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Sooo…did Benjamin Franklin discover electricity?
No! Benjamin Franklin added many ideas and theories about electricity. But, he did NOT discover it. However, this experiment with the kite proved that lightning is electrical in nature! That might not sound like a big deal, but back then, this discovery was a huge breakthrough in science.
Lightning was a big problem, and is still a big problem today! It’s dangerous to be outside when lightning is nearby. Houses and buildings can get struck by lightning. Most buildings in Philadelphia at this time were made of wood so they would catch on fire. Lightning made life very dangerous at this time.
Franklin’s experiment showed how electrons from lightning storms can be moved over a conductor. In his experiment, the conductor was the hemp cord. He wanted to use this knowledge to protect people. He thought he could move lightning safely. He planned to put a hemp cord from the top of a building into the ground. Franklin named this device the lightning rod. Lightning rods attract electricity and then a cord or wire moves the electricity away safely into the ground. This means that houses can remain undamaged and safe during lightning storms and prevent outbreaks of deadly fires. Ben Franklin’s lightning rod captures the lightning strikes near the top of someone’s house, and then the electrical current enters the rod. The rod is connected to the ground without touching the house. So, the lightning moves safely away from the house and into the ground. The house is protected from lightning! Genius idea, isn’t it?
In summary, Benjamin Franklin was smart, creative and worked hard. He studied the dangers of electricity to help his community. He used extra protection while carrying out his experiment. He took shelter in a dry cabin and kept the strings at the end of the kite dry. Kites should never be flown in thunderstorms now that we understand these dangers! We can thank Benjamin Franklin for risking his life and establishing the connection between lightning and electricity. Without his important discovery, there would be no such things as television, phones, electric lighting in homes, heaters, and just about anything electrical!
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Want to go back in time? Here is Ben Franklin’s article in the Pennsylvania Gazette describing the experiment investigating “Electric Fire”!
“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.”
From the Franklin Institute’s records: https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/kite-key-experiment