Ben Franklin DID fly a Kite in a Storm But Wasn't the First to Prove Lightning is Electric
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Date: 2022-12-27
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Comments and reviews: 16
Geoffrey
Kites are used, primarily by Ham Radio people, to get antennas aloft. In this setup, on a clear and not stormy day, it's important to have Bleeder Resistors which bleed the charge to a ground. Without this voltages can build up, harm equipment or even kill someone. Charging a leyden jar would have been quite easy with a kite on a wire. Lightning arresting systems have a ground rod which goes deep for two reasons. The first is better conductivity but more important, lightning typically travels along the surface of the ground during a strike. These radial currents can be lethal some distance from the strike. A deep rod, leads the current below and reduces radial currents. (related to the skin effect.
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Kites are used, primarily by Ham Radio people, to get antennas aloft. In this setup, on a clear and not stormy day, it's important to have Bleeder Resistors which bleed the charge to a ground. Without this voltages can build up, harm equipment or even kill someone. Charging a leyden jar would have been quite easy with a kite on a wire. Lightning arresting systems have a ground rod which goes deep for two reasons. The first is better conductivity but more important, lightning typically travels along the surface of the ground during a strike. These radial currents can be lethal some distance from the strike. A deep rod, leads the current below and reduces radial currents. (related to the skin effect.
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Left
I seriously doubt that Franklin ever really fly a kite in a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are known for turbulence and downbursts, wind conditions that are not very conducive to flying kites. When I was a kid we lived in a part of the south that seldom had enough wind to fly a kite except before storms. Every time we tried to get a kite up in the air before storm it would dance and bob and after a few seconds dive for the ground no matter how hard we tried. As an adult I've noticed BBQ smoke does the same thing when cooking before a storm. I think the whole kite thing is fiction.
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I seriously doubt that Franklin ever really fly a kite in a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are known for turbulence and downbursts, wind conditions that are not very conducive to flying kites. When I was a kid we lived in a part of the south that seldom had enough wind to fly a kite except before storms. Every time we tried to get a kite up in the air before storm it would dance and bob and after a few seconds dive for the ground no matter how hard we tried. As an adult I've noticed BBQ smoke does the same thing when cooking before a storm. I think the whole kite thing is fiction.
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Peter
Hi Kathy, great video. I'm a bit confused about the positive negative thing. If Franklin thought glass was negatively charged by rubbing because it lost electrical fire, which he thought of as positive, this firstly suggests he had some evidence for thinking the glass was losing something in being rubbed. Or was this just a 1 in 2 chance of guessing right? Even so, if it turns out that he did guess right, i. e. glass loses something, we now know that this is electrons, but who decided that electrons should be negative, and how did that come about?
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Hi Kathy, great video. I'm a bit confused about the positive negative thing. If Franklin thought glass was negatively charged by rubbing because it lost electrical fire, which he thought of as positive, this firstly suggests he had some evidence for thinking the glass was losing something in being rubbed. Or was this just a 1 in 2 chance of guessing right? Even so, if it turns out that he did guess right, i. e. glass loses something, we now know that this is electrons, but who decided that electrons should be negative, and how did that come about?
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FreddyDaFreeloadah
7: 20 What I don't understand is: WHY DON'T WE GENERATE ELECTRICITY IN THIS MANNER? The static electric charge drawn from the sky, could be used to charge a capacitor on a large scale. The discharge from this large scale capacitor could then be converted to AC and power a home, or even a city! You could use a specialized reservoir, with many pools to act the same as Franklins Battery of Lyden jars! I am sure there are reasons why not. I just have never heard them! IMHO
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7: 20 What I don't understand is: WHY DON'T WE GENERATE ELECTRICITY IN THIS MANNER? The static electric charge drawn from the sky, could be used to charge a capacitor on a large scale. The discharge from this large scale capacitor could then be converted to AC and power a home, or even a city! You could use a specialized reservoir, with many pools to act the same as Franklins Battery of Lyden jars! I am sure there are reasons why not. I just have never heard them! IMHO
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Andy
I really love the level of detail that you give to these historical accounts, you're also brilliant at debunking many of the common misconceptions that surround the history of electrical science! I'm an electrician in my day job and it is amazing to know all about the incredible discoveries and leaps of imagination that led to our current day world of electrical wonders!
