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You may know Benjamin Franklin as one of the founding fathers of our nation. But, did you know Ben Franklin also helped discover how electricity works?
At this time, Philadelphia was still part of England. Franklin was a famous scientist and inventor. People could see static electricity and lightning. But, they did not know much about electricity. (This was the 1740s!) Franklin was one of the few thinking about electricity at this time. After this experiment, people were excited about Franklin’s new discoveries.
Franklin loved to help people. He was a diplomat, which meant he went to other countries to explain America’s thoughts. He always wanted to help people in his community. He searched for ways to improve people’s lives.
He was also curious about things he observed. Because he thought about things that people saw every day, it made him an excellent inventor. For example, lightning interested him. He knew lightning was dangerous for his community. It started many fires and burned down many buildings. This problem made Ben Franklin interested in finding some solutions. First, he had to learn more about lightning. So, he conducted one of the most famous scientific experiments of all time.
THE EXPERIMENT THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD
Ben Franklin was the first person ever to establish the connection between lightning and electricity.
One stormy, cloudy day, thunder was loudly clashing across the sky. Two fearless individuals tried to uncover the puzzling nature of electricity. These two individuals were Benjamin Franklin and his son, William Franklin! They wanted to see if electricity and lightning are similar. Their experiment used a kite made out of silk handkerchiefs. They used silk so it would not tear in the rain or wind. At the very tip of the kite they put a wire that acted as a lightning rod. At the bottom, they attached a hemp cord and a silk ribbon. The hemp cord got wet from the rain. Since water is a good electrical conductor, it attracted electrons from the thunderstorm and built an electrical charge. The silk ribbon on the bottom stayed dry. Because it was not wet, it was safe for Ben Franklin to hold.
The last part of the experiment was a metal key that was connected to the hemp cord. Franklin and his son waited a long time, then suddenly the hemp cord began drawing electrical charges. They knew this was happening because they observed a few threads of the cord were standing up. The cord was full of electrons from the thunderstorm clouds. Then, Franklin touched his hand near the metal key, and he received a shock! How, you might ask? Well, the negative charge from the metal key wanted to get the ground. Because Ben Franklin was touching the key and standing on the ground, he became the conductor for this electricity.
It is important to remember that Franklin kept himself and the silk ribbon dry so he would not be shocked dangerously. Someone may tell you Franklin was struck by lightning. This is NOT true! If lightning directly struck the kite or the rope, Franklin would have been dangerously electrocuted.
This shows how Franklin set up his experiment. Franklin was not struck by lightning! Instead, the hemp rope picked up electricity buzzing in the dark, stormy clouds. The hemp cord was the conductor for the electricity. The rope conducted enough electrical charge to give Franklin a small shock when he put his hand near the metal key.