter of lightning, Dr. Franklin, astonishing as it must have appeared, contrived actually to bring lightning from the heavens, by means of an electrical kite, which he raised when a storm of thunder was perceived to be coming on. This kite had a pointed wire fixed upon it, by which it drew the lightning from the clouds. This lightning descended by the hempen string, and was received by a key tied to the extremity of it; that part of the string which was held in the hand being of silk, that the electric virtue might stop when it came to the key. He found that the string would conduct electricity even when nearly dry, but that when it was wet, it would conduct it quite freely; so that it would stream out plentifully from the key, at the approach of a person’s finger. 3

At this key he charged phials, and from electric fire thus obtained, he kindled spirits, and performed all other electrical experiments which are usually exhibited by an excited globe or tube.

As every circumstance relating to so capital a discovery as this (the greatest, perhaps, that has been made in the whole compass of philosophy, since the time of Sir Isaac Newton) cannot but give pleasure to all my readers, I shall endeavour to gratify them with the communication of a few particulars which I have from the best authority.

The Doctor, after having published his method of verifying his hypothesis concerning the sameness of electricity with the matter of lightning, was waiting for the erection of a spire in Philadelphia to carry his views into execution; not imagining that a pointed rod, of a moderate height, could answer the purpose; when it occurred to him, that, by means of a common kite, he could have a readier and better access to the regions of thunder than by any spire whatever. Preparing, therefore, a large silk handkerchief, and two cross sticks, of a proper length, on which to extend it; he took the opportunity of the first approaching thunder storm to take a walk into a field, in which there was a shed convenient for his purpose. But dreading the ridicule which too commonly attends unsuccessful attempts in science, he communicated his intended experiment to no body but his son, who assisted him in raising the kite. 4

The kite being raised, a considerable time elapsed before there was any appearance of its being electrified. One very promising cloud had passed over it without any effect; when, at length, just as he was beginning to despair of his contrivance, he observed some loose threads of the hempen string to stand erect, and to avoid one another, just as if they had been suspended on a common conductor. Struck with this promising appearance, he immediately presented his knucle to the key, and (let the reader judge of the exquisite pleasure he must have felt at that moment) the discovery was complete. He perceived a very evident electric spark. Others succeeded, even before the string was wet, so as to put the matter past all dispute, and when the rain had wet the string, he collected electric fire very copiously. This happened in June 1752, a month after the electricians in France had verified the same theory, but before he heard of any thing they had done.

4 .  The best discussion of this entire topic is I. Bernard Cohen, “The Two Hundredth Anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s Two Lightning Experiments and the Introduction of the Lightning Rod,” APS Proc , XCVI (1952), 331–66. The present editors are in full agreement with Cohen’s conclusions except, as this headnote will show, those derived specifically from consideration of the Collinson copy of BF ’s statement on the kite experiment.

5 .  Cohen, BF’s Experiments , pp. 104–9, discusses the matter with citations and quotations from various writers.

6 .  See above, III , 365–76.

7 .  Quoted by BF in his letter to John Lining, March 18, 1755 , Exper. and Obser. 1769, p. 323. The originals of BF ’s minutes have not survived.

8 .  See above, III , 472–3

9 .  See above, pp. 19–20.

1 .  See above, p. 116.

2 .  See above, pp. 302–10, 315–17.

3 .  See below, 390–2.

4 .  BF to Collinson, September 1753.

5 .  Writing in 1788 in his autobiography, BF mentions the Dalibard and Delor successes with the “Philadelphia experiments” and then adds simply and with disappointing brevity: “I will not swell this Narrative with an Account of that capital Experiment, nor of the infinite Pleasure I receiv’d in the Success of a similar one I made soon after with a Kite at Philadelphia, as both are to be found in the Histories of Electricity.” Par. Text edit., p. 386.

6 .  See below, p. 408.

7 .  The Collinson copy is reproduced in facsimile in APS Proc. , XCVI , pp. 334–5.

8 .  Notably Cohen in the works cited in the first two footnotes to this headnote, and Carl Van Doren in Franklin , p. 169, and Autobiographical Writings , p. 76.

9 .  The paragraph could be from some now missing letter of later date than about Nov. 1, 1752, only in the unlikely circumstance that it was added to the Collinson copy between the reading of the paper on December 21 and the transmission of this number of Phil. Trans. to the printer sometime in 1753.

1 .  Gent. Mag. , XXII (1752), 560–1; London Mag. , XXI (1752), 607–8; Supplemental Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Part II (London, 1753), pp. 106–8. Gent. Mag. and the 1753 Supplement both add the initials “B.F.” at the end; London Mag. omits the first paragraph and begins “Make a small cross, …” but otherwise follows the Gazette version.

2 .  In 1760 and later printed editions: “which is as follows:”

3 .  At this point Priestley inserted a footnote reference to Exper. and Obser ., p. 106, where BF ’s statement is printed.

4 .  At this time William Franklin was at least 21 years old (see above, III , 474), not the child shown in the well-known Currier and Ives print depicting the scene. There are a number of other errors in the picture.

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This Day In History : June 10

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Benjamin Franklin flies kite during thunderstorm

In the summer of 1752—possibly on the 10th of June— Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm to collect ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar, enabling him to demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity. (Scholars debate the June 10 date , but agree it likely happened sometime in June of that year.) It is one of his most famous—and mythologized—experiments.

Franklin became interested in electricity in the mid-1740s, a time when much was still unknown on the topic, and spent almost a decade conducting electrical experiments. He coined a number of terms used today, including battery, conductor and electrician. He also invented the lightning rod, used to protect buildings and ships.

Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, to a candle and soap maker named Josiah Franklin, who fathered 17 children, and his wife Abiah Folger. Franklin’s formal education ended at age 10 and he went to work as an apprentice to his brother James, a printer. In 1723, following a dispute with his brother, Franklin left Boston and ended up in Philadelphia, where he found work as a printer. Following a brief stint as a printer in London, Franklin returned to Philadelphia and became a successful businessman, whose publishing ventures included the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanack , a collection of homespun proverbs advocating hard work and honesty in order to get ahead. The almanac, which Franklin first published in 1733 under the pen name Richard Saunders, included such wisdom as: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” 

Whether or not Franklin followed this advice in his own life, he came to represent the classic American overachiever. In addition to his accomplishments in business and science, he is noted for his numerous civic contributions. Among other things, he developed a library, insurance company, city hospital and academy in Philadelphia that would later become the University of Pennsylvania.

Most significantly, Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the United States and had a career as a statesman that spanned four decades. He served as a legislator in Pennsylvania as well as a diplomat in England and France. He is the only politician to have signed all four documents fundamental to the creation of the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris (1783), which established peace with Great Britain and the U.S. Constitution (1787).

Franklin died at age 84 on April 17, 1790, in Philadelphia. He remains one of the leading figures in U.S. history.

Benjamin Franklin’s Kite Experiment: What Do We Know?

Surprisingly little.

11 Surprising Facts About Benjamin Franklin

The United States’ original renaissance man created some unusual inventions—and was a passionate swimmer.

The Eventful Life of Benjamin Franklin

The Pennsylvania scientist and diplomat signs both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

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Benjamin Franklin: Man of Business and Science

Franklin and science.