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I really love the level of detail that you give to these historical accounts, you're also brilliant at debunking many of the common misconceptions that surround the history of electrical science! I'm an electrician in my day job and it is amazing to know all about the incredible discoveries and leaps of imagination that led to our current day world of electrical wonders!
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C&C
I am a project manager for a lightning protection company in Tampa Florida. For me the history behind this is incredible. Even today on all the skyscrapers Around the world we still use Some of the same methods they came up with in the late 1700 's. These men truly were remarkable people.
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I am a project manager for a lightning protection company in Tampa Florida. For me the history behind this is incredible. Even today on all the skyscrapers Around the world we still use Some of the same methods they came up with in the late 1700 's. These men truly were remarkable people.
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Robert
I cry whenever I think about Richmann (7: 57. (I'm sobbing right now. I don't know why these things affect me so strongly) Like some early experimenters with ionizing radiation, he touched the dragon and was killed.
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I cry whenever I think about Richmann (7: 57. (I'm sobbing right now. I don't know why these things affect me so strongly) Like some early experimenters with ionizing radiation, he touched the dragon and was killed.
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Richard
In Britain, this is still a Sentry Box. A Guard House is a building at the entrance to a Regimental Barracks with an Officer and several men who may search and detain anyone entering or leaving the Barracks.
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In Britain, this is still a Sentry Box. A Guard House is a building at the entrance to a Regimental Barracks with an Officer and several men who may search and detain anyone entering or leaving the Barracks.
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Pixxel
Fascinating story. Makes me think of Miracle Max. Doesn't care a lick about Wesley, but jumps at the chance to humiliate Humperdinck. So cool that Ben Franklin was kinda like an 18th century meme in Paris.
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Fascinating story. Makes me think of Miracle Max. Doesn't care a lick about Wesley, but jumps at the chance to humiliate Humperdinck. So cool that Ben Franklin was kinda like an 18th century meme in Paris.
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Gadi
Great series, I'm watching the videos one after the other and simply can't stop! I'm a physicist and knew some of these stories, but your series puts everything in a broader context.
Lots of fun!
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Great series, I'm watching the videos one after the other and simply can't stop! I'm a physicist and knew some of these stories, but your series puts everything in a broader context.
Lots of fun!
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Testing
The Mythbusters proved VERY conclusively that if the kite had been hit with lightning, Franklin would have died.
Thanks for the clarification! I always wondered exactly what and why happened.
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The Mythbusters proved VERY conclusively that if the kite had been hit with lightning, Franklin would have died.
Thanks for the clarification! I always wondered exactly what and why happened.
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VideoNOLA
I had also heard that Franklin's 1752 kite experiment used a Leyden Jar as part of the testing apparatus. It was attached to the key by wires, enabling Franklin to store static electricity.
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I had also heard that Franklin's 1752 kite experiment used a Leyden Jar as part of the testing apparatus. It was attached to the key by wires, enabling Franklin to store static electricity.
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Peter
Electricity was known long before Old Ben. In fact just 100 years after Columbus discovered the Caribbean, Queen Elizabeth was enjoying scientific demonstrations of static electricity.
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Electricity was known long before Old Ben. In fact just 100 years after Columbus discovered the Caribbean, Queen Elizabeth was enjoying scientific demonstrations of static electricity.
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Dyson
Like the story about lighting that starts with Billions of years ago, in a galaxy far far away a cosmic ray of unknown origins started its journey to earth
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Like the story about lighting that starts with Billions of years ago, in a galaxy far far away a cosmic ray of unknown origins started its journey to earth
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Wieslaw
Kathy, have you noticed that in the illustration the kite should be turned in the opposite direction? The artist was not a physisist.
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Kathy, have you noticed that in the illustration the kite should be turned in the opposite direction? The artist was not a physisist.
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AMIT
Hello Madam!
How are you?
I have not understood properly why there was metal key in kite string?
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Hello Madam!
How are you?
I have not understood properly why there was metal key in kite string?
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