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From: segal@motcid.UUCP (Gary Segal)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Van de Graff (was HELP!)
Message-ID: <4604@guppie33.UUCP>
Date: 30 Jan 91 19:05:37 GMT
References: <1991Jan19.052458.7449@wam.umd.edu> <1991Jan28.190057.1874@sj.ate.slb.com> <1012@eplunix.UUCP>
Organization: Motorola INC., Cellular Infrastructure Division
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raoul@eplunix.UUCP (Nico Garcia) writes:
>But if you do something stupid with a powerful source, like stand in a
>puddle while licking a highly charged Van de Graff, there is enough energy
>there to hurt you. There is nothing magically safer about it, it's like
>comparing matches to firewood. The difference is one of scale, not type.

On the subject of scale; check out the Van de Graff generator at the Boston
Science Museum sometime.  It's about three stories high, with balls that are
quite large in diameter.  It can generate quite a few mega-volts of "static"
electricity.  The staff there calls it lighting simulator, and I'd have to
agree with them!  If you go, the winter is the best time because the drier
air allows a larger charge to be built up before the resulting discharge;
i.e. bigger booms.

In case you are wondering why anybody would want to build such a thing, it
was build in the early part of the centruy (20's or 30's I think) as part
of experements on splitting atoms.  Of course today we have much better
ways to split atoms, and this very large generator has become a show and
tell piece for the Boston Science Museum.  Oh yea, the entire generator is
in a Faraday cage so that the audience is safe.

-- 
Gary Segal	...!uunet!motcid!segal		+1-708-632-2348
Motorola INC., 1501 W. Shure Drive, Arlington Heights IL, 60004
The opinions expressed above are those of the author, and do not consititue
the opinions of Motorola INC.