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Arguably, the most well-known of Franklin's science ventures is the kite experiment. Without going into further detail, you've most likely pictured him flying a kite in a thunderstorm with a key attached to the line. While the kite itself was never struck by lightning, the iron rod attached to it was able to draw electrical charge from the surrounding clouds which then traveled to the Leyden jar for capture. This experiment in addition to Franklin's observations, proved that lightning itself was an electrical discharge.

Franklin was also an avid inventor, though he never patented any of his inventions. His reasoning is stated in his autobiography:

That, as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.

He designed and constructed inventions for every occasion including swimming paddles, the Franklin stove (also known as the Pennsylvania Fireplace), and the lightning rod to reduce the number of fires caused by lightning strikes. While serving as the first Postmaster General of the United States, appointed by the Second Continental Congress, Franklin devised an odometer that was attached to a carriage with the ultimate goal of creating more efficient routes. One of his most famous inventions comes in the form of glasses: the bifocals. At the time, people used separate glasses for reading and for distance so what Franklin did was cut the lenses from these two sets of glasses in half and adhere them. This enabled him to look up from his reading without having to switch glasses, which has subsequently helped millions to see without continuously swapping their specs.

If you have any question about Franklin or any scientific topic submit a question to us at Ask a Librarian .

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The Kite Experiment: A Groundbreaking Discovery

Do you know the electrifying tale of Benjamin Franklin and his famous kite experiment? This legendary event not only revolutionized our understanding of electricity but also solidified Franklin’s status as a scientific pioneer. Join me on a journey through history as we unravel the intricacies of this groundbreaking experiment and uncover the shocking secrets it revealed. Get ready to be struck by the electrifying details of Franklin’s daring endeavor and discover the electrifying truth behind one of the most iconic moments in scientific history.

Table of Content

The Curious Mind of Benjamin Franklin

Before embarking on The Kite Experiment, it is crucial to delve into the curious mind of Benjamin Franklin. Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin showed an early fascination with the natural world and a keen interest in science. His inquisitive nature led him to explore various fields, including meteorology, optics, and electricity.

Franklin’s experiments with electricity began in the 1740s, where he conducted groundbreaking research on the behavior of charged objects and developed the concept of positive and negative charges. His insatiable curiosity drove him to probe the mysteries of electricity further, ultimately leading to his iconic kite experiment.

With a deep-seated passion for unraveling the secrets of nature, Franklin’s journey into the realm of electricity was fueled by a relentless pursuit of knowledge and a desire to understand the world around him. His pioneering spirit and innovative mindset set the stage for one of the most remarkable experiments in the history of science.

Setting the Stage

Before Benjamin Franklin embarked on his now-famous Kite Experiment, the world of electricity was shrouded in mystery and speculation. At the time, electricity was a relatively new field of study, with scientists grappling to understand its fundamental properties and behaviors. Lightning, in particular, was a phenomenon that both fascinated and terrified people, as its power and unpredictability posed a significant threat to life and property.

Franklin, drawing on his extensive knowledge of natural philosophy and his earlier experiments with electricity, formulated a daring hypothesis: that lightning was, in fact, a form of electricity. Armed with this bold idea, Franklin set out to prove his theory through a daring and innovative experiment that would forever change the course of scientific history.

The prevailing theories about electricity at the time were mired in speculation and misunderstanding, with conflicting ideas about its nature and origins. Franklin’s revolutionary approach, rooted in empirical observation and rigorous experimentation, would challenge these conventional beliefs and pave the way for a new era of enlightenment and discovery in the field of electricity.

The Experiment Unfolds

In June 1752, Benjamin Franklin embarked on a daring experiment that would forever change our understanding of electricity. Armed with a simple kite made of silk, a key, and a length of string, Franklin set out to prove his hypothesis that lightning was, indeed, a form of electricity. As he launched the kite into the stormy skies, Franklin awaited the results with bated breath, ready to witness the power of nature in action.

With the storm raging around him, Franklin watched as the key attached to the kite’s string began to spark and emit electrical sparks. This crucial moment confirmed Franklin’s theory and provided the groundbreaking evidence needed to solidify his place in scientific history. The simple yet ingenious construction of the kite, combined with Franklin’s meticulous attention to detail, led to a moment of discovery that would reverberate through the centuries.

As Franklin bravely faced the elements, he unlocked the secrets of electricity and forever changed the way we perceive the natural world. His meticulous planning and fearless determination during The Kite Experiment paved the way for future scientific discoveries and laid the foundation for modern electrical technology. Franklin’s innovative approach to experimentation and his unwavering curiosity continue to inspire scientists and thinkers to push the boundaries of knowledge and explore the mysteries of the universe.

The Aftermath

Following the successful completion of The Kite Experiment, Benjamin Franklin’s revolutionary discovery sent shockwaves through the scientific community and captured the imagination of the general public. The news of Franklin’s daring experiment spread like wildfire, sparking conversations and debates about the nature of electricity and its connection to lightning.

Scientists and scholars hailed Franklin’s experiment as a groundbreaking achievement, with many acknowledging the profound implications it had for the understanding of electricity. The experiment provided concrete evidence of the link between lightning and electricity, dispelling previous misconceptions and paving the way for further research in the field.

Despite initial skepticism from some quarters, The Kite Experiment soon garnered widespread admiration and acclaim, solidifying Franklin’s reputation as a pioneering scientist and thinker. His bold exploration into the mysteries of electricity had not only yielded groundbreaking results but also opened up new avenues for scientific inquiry and discovery.

The impact of the experiment was felt far and wide, influencing the course of scientific history and shaping the development of electrical theory and practice in the years to come.

Legacy of the kite experiment.

The Kite Experiment conducted by Benjamin Franklin in June 1752 left a lasting legacy that forever changed the course of scientific history. Franklin’s groundbreaking discovery that lightning is a form of electricity revolutionized the understanding of natural phenomena and paved the way for future advancements in the field of electricity.

The experiment was not only significant in the realm of science but also played a crucial role in the broader historical context of the Age of Enlightenment. Franklin’s insatiable curiosity and innovative approach to experimentation embodied the spirit of intellectual progress and rational inquiry that defined the era. His willingness to challenge existing theories and test new hypotheses set a precedent for scientific inquiry that continues to shape modern scientific practices.

The impact of The Kite Experiment extended far beyond its immediate implications for electricity. Franklin’s discovery inspired a new wave of experimentation and exploration, leading to further discoveries in the field of electromagnetism and laying the groundwork for future technological innovations. The experiment served as a catalyst for the development of the field of electrical engineering and paved the way for inventions such as the telegraph, telephone, and ultimately the modern electrical grid.

In conclusion, The Kite Experiment carried out by Benjamin Franklin stands as a testament to the power of human curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. Through his daring experiment, Franklin not only unlocked the secrets of electricity but also ignited a spark of innovation that continues to illuminate the path of scientific discovery. The legacy of The Kite Experiment endures as a reminder of the transformative impact that a single experiment can have on the course of history.

Conclusion: The Power of Curiosity and Discovery

In conclusion, the Kite Experiment serves as a powerful reminder of the impact of curiosity and experimentation in the field of science. Benjamin Franklin’s innovative approach to understanding electricity paved the way for groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in technology. This simple yet profound experiment not only demonstrated the connection between lightning and electricity but also laid the foundation for future research in the field.

The Kite Experiment highlights the importance of questioning the unknown, pushing boundaries, and thinking outside the box. It encourages us to embrace our curiosity, explore new ideas, and never underestimate the power of experimentation. By following in Franklin’s footsteps, we can continue to uncover the mysteries of the world around us and make significant contributions to the field of science.

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The True Story Behind Ben Franklin's Lightning Experiment

In elementary school, most of us were taught that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity by tying a key to a kite and standing in a thunderstorm. Though Franklin is believed to have completed his lightning experiment, he wasn’t the first to do so. Nor was he the first scientist to study charged particles. Sorry everyone, your childhood science teacher sort of lied to you. So let’s clear things up.

Founding Father/diplomat/inventor/innovator/Philadelphian/total cad Benjamin Franklin became interested in the field of electricity when his friend and fellow scientist Peter Collinson sent him an electricity tube. Franklin investigated how charged objects interacted and came to the conclusion that lightning was merely a huge spark that was created by charged forces. In this early phase of experimentation, Franklin concluded that electricity was fluid.

It was during this time, in 1750, that Franklin sent Collinson a letter proposing an experiment that would draw lightning through a 30-foot rod. He not only hypothesized that lightning and electricity were linked, but that metal objects could be used to draw lightning in order to protect homes from being hit. But Franklin didn’t feel that he could get his conductor high enough into the clouds to do any good, so he never completed the experiment. Instead, in 1752, he devised a new plan: sending a kite into the air.

Little did Franklin know that his original letter to Collinson, once translated to French, was causing quite a stir in Paris. To test Franklin’s hypothesis, naturalist Thomas-Francois Dalibard used a large metal pole to conduct electricity from lightning on May 10, 1752. In Dalibard’s writing of his Paris experiment, he concluded that Franklin’s hypothesis was right .

It was exactly one month after the Dalibard experiment, on June 10, 1752, that Franklin (supposedly) performed his famous kite and key experiment. Franklin stood outside under a shelter during a thunderstorm and held on to a silk kite with a key tied to it. When lightning struck, electricity traveled to the key and the charge was collected in a Leyden jar .

Here’s the tricky bit—there is a lot of doubt between historians as to whether or not Franklin ever conducted the experiment.

In October of 1752, Franklin wrote a brief statement in the Pennsylvania Gazette saying that the iron rod experiment had been achieved in Philadelphia, but “in a different and more easy Manner,” with a kite. But as his previous thought experiment was being replicated across the continent with great success, this was only of minor scientific interest and Franklin never really elaborated on it. Also, he never said that he was the one who did the experiment. It only became a story 15 years later when Joseph Priestley wrote a full description in which he describes Franklin as bringing “lightning from the clouds” to the ground.

As modern scientists have come to discover, if Franklin had performed the experiment as delineated in Priestley’s account, Franklin would have been struck dead on the spot . In his 1752 article, Franklin claimed you could touch the key and feel a spark; however, that much charge would have sizzled his insides. But other historians read his original statement in the Gazette and think it’s been misinterpreted. Instead of getting hit by lightning, the kite just picked up the ambient electric charge—Franklin was lucky that his kite never got a direct hit.

So, while we can credit Franklin for writing up the experiment that posits whether lightning is the same as electricity and can be drawn through metal, he was not the first to actually perform said experiment and write about its results. In fact, there are few sources that can prove Franklin ever did the kite experiment at all—we have to trust his word that it happened.

Kite Experiment

During the 18th century it began to occur to Franklin and other scientists that maybe the electric sparks they observed in the laboratory and the sparks they saw during violent storms were the same thing.

Franklin decided that the best way to test this idea would be to see if he could get lightning to pass through metal and be trapped in a Leyden jar (a capacitor ). He decided to use a metal key and looked around for a way to get the key up near the lightning. In 1752 Franklin, assisted by his son, used a kite to lift the key into the sky as a storm approached. (NOTE: Franklin did not fly the kite during the actual storm; doing so is very, very dangerous and should not be attempted!). Sparks from the electrified air traveled down the string of the kite and charged the attached Leyden jar. This was an important scientific discovery—that lightning is really a stream of electrified air, known today as plasma. Franklin’s kite flying is one of the most famous scientific experiments in history. His experiment proved that lightning is really the same electricity he observed in a spark in his laboratory, but many, many times more powerful.

Franklin was a noted scientist in his day and went on to learn many things about electricity. Franklin even named some of the terms for electricity we still use today, such as battery, conductor, condenser, charge, minus, and plus. But Franklin was a practical man as well and looked for ways of making use of the knowledge he had gained from his experiments. One of the most famous is the lightning rod. In those days, buildings were made of wood, as were ships. Tall buildings, such as churches with steeples, and boats with their tall masts, were constantly in danger of being struck by lightning and burning down. Franklin reasoned that just as the electric sparks in his laboratory could be drawn off by a pointed conductor, so a large metal point connected to the ground would safely draw away the lightning. In 1753 he published his idea in his Poor Richard’s Almanack, (remember, Franklin was also a writer and printer), and several of his “lightning rods” were installed in Philadelphia. In 1760, a building was saved from a direct lightning hit, and the invention spread to England and eventually to the rest of the world. Because of this invention, Franklin is remembered not just as an early electrical scientist, but as the first “electrical engineer.” In fact, Franklin’s kite is still the symbol of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers , the world’s largest professional technical society.

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Did Benjamin Franklin really discover electricity with a kite and key?

Did the founding father really discover electricity?

On a dark, stormy summer night in 1752, Benjamin Franklin flew a kite with a key attached to the string waiting in anticipation for lightning to strike. The dramatic bolt would harken the discovery of electricity (or as Franklin called it "electrical fire") … or so the story goes.

But is there any truth to this tale? Did Franklin really discover electricity by getting zapped by a lightning bolt during this experiment?

Though most people know Benjamin Franklin — an American founding father, legendary statesman and the face of the U.S. $100 bill — for his political contributions, Franklin was well known in his time as a scientist and an inventor: a true polymath. He was a member of several scientific societies and was a founding member of the American Philosophical Society. As a result, he stayed informed on the most pressing scientific questions that occupied learned people of his time, one of which was the nature of lightning.

As for the kite-and-key experiment, most people are aware of the version in which the metal key acted as a lightning rod, and Franklin subsequently "discovered" electricity when lightning struck his kite. However, several details about this experiment are unknown, including when and where it happened. Some historians even doubt that it took place. 

Related: Did Benjamin Franklin really want the turkey to be the US national bird?

For starters, it's a common myth that Franklin discovered electricity. Electricity had already been discovered and used for centuries before Franklin's experiment. Franklin lived from 1709 to 1790, and during his time, electricity was understood as the interaction between two different fluids , which Franklin later referred to as "plus" and "minus." According to French chemist Charles François de Cisternay du Fay, materials that possessed the same type of fluid would repel, while opposite fluids attracted one another. We now understand that these "fluids" are electrical charges generated by atoms. Atoms are made up of negatively charged electrons orbiting a positively charged nucleus (made up of protons and neutrons).

