Two kinds of electricity (vitreous and resinous)
Dos tipos de electricidad (vítrea y resinosa)
- Date
- 1733-1734 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Charles François de Cisternay du Fay
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Du Fay found that electrified bodies repel or attract each other depending on their kind of electricity, which he called vitreous (glass) and resinous (amber, resin). It was the first two-sign theory of charge.
What it led to
- two-fluid theory of electricity (Nollet, Symmer)
- debate with Franklin's one-fluid theory
- distinction between positive and negative charge