It was today, 257 years ago that one of the worlds premier scientists, great American and arguably the first meteorologist (you can see his quote on the bottom of my blog) conducted his famous key on the end of a kite experiment. Boston native Ben Franklin, (1706-1790), was always interested in science and electricity. He decided while attempting to watch an eclipse one evening, and instead being treated to a thunderstorm, that he was going to run some experiments on lightning. One of them was to see if electricity would pass through metal. He attached a key to the end of a child's kite and flew it in a thunderstorm in Philadelphia, PA on this date. His test was successful, in that he drew conclusions about electricity and its properties, many that we still use today, and that he was not killed outright. We know better today, no golfing, boating, swimming and yes kite flying in or near thunderstorms. The region may have some scattered storms Thursday afternoon.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ben Franklin - June 10, 1752
It was today, 257 years ago that one of the worlds premier scientists, great American and arguably the first meteorologist (you can see his quote on the bottom of my blog) conducted his famous key on the end of a kite experiment. Boston native Ben Franklin, (1706-1790), was always interested in science and electricity. He decided while attempting to watch an eclipse one evening, and instead being treated to a thunderstorm, that he was going to run some experiments on lightning. One of them was to see if electricity would pass through metal. He attached a key to the end of a child's kite and flew it in a thunderstorm in Philadelphia, PA on this date. His test was successful, in that he drew conclusions about electricity and its properties, many that we still use today, and that he was not killed outright. We know better today, no golfing, boating, swimming and yes kite flying in or near thunderstorms. The region may have some scattered storms Thursday afternoon.
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It would be interesting to see if there is any "official" record of the weather June 10, 1752 in Philadelphia. Other aspects of the story do not make scientific sense, If the experiment was actually conducted as described in his notes he would surely have been electrocuted. Silk is not ordinarily a good conductor, but wet silk can conduct electricity. Especially at the voltage and amperage of a typical lightning strike. A "hemp" cord as it has been described would absorb water readily and become very heavy for the kite to lift it, and attaching a Leyden "jar" would add more weight. A large enough kite could lift a person, but he supposedly used a "large silk handkerchief". I don't think even Jimmy Durante had a big enough nose to use a piece of cloth for a handkerchief that would be big enough for such an experiment. If it was a thunderstorm, would it have been raining? If so, would not the down pouring of rain likely exceed the upward draft of the wind? Then the story claims he used a kite because he didn't think any buildings were tall enough for the experiment. If he really thought that, then why did he promote putting lightning rods on buildings? I have never flown a kite in a thunderstorm, nor do I intend to, but the story sounds more like fantasy than fact to me.
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