It was unknown prior to Franklin's experiment whether lightning was electrical in nature, though some scientists, including Franklin, had speculated just that . Page Talbott, author and editor of " Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World " (Yale University Press, 2005) and the former president and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said that Franklin was particularly interested in this question because lightning strikes had caused disastrous fires in cities and towns where houses were made of wood, which many homes in the U.S. were at the time. "By attaching a key to the string of a kite, thus creating a conductor for the electrical charge , he was demonstrating that a pointed metal object placed at a high point on a building — connected to a conductor that would carry the electricity away from the building and into the ground — could make a huge difference to the long-term safety of the inhabitants," Talbott told Live Science in an email. In other words, by creating a lightning rod, Franklin was helping to protect wooden homes and buildings from being directly struck by lightning.

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Lightning rods are metal rods placed at the top of structures, connected to the ground with a wire. If lightning strikes the building, it will likely strike the electrically conductive rod instead of the building itself and safely run through the wire to the ground.

Here's how the experiment worked; standing in a shed, Franklin flew a kite, made of a simple silk handkerchief stretched across a cross made of two cedar strips, during a lightning storm. The tail of the kite was made of two materials — the upper end attached to the kite was made of hemp string and attached to a small metal key, while the lower end, held by Franklin, was made of silk. The hemp would get soaked by the rain and conduct electrical charge, while the silk string would remain dry because it is held under cover.

As Franklin observed his flying kite, he saw that the hemp strands stood on end as they began to accumulate electrical charge from the ambient air. When he placed his finger near the metal key, he reportedly felt a sharp spark as the negative charges that had accumulated on the key were attracted to the positive charges in his hand. 

A few publications at the time reported on the experiment. "[Franklin] published a statement about the experiment in the Pennsylvania Gazette , the newspaper he published, on October 19, 1752," Talbott said. He then sent the text of this statement to a patron of the American Philosophical Society named Louis Collinson; Franklin had spent the last few years communicating his theories and proposing his experiments concerning lightning to him.

Franklin referred to the experiment in his autobiography, and other colleagues in Europe wrote about it as well, Talbott said. Notably, the experiment appeared in the 1767 book " History and Present Status of Electricity " by Joseph Priestley, an English chemist. Priestley heard about the kite-and-key experiment from Franklin himself around 15 years after the fact, and in his book, he wrote that it occurred during June 1752. However, exactly when the experiment came to Franklin and when he did it is a matter of debate.

There are some historians who doubt whether Franklin actually did the experiment himself, or merely outlined its possibility. In his book " Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax " (PublicAffairs, 2003), author Tom Tucker stated that Franklin wanted to thwart William Watson, a member of the Royal Society of London and a preeminent electrical experimenter. Watson had sabotaged the publication of some of Franklin's previous reports and had ridiculed his experiments in the Royal Society, Tucker wrote. Could Franklin have felt pressured to invent the kite story to get back at Watson?

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Tucker also noted that Franklin's description of his experiment in the Pennsylvania Gazette was phrased in the future conditional tense: "As soon as any of the Thunder Clouds come over the Kite, the pointed Wire will draw the Electric Fire from them..." Franklin could have simply been saying that the experiment could, in theory, be performed. Given that his statement has a few missing details — Franklin didn't list a date, time or location, for example — it's possible that the American diplomat did not perform the experiment himself.

However, some historians remain unconvinced that the experiment wasn't carried out, pointing to Franklin's great respect for scientific pursuits . Franklin experts, such as the late American critic and biographer Carl Van Doren, also point to the fact that Priestley specified the month in which Franklin performed his experiment, suggesting that Franklin must have given him precise details directly.

Originally published on Live Science.

Jacklin Kwan is a freelance journalist based in the United Kingdom who primarily covers science and technology stories. She graduated with a master's degree in physics from the University of Manchester, and received a Gold-Standard NCTJ diploma in Multimedia Journalism in 2021. Jacklin has written for Wired UK, Current Affairs and Science for the People. 

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Benjamin Franklin’s greatest inventions – and famous kite experiment

Face of the $100 bill, US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was the architect of the alliance with France that helped secure the birth of the American nation. But before that he was also many other things, including an incredibly talented inventor

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Ask a group of people today what the 18th-century polymath Benjamin Franklin should be remembered for the most, and chances are that a variety of answers will come up. Was he primarily a man of words, who made himself a successful printer, publisher, journalist and author of unique wit and philosophical outlook?

Or perhaps he should be most celebrated as the revered statesmen: the Founding Father and first ambassador to France, a role that led to the Franco-American alliance , which proved integral in the American Revolution .

Such is the man’s reputation that some people still – mistakenly – name Franklin as a US president . But there will always be those who first and foremost regard this titan in United States history as one of the leading scientists and inventors of his day.

Franklin’s contributions were not only numerous and life-changing, but offered as a gift. He never patented anything, stating in his autobiography, “As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”

Benjamin Franklin’s electrical experiments

Having retired from his business interests as an extremely wealthy man in his early forties, Franklin started experimenting with electricity in 1746.

He would alter our understanding of how it works, challenging the theory that electricity should be treated as two fluids by proposing it behaved as a single fluid that could be positively or negatively charged.

It was Franklin who used the terms ‘positive’, ‘negative’ and ‘charge’ in relation to electricity in the first place.

He furthered the very language around the study, also establishing the electrical basis for terms like ‘battery’ and ‘conductor’.

What was Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment?

Of course, what really made Franklin a world-famous scientist was his legendary kite experiment, so famous that it even gets a namedrop in the musical Hamilton – that is, despite ongoing uncertainty whether it happened at all.

If the accounts are to be believed – including a letter by Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette – he set out in June 1752 to prove his theory that lightning was of an electrical nature.

His method was to fly a kite in a storm, with a metal key attached.

This picked up the charge in the atmosphere, which was conducted into a Leyden jar (discovered in the 1740s, it was a device for storing static electricity), thus confirming that Franklin was right.

While another scientist, French physicist Thomas-François Dalibard, had actually carried out a similar test a month earlier, it was based on Franklin’s published notes. So the American gets the credit.

What were Benjamin Franklin’s greatest inventions?

Lightning rod.

Franklin’s experiments with electricity had one clear practical purpose in mind: to prevent the fire and destruction that could be caused to wooden buildings when hit by lightning.

His solution was a metal pole that could be fixed on the top of the building with a wire running to the ground in order to conduct the electricity safely away.

The utility of the lightning rod was immediately apparent, and it remains a vital addition to structures today. Even King George III, who would curse Franklin’s name when the American Revolutionary War came, had them installed on Buckingham Palace.

That said, he did make the political move of picking rounded lightning rods, as suggested by British scientists, over Franklin’s pointed ones.

Swimming fins

Franklin’s inventing mind got whirring at a young age. Aged 11, and a keen swimmer, he designed handheld aides to make him go faster in the water.

Resembling an artist’s paint palette, they were oval-shaped pieces of wood with holes for the thumbs to increase the surface area of his stroke. He also tried fins for the feet, although less successfully.

