Van de Graaff Generator w/Accessories 110or220 Voltage

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Van de Graaff Electrostatic Generator with Many Extras Voltage Capacity for United States 110V or European 220V - Switch on Back of UnitFor sale is a nice Van de Graaff generator, with many accessories for diverse experiments. This kind of generator was originally developed for early particle accelerator experiments. Since that time it has been one of the best loved demonstration instruments in the high school or college physics lab. It uses friction to generate an electrostatic charge which is deposited by a rotating belt on the inside of the dome. The charge then moves to the outside of a dome that acts like a giant capacitor for storing the charge. The motor housing is on a wood base plate (20 cm x 25 cm), and the motor is connected to a drive shaft for the belt by a pulley. You can see the pick-up belt through transparent plexiglass sheets that provide support for the main dome. The 17 cm dome at the top can be removed. It is hollow inside, and fits over the top of the plexiglass column. The unit stands 48 cm high if no additional item like the Faraday pail is plugged into the top. In addition t are several auxiliary items, which can be used for various experiments. These include:(1) A discharge wand, which can be plugged into the base of the main Van de Graaff unit. This can be used to draw sparks from the main unit. It can also be used with the Volta hailstorm. (Picture 3 shows the discharge wand next to the main dome.)(2) Voltaâe(tm)s hailstorm. This is a transparent cylinder with metal plates at the top and bottom. At the base it has a male connector which enables you to plug it into the top dome of the generator. Inside are metal coated pith balls which get charged from the bottom plate, then rise from the repulsive force between plate and balls. When they hit the top plate, they transