Abstract
In his second letter to Mr. Collinson, Franklin presented his one-fluid theory of electricity. Contrary to Du Fay’s two-fluid theory, Franklin suggested that all objects contain within them a certain quantity of the so-called “electrical fire”. While the overall quantity of this electrical fire is unchanged—it is a conserved quantity—its distribution need not be uniform everywhere. Objects having a (perhaps temporary) surplus are said to be “plus”; objects having a deficit are said to be “minus”.
Such charge separation commonly occurs with friction between different objects, as when glass is rubbled with silk (the glass becomes “plus” and the silk becomes “minus”), or amber with fur (the amber becomes “minus” and the fur becomes “plus”). In this way, Franklin was able to account for many electrical phenomena by introducing the concept of positive and negative electricity. At this point, you might pause to consider whether (or to what extent) Franklin’s theory of electricity is different than the modern view.
Now, in his third letter to Mr. Collinson, Franklin deploys his one-fluid theory so as to understand the working of “Mueschenbroek’s wonderful bottle”. Where might the bottle store its electricity when electrified? In the water? In the glass? In the central wire?
So wonderfully are these two states of Electricity, the plus and the minus, combined and balanced in this miraculous bottle!
—Benjamin Franklin
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See this opinion rectified in Letter IV §16 and 17. The fire in the bottle was found by subsequent experiments not to be contained in the non-electric, but in the glass. 1748.
- 2.
What is said here, and after, of the top and bottom of the bottle, is true of the inside and outside surfaces, and should have been so expressed.
- 3.
See the preceding note, relating to top and bottom.
- 4.
i.e. from the inside to the outside.
- 5.
See the preceding note.
- 6.
i.e. from the inside to the outside.
- 7.
The first twelve sections of this letter have been omitted for the sake of brevity.—[K.K.]
- 8.
Franklin has built a set of parallel-plate capacitors. Each capacitor consists of a single pane of glass sandwiched between two sheets of lead. In the first configuration, Franklin strings these capacitors together in series; in the second he strings them together in parallel. The latter configuration provides the higher total capacitance.—[K.K.]
- 9.
Franklin’s Sect. 10 has been omitted for the sake of brevity.— [K.K.]
- 10.
Only a few of the middle paragraphs from this letter have been included in this volume for the sake of brevity.—[K.K.]
- 11.
The Leyden jar is here acting as a rudimentary electrometer. By observing whether the two balls suspended from the prime conductor (the wire passing through the top cork), one can detect the presence of electrification.—[K.K.]
- 12.
See Newton’s Rules of Reasoning, described at the outset of Book III of his Principia; this text is included in Chap. 25 of Vol. II.—[K.K.]
- 13.
Franklin himself built a parallel-plate capacitor consisting of a flat pane of glass between two lead plates. The relative permittivity of glass (the ratio of the electrical permittivity of glass to that of a vacuum) is about four.
- 14.
I have here used the Basic Electrostatic System, manufactured by PASCO Scientific in Roseville, CA.
- 15.
To convert this to a charge reading (in coulombs), the internal capacitance needs to determined; for some electrometers the internal capacitance is kindly provided.
- 16.
In these experiments, you should be sure–not–to ground the proof plane between measurements; this might deplete any charge which might exist on the second sphere.
- 17.
In this case, it is preferable to ground the proof plane after each sample (try just breathing on it), since the capacitor plates are held at a constant potential and thus will not be depleted of charge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kuehn, K. (2016). Müschenbroek’s Wonderful Bottle. In: A Student's Guide Through the Great Physics Texts. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21816-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21816-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21815-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21816-8
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)