Beyond his invention, Franklin went to great lengths to popularise the pastime of swimming, espousing its health benefits and genuinely considering becoming a swim teacher.

While living in London before the War of Independence, he went for daily dips in the Thames. He is now honoured in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Franklin stove

This new way of heating homes was so good that it got named after the man himself. Whereas traditional fireplaces used a lot of fuel and posed the risk of starting a blaze where one wasn’t wanted, the Franklin stove was more efficient, while producing less smoke and fewer errant sparks.

It comprised a cast-iron box standing away from the chimney, with a hollow space at the back to allow more heat to circulate quicker. From going on sale in 1742, and getting refinements by fellow American David Rittenhouse in the 1780s, it set a new benchmark for interior heating.

Urinary catheter

Franklin did not invent the original catheter (medically, a tube inserted into the urethra to allow urine to drain), but he developed a much less painful version. That in itself has caused many suffering people to praise his name over the years.

It began around 1752 when his older brother John got kidney stones and needed catheters inserted regularly. At the time, these were solid tubes that caused significant pain.

Franklin got to work making something more flexible, resulting in a tube made of hinged sections whipped together by a local silversmith. He hastily sent it to his brother with instructions on its much less painful use.

Being both nearsighted and farsighted in later life, Franklin came to the conclusion that constantly swapping out his different pairs of spectacles was a pain he could do without.

By cutting both types of lenses in half, he created a pair of glasses with the top half ideal for seeing long distances and a bottom half more suited to close-up reading.

There have been some questions raised in recent years over whether he was the true inventor of the bifocals or just an early adopter, but he certainly made them an eye-catching invention.

Along with the bifocals, the Long Arm helped Franklin satisfy his love of reading in old age as his health faltered in the 1780s.

The clue is in the name: this was a grabbing device – made of a piece of wood with claw-like fingers at the end that could be manipulated by pulling a cable – to make it easier to grab a book from the top shelf without clambering up and down step ladders.

Admittedly, inventing the soup bowl does not sound impressive. This, however, was an unspillable soup bowl. Franklin wanted to put a stop to accidents while slurping at sea, as the ship tossed and turned, so devised a simple yet elegant solution.

His design had the usual bowl in the centre, but this was surrounded with smaller containers around the rim. When something caused it to tip, the soup ran into one of these mini bowls instead of onto the table.

You know that otherworldly sound made by rubbing a dampened finger over the rim of a wine glass? That inspired Franklin’s musical instrument, the armonica.

Made around 1761, it consisted of 37 glass bowls lined up on a rotating spindle, which the player turned via a foot pedal while keeping their fingers lubricated for their performance.

Each bowl had been made to exact specifications by London-based glassblower Charles James to produce different notes without needing any liquid inside.

The instrument caused a stir in the musical scene of Europe, with names like Mozart and Beethoven composing pieces to make the most of its ethereal sound.

Franklin would later say, “Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction.”

Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. He has BA in History from the University of York.

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Ben Franklin Kite Experiment

The Ben Franklin Kite Experiment is one that most of us have heard something about.

This article is a part of the guide:

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The most common belief is that he flew a kite into some storm clouds and received an electric shock, discovering electricity. Whilst this is not strictly true, this experiment was a major contribution to physics, increasing our knowledge of natural phenomena.

Benjamin Franklin was one of those rare men who excelled in many fields of expertise, as a politician, journalist and author. He is regarded as one of the major contributors to American culture and science, the only non-president to appear on dollar bills. He was a notable inventor, creating bi-focal glasses and made some interesting discoveries about how ocean currents and winds worked.

The Real Facts

The first thing to note is that Benjamin Franklin did not discover electricity - the principle was known long before that and primitive capacitors and batteries were already in use by researchers.

Static electricity had been known about for thousands of years, although never fully understood, with most scientists believing that it was an 'invisible liquid'.

Franklin's contribution was that he believed that lightning was a form of static electricity on a huge scale, and designed a number of experiments to try to ascertain the truth.

After designing experiments with conducting lightning rods, which proved dangerous, he settled upon using a kite.

The idea was to fly the kite into the storm clouds and conduct electricity down the kite string. A key was then attached near the bottom, to conduct the electricity and create a charge.

The kite was struck by lightning and, when Franklin moved his hand towards the key, a spark jumped across and he felt a shock, proving that lightning was electrical in nature.

Whilst this seems like a stupid method, the evidence showed that he actually intended for the electricity to jump into a primitive form of capacitor known as a Leyden jar, and that touching the key was purely accidental.

After the experiments with lightning conductors, it would appear that he knew enough about grounding to insulate himself from serious harm.

He was also the first scientist to use the terms positive and negative charge, possibly the basis of the myth that he discovered electricity. His discoveries in this field led to further research into the nature of electricity, influencing the invention of batteries by Volta, and the electric motor by Faraday in the early nineteenth century.

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Martyn Shuttleworth (Jun 24, 2008). Ben Franklin Kite Experiment. Retrieved Sep 29, 2024 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/ben-franklin-kite-experiment

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Electricity

Franklin did not, of course, invent electricity, but he discovered many things about it, previously not understood.

Before Franklin started his scientific experimentation, it was thought that electricity consisted of two opposing forces. Franklin showed that electricity consisted of a "common element" which he named "electric fire." Further, electricity was "fluid" like a liquid. It passed from one body to another — however it was never destroyed. In a letter to Peter Collinson, Franklin wrote that the

"fire only circulates. Hence have arisen some new items among us. We say B (and other Bodies alike circumstanced) are electricised positively ; A negatively ; Or rather B is electricised plus and A minus ... These terms we may use till philosophers give us better."

Franklin's work became the basis for the single fluid theory. When something is being charged, such as a car battery, electricity flows from a positive body, that with an excess charge, to a negative body, that with negative charge. Indeed, a car battery has plus and minus signs on its terminals.

Franklin wrote Collinson in another letter that: "I feel a Want of Terms here and doubt much whether I shall be able to make this intelligible." Not only did Franklin have to posit theories, he also had to create a new language to fit them. Some of the electrical terms which Franklin coined during his experiments include:

They are still the terms we use today.

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Franklin’s Kite Experiment

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Franklin is probably most famous for his kite experiment. As the story goes, he and his son flew a silk kite on a long cord when the sky was full of black clouds. 

A metal rod was tied to the kite. An iron key was attached to the end of the cord. Franklin and his son tied a silk string to the end of the cord, where the key was, and held on to that.

As storm clouds approached, the metal rod drew electricity, which Franklin called “electric fire,” from them. When rain got the kite and the cord wet, that electricity was conducted from the rod to the key. That’s because water is a good conductor of electricity. Franklin touched the key with his knuckle and felt an electrical shock. This proved his theory that lightning was a form of electricity.

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Next topic in ben franklin, the lightning rod and other practical inventions.

Ben Franklin

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Scientific observations and discoveries

Positive and negative electric charges.

His discovery of positive and negative electric charge led to the invention of batteries by Volta and the electric motor.

Storm clouds are full of electric charges

Flying a kite in a storm was perhaps Franklin’s most famous experiment that led to the invention of the lightning rod. Electricity had been known for thousands of years but not fully understood.

