Gregory Hayes
Simple Van de Graaff Generator
Shoot electrical sparks with a soda can, rubber band, and PVC pipe.
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I SPENT HOURS perusing Bill Beaty’s electrostatics web pages. At the time, I didn’t achieve any real successes trying to build his high-voltage contraptions, and so my interest waned.
Years later, I saw someone online use a soda can as a collector for their Van de Graaff generator, and all my childhood memories of futzing with styrofoam and foil came rushing back. I made my first sparks that afternoon, after a quick stop at our local surplus store.
Here’s the simple design I came up with after consulting ...
Get Make: Technology on Your Time Volume 28 now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
