Van de Graaff generator
Generador de Van de Graaff
- Date
- 1929 · confidence high
- Place
- Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
- Credited to
- Robert J. Van de Graaff
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Van de Graaff built his first generator from a tin can, a silk ribbon and a small motor, reaching 80,000 volts; by 1931 a twin-sphere version reached 1.5 million volts, double any previous direct-current source. The generator accumulates electrostatic charge carried by a belt onto a hollow sphere.
What it led to
- First nuclear experiments with the Round Hill generator (1933)
- Tandem accelerators (1950s)
- Applications in nuclear medicine and ion implantation
Built on
- Kelvin water dropper (1867)
- Augusto Righi's belt-driven machine (1872)
- W. F. G. Swann's falling-ball generator