Franklin speculated about the usefulness of lightning rods for several years. Since Philadelphia has a flat geography he was waiting for the Christ Church to be built so that he could complete his experiment. One day it occurred to him that he could conduct the experiment by flying a kite. With the help of his son William he attached a metal key to the string of the kite connected to a Leyden jar so that it could accumulate electricity. He kept dry by retreating into a barn, the end of the string was also kept dry to insulate himself. The kite was not struck by lightning but it drew electricity to the key and Leyden jar. It appears that he knew enough about grounding to protect himself from being electro shocked.

When the stormed passed over his kite the negative charges passed into his kite, to the key and to the Leyden jar. When he moved his hand near the key he received a shock because the negative charge attracted the positive charge in his body. This experiment also led to the discovery of positive and negative electric charges.

Mapping the Gulf Stream  

The presence of the Gulf Stream had been known since Spanish sailors reached the Americas but it was not mapped until Franklin took interest in it.

Franklin’s cousin, Timothy Folger, who was a Nantucket whaling captain, helped him record the stream. The map was published in 1786 with notes and observations.

Aurora borealis

Meteorology.

He was also puzzled by hail in summer. He correctly deduced, but had no way to prove, that the air at high altitudes of the atmosphere was colder than the air below it, allowing rain to freeze before hitting the ground.

Common cold

Lead poison, you may also like, experiments with electricity.

Franklin's Lightning Rod

What would you think if you saw a man chasing a thunder and lightning storm on horseback you would probably wonder what on earth he was trying to do. well, if you lived in the 1700s and knew benjamin franklin, this is just what you might see during a terrible storm. ben was fascinated by storms; he loved to study them. if he were alive today, we could probably add "storm-chaser" to his long list of titles..

It was in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1746 that Franklin first stumbled upon other scientists' electrical experiments. He quickly turned his home into a little laboratory, using machines made out of items he found around the house. During one experiment, Ben accidentally shocked himself. In one of his letters, he described the shock as

"...a universal blow throughout my whole body from head to foot, which seemed within as well as without; after which the first thing I took notice of was a violent quick shaking of my body..." (He also had a feeling of numbness in his arms and the back of his neck that gradually wore off.)

Franklin spent the summer of 1747 conducting a series of groundbreaking experiments with electricity. He wrote down all of his results and ideas for future experiments in letters to Peter Collinson, a fellow scientist and friend in London who was interested in publishing his work. By July, Ben used the terms positive and negative (plus and minus) to describe electricity instead of the previously used words " vitreous " and " resinous ." Franklin described the concept of an electrical battery in a letter to Collinson in the spring of 1749, but he wasn't sure how it could be useful. Later the same year, he explained what he believed were similarities between electricity and lightning, such as the color of the light, its crooked direction, crackling noise, and other things. There were other scientists who believed that lightning was electricity, but Franklin was determined to find a method of proving it.

By 1750, in addition to wanting to prove that lightning was electricity, Franklin began to think about protecting people, buildings, and other structures from lightning. This grew into his idea for the lightning rod. Franklin described an iron rod about 8 or 10 feet long that was sharpened to a point at the end. He wrote , "the electrical fire would, I think, be drawn out of a cloud silently before it could come near enough to strike..." Two years later, Franklin decided to try his own lightning experiment. Surprisingly, he never wrote letters about the legendary kite experiment; someone else wrote the only account 15 years after it took place.

In June of 1752, Franklin was in Philadelphia, waiting for the steeple on top of Christ Church to be completed for his experiment (the steeple would act as the " lightning rod "). He grew impatient and decided that a kite would be able to get close to the storm clouds just as well. Ben needed to figure out what he would use to attract an electrical charge; he decided on a metal key and attached it to the kite. Then, he tied the kite string to an insulating silk ribbon for the knuckles of his hand. Even though this was a very dangerous experiment, (you can see what our lightning rod at the top of the page looks like after getting struck), some people believe that Ben wasn't injured because he didn't conduct his test during the worst part of the storm. At the first sign of the key receiving an electrical charge from the air, Franklin knew that lightning was a form of electricity. His 21-year-old son William was the only witness to the event.

Two years before the kite and key experiment, Ben had observed that a sharp iron needle would conduct electricity away from a charged metal sphere. He first theorized that lightning might be preventable by using an elevated iron rod connected to the earth to empty static from a cloud. Franklin articulated these thoughts as he pondered the usefulness of a lightning rod:

"May not the knowledge of this power of points be of use to mankind, in preserving houses, churches, ships, etc., from the stroke of lightning, by directing us to fix, on the highest parts of those edifices, upright rods of iron made sharp as a needle...Would not these pointed rods probably draw the electrical fire silently out of a cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible mischief!"

Franklin began to advocate lightning rods that had sharp points. His English colleagues favored blunt-tipped lightning rods, reasoning that sharp ones attracted lightning and increased the risk of strikes; they thought blunt rods were less likely to be struck. King George III had his palace equipped with a blunt lightning rod. The decision became a political statement when it came time to equip the colonies' buildings with lightning rods. The favored pointed lightning rod expressed support for Franklin's theories of protecting public buildings and the rejection of theories supported by the King. The English thought this was just another way for the flourishing colonies to be disobedient to them.

Franklin's lightning rods could soon be found protecting many buildings and homes. The lightning rod constructed on the dome of the State House in Maryland was the largest "Franklin" lightning rod ever attached to a public or private building in Ben's lifetime. It was built in accordance with his recommendations and has had only one recorded instance of lightning damage. The pointed lightning rod placed on the State House and other buildings became a symbol of the ingenuity and independence of a young, thriving nation, as well as the intellect and inventiveness of Benjamin Franklin.

Note: The object pictured above is part of The Franklin Institute's protected collection of objects. The image is © The Franklin Institute. All rights are reserved.

