Electrophorus
Electróforo
- Date
- 1775 · confidence high
- Place
- Como, Lombardy, Italy
- Credited to
- Alessandro Volta (preceded by Johan Carl Wilcke)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A resin plate charged by rubbing, on which a metal disc rests: by induction charges can be drawn off over and over. It was the first electrostatic generator by influence and the instrument that led Volta to the pile.
The Swede Johan Carl Wilcke built a device on a similar principle in 1762; Volta developed it and named it in 1775.
What it led to
- electrostatic influence machines (Toepler-Holtz, Wimshurst)
- Volta's condenser and electroscope
- Volta's work leading to the voltaic pile