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Español NEW Kite experiment facts for kids The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed, conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. It was proposed and may have been conducted by Benjamin Franklin with the assistance of his son William Franklin . The experiment's purpose was to uncover the unknown facts about the nature of lightning and electricity , and with further experiments on the ground, to demonstrate that lightning and electricity were the result of the same phenomenon. Lightning rod experiments The pennsylvania gazette ' s account. Speculations of Jean-Antoine Nollet had led to the issue of the electrical nature of lightning being posed as a prize question at Bordeaux in 1749. In 1750, it was the subject of public discussion in France, with a dissertation of Denis Barberet receiving a prize in Bordeaux ; Barberet proposed a cause in line with the triboelectric effect. The same year, Franklin reversed his previous skepticism of electrical lightning's attraction to high points. The physicist Jacques de Romas also wrote a mémoire with similar ideas that year, and later defended them as independent of Franklin's. In 1752, Franklin proposed an experiment with conductive rods to attract lightning to a leyden jar , an early form of capacitor . Such an experiment was carried out in May 1752 at Marly-la-Ville in northern France by Thomas-François Dalibard. An attempt to replicate the experiment killed Georg Wilhelm Richmann in Saint Petersburg in August 1753; he was thought to be the victim of ball lightning . Franklin himself is said to have conducted the experiment in June 1752, supposedly on the top of the spire on Christ Church in Philadelphia. However, the spire at Christ Church was not added until 1754. Franklin's kite experiment Franklin's kite experiment was performed in Philadelphia in June 1752, according to the account by Priestley. Franklin described the experiment in the Pennsylvania Gazette in October 19, 1752, without mentioning that he himself had performed it. This account was read to the Royal Society on December 21 and printed as such in the Philosophical Transactions . A more complete account of Franklin's experiment was given by Joseph Priestley in 1767, who presumably learned the details directly from Franklin, who was in London at the time Priestley wrote the book. According to the 1767 Priestley account, Franklin realized the dangers of using conductive rods and instead used the conductivity of a wet hemp string attached to a kite . This allowed him to stay on the ground while his son assisted him to fly the kite from the shelter of a nearby shed. This enabled Franklin and his son to keep the silk string of the kite dry to insulate them while the hemp string to the kite was allowed to get wet in the rain to provide conductivity. A house key belonging to Benjamin Loxley was attached to the hemp string and connected to a Leyden jar ; a silk string was attached to this. "At this key he charged phials, and from the electric fire thus obtained, he kindled spirits, and performed all other electrical experiments which are usually exhibited by an excited globe or tube." The kite was not by visible lightning; had it been, Franklin would almost certainly have been killed. However, Franklin did notice that loose threads of the kite string were repelling each other and deduced that the Leyden jar was being charged. He moved his hand near the key and observed an electric spark, proving the electric nature of lightning. The kite experiment was described in The Pennsylvania Gazette on October 19, 1752 as follows: Franklin's Statement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Philadelphia, October 19, 1752 As frequent Mention is made in the News Papers from Europe, of the Success of the Philadelphia Experiment for drawing the Electric Fire from Clouds by Means of pointed Rods of Iron erected on high Buildings, &c. it may be agreeable to the Curious to be inform'd, that the same Experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia, tho' made in a different and more easy Manner, which any one may try, as follows. Make a small Cross of two light Strips of Cedar, the Arms so long as to reach to the four Corners of a large thin Silk Handkerchief when extended; tie the Corners of the Handkerchief to the Extremities of the Cross, so you have the Body of a Kite; which being properly accommodated with a Tail, Loop and String, will rise in the Air, like those made of Paper; but this being of Silk is fitter to bear the Wet and Wind of a Thunder Gust without tearing. To the Top of the upright Stick of the Cross is to be fixed a very sharp pointed Wire, rising a Foot or more above the Wood. To the End of the Twine, next the Hand, is to be tied a silk Ribbon, and where the Twine and the silk join, a Key may be fastened. This Kite is to be raised when a Thunder Gust appears to be coming on, and the Person who holds the String must stand within a Door, or Window, or under some Cover, so that the Silk Ribbon may not be wet; and Care must be taken that the Twine does not touch the Frame of the Door or Window. As soon as any of the Thunder Clouds come over the Kite, the pointed Wire will draw the Electric Fire from them, and the Kite, with all the Twine, will be electrified, and the loose Filaments of the Twine will stand out every Way, and be attracted by an approaching Finger. And when the Rain has wet the Kite and Twine, so that it can conduct the Electric Fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from the Key on the Approach of your Knuckle. At this Key the Phial may be charg'd; and from Electric Fire thus obtain'd, Spirits may be kindled, and all the other Electric Experiments be perform'd, which are usually done by the Help of a rubbed Glass Globe or Tube; and thereby the Sameness of the Electric Matter with that of Lightning compleatly demonstrated. Philosophical Transactions : A Letter of Benjamin Franklin, Esq; to Mr. Peter Collinson, F. R. S. concerning an Electrical Kite. Phil. Trans. 1751–1752 47, 565–567; (PDF) This page was last modified on 31 August 2024, at 06:05. Suggest an edit . Did Ben Franklin's Famous Kite Experiment Actually Happen? If you're an American, you no doubt learned about Benjamin Franklin's  kite experiment at some point during your education. You know the basics already: Scientist-statesman Ben Franklin tied a key to the end of a kite string, took the kite out during a thunderstorm, and waited for lightning to strike. When it did, Franklin was able to prove that lightning is a form of electricity. Franklin's experiment is a source of pride for many Americans, especially when so many of history's great experiments are attributed to Europeans. But did Franklin's kite experiment ever really happen? Or is it just another one of the myths we're raised to believe about our nation's Founding Fathers ? According to the National Archives , the first report of Franklin's kite experiment was published in the October 19, 1752 edition of  The Pennsylvania Gazette , and was written by Franklin himself. In the article, Franklin encourages any curious individual to try repeating the experiment, and explains how they may do so. First, construct a kite with a metal wire on its top. Tie a metal key to the end of the kite's string, then add a silk ribbon to hold — and make sure not to get the silk wet (so you won't electrocute yourself) by standing "under some cover." When lighting strikes the kite, electricity will travel down the wet twine to the key, which will become noticeably electrified. Thus, we can conclude that lightning = electricity. Eureka! Benjamin Franklin wrote about the kite experiment, but historians doubt the details There's one thing that's particularly surprising about Franklin's 1752 account of the kite experiment in The Pennsylvania Gazette : Nowhere does Franklin ever claim that he performed the experiment. This has puzzled historians, some of whom have suggested that Franklin may have been reporting on an experiment performed by someone else, or simply describing a thought experiment of his. But, per the National Archives , a 1767 account of the kite experiment written by a friend of Franklin's, Joseph Priestley, confirms that Franklin did indeed conduct the experiment himself. Even so, some historians doubt whether the kite experiment actually happened the way Franklin and Priestley described. In his 2003 book Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax , historian Tom Tucker suggests that the experiment never occurred at all. Tucker points out that Franklin's description of the kite experiment was much less detailed than his typical writing style when describing his own research. Further, Tucker suggests that the kite experiment as described in the Gazette  wouldn't actually work — but other historians, like Michael Schiffer , have disagreed with Tucker on this point. Additionally, the MythBusters discovered that Ben Franklin would have instantly died after touching a key charged with the electricity from a direct lightning hit. But, per Mental Floss , many historians have interpreted the Gazette passage to suggest that Franklin's kite only collected ambient electrical charge from storm clouds, and was never directly hit by a lightning bolt. Franklin's kite experiment wasn't the first to link lightning and electricity Ultimately, historians are divided over whether or not Franklin's famous kite experiment ever did happen, but most agree that it could have happened. It's also worth pointing out, however, that Franklin's supposed kite flight was not the first experiment to conclusively prove the link between lightning and electricity. In 1750, per Mental Floss , Franklin sent a letter to his friend, fellow scientist Peter Collinson. In the letter, Franklin suggested that the link between lightning and electricity could be proven via experiment — not by a kite, but by a "lightning rod" on top of a tall building. Unfortunately, no building in Philadelphia was tall enough for the purpose at the time, so Franklin was unable to perform the experiment himself. But a translated version of Franklin's letter began to cause quite a stir among the scientific community in France. In May of 1752, French naturalist Thomas-Francois Dalibard recreated the experiment Franklin laid out in his letter. Dalibard published the results, confirming the relationship between lightning and electricity, as well as the efficacy of lightning rods. It wasn't until June 1752 that Franklin became fed up of the lack of tall buildings in Philadelphia and (supposedly) performed his kite experiment. While Franklin's experiment wasn't the first to confirm lightning's status as electricity , the actual first experiment was still inspired by his writing, so it's appropriate to give credit for the discovery to Franklin. Recommended 283 IMAGES Benjamin Franklin and the Kite Experiment Benjamin Franklin's Kite Experiment, 1752 Stock Photo Kite experiment Benjamin Franklin’s Kite Experiment Explained Ben Franklin's Kite Experiment » Resources » Surfnetkids Jacques De Romas Kite Experiment, 1753 Photograph by Science Source VIDEO Remote control electric kite 😳 #experiment #kiteexperiment #kite Electric Kite hack😳 #experiment #kiteexperiment #mrindianhacker #kite Motor Flying Kite #experiment #dcmotor Fly Kite Experiment #shorts #experiment #trending Flew 10 Kites At Ground😱|| Kite Experiment #kiteflying #kitelover Kite flying in Sky 😳 COMMENTS Kite experiment The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect static electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. The experiment was first proposed in 1752 by Benjamin Franklin, who reportedly conducted the experiment ... Benjamin Franklin's Kite Experiment: What Do We Know? Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images. On June 10, 1752, Benjamin Franklin took a kite out during a storm to see if a key attached to the string would draw an electrical charge. Or so the story goes. In ... Kite Experiment Kite Experiment. Flying a kite in a storm was perhaps Benjamin Franklin's most famous experiment that led to the invention of the lightning rod and the understanding of positive and negative charges. The connection between electricity and lightning was known but not fully understood. By conducting the kite experiment Franklin proved that ... The Kite Experiment, 19 October 1752 The Kite Experiment. I. Printed in The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 19, 1752; also copy: The Royal Society. II. Printed in Joseph Priestley, The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments (London, 1767), pp. 179-81. Franklin was the first scientist to propose that the identity of lightning and electricity could be ... Ben Franklin's Kite Experiment An Account of the Kite Experiment. From Carl Van Doren's "Benjamin Franklin," ©1938 by Carl Van Doren. "Before that he had thought of another way of proving his theory, and with the help of his electrical kite had drawn lightning from a cloud. The episode of the kite, so firm and fixed in legend, turns out to be dim and mystifying in fact. Electricity Discovery While he didn't invent electricity, Franklin's kite experiment is legendary. Dive into history and uncover the bright connection. Subscribe for more! Support... Benjamin Franklin flies kite during thunderstorm In the summer of 1752—possibly on the 10th of June— Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm to collect ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar, enabling him to demonstrate the ... Benjamin Franklin: Man of Business and Science Arguably, the most well-known of Franklin's science ventures is the kite experiment. Without going into further detail, you've most likely pictured him flying a kite in a thunderstorm with a key attached to the line. While the kite itself was never struck by lightning, the iron rod attached to it was able to draw electrical charge from the ... The Kite Experiment: A Groundbreaking Discovery The Experiment Unfolds . In June 1752, Benjamin Franklin embarked on a daring experiment that would forever change our understanding of electricity. Armed with a simple kite made of silk, a key, and a length of string, Franklin set out to prove his hypothesis that lightning was, indeed, a form of electricity. The True Story Behind Ben Franklin's Lightning Experiment It was exactly one month after the Dalibard experiment, on June 10, 1752, that Franklin (supposedly) performed his famous kite and key experiment. Franklin stood outside under a shelter during a ... Kite Experiment Franklin's kite flying is one of the most famous scientific experiments in history. His experiment proved that lightning is really the same electricity he observed in a spark in his laboratory, but many, many times more powerful. Franklin was a noted scientist in his day and went on to learn many things about electricity. Did Benjamin Franklin really discover electricity with a kite and key As for the kite-and-key experiment, most people are aware of the version in which the metal key acted as a lightning rod, and Franklin subsequently "discovered" electricity when lightning struck ... Benjamin Franklin's Inventions & Kite Experiment Explained His method was to fly a kite in a storm, with a metal key attached. Benjamin Franklin's experiment with kite and key (Photo by Getty Images) This picked up the charge in the atmosphere, which was conducted into a Leyden jar (discovered in the 1740s, it was a device for storing static electricity), thus confirming that Franklin was right. Ben Franklin Kite Experiment The most common belief is that he flew a kite into some storm clouds and received an electric shock, discovering electricity. Whilst this is not strictly true, this experiment was a major contribution to physics, increasing our knowledge of natural phenomena.. Benjamin Franklin was one of those rare men who excelled in many fields of expertise, as a politician, journalist and author. Ben Franklin's contribution to our understanding of electricity Franklin's Kite Experiment. Before Franklin started his scientific experimentation, it was thought that electricity consisted of two opposing forces. Franklin showed that electricity consisted of a "common element" which he named "electric fire." Further, electricity was "fluid" like a liquid. It passed from one body to another — however it ... Franklin's electrostatic machine The famous kite experiment enabled the Philadelphia group to established what had been surmised by others, that lightning was identical to the mild charge of electricity produced by the friction of the electrostatic machine. Franklin invented the lightning rod, which goes down in history as the first practical electrical invention. ... Benjamin Franklin's contributions to science An Account of the Kite Experiment; How Franklin Made His Kite; For Whom the Bells Toll; Assault on Batteries; Lightning Rod; Franklin Stove; Mapping the Gulf Stream; Swim Fins; Glass Armonica; Flexible Urinary Catheter; Odometer; Long Arm; Air Conditioning (Sort of!) Franklin has also gotten credit for a few inventions and innovations that were ... Franklin's Kite Experiment Franklin's Kite Experiment. from Ben Franklin. 750L - 890L. Franklin is probably most famous for his kite experiment. As the story goes, he and his son flew a silk kite on a long cord when the sky was full of black clouds. A metal rod was tied to the kite. An iron key was attached to the end of the cord. Franklin and his son tied a silk ... Scientific observations and discoveries Franklin discovered positive and negative electric charges by conducting experiments with electricity using the Leyden Jar. He proved his theory by performing his kite experiment during a storm. When the stormed passed over his kite the negative charges passed into his kite, to the key and to the Leyden jar. When he moved his hand near the key ... Franklin's Lightning Rod Two years before the kite and key experiment, Ben had observed that a sharp iron needle would conduct electricity away from a charged metal sphere. He first theorized that lightning might be preventable by using an elevated iron rod connected to the earth to empty static from a cloud. Franklin articulated these thoughts as he pondered the ... Kite experiment facts for kids The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed, conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. It was proposed and may have been conducted by Benjamin Franklin with the assistance of his son William Franklin.The experiment's purpose was to uncover the ... Did Ben Franklin's Famous Kite Experiment Actually Happen? Even so, some historians doubt whether the kite experiment actually happened the way Franklin and Priestley described. In his 2003 book Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax, historian Tom Tucker suggests that the experiment never occurred at all. Tucker points out that Franklin's description of the kite experiment was much ... essay homework paper phd project resume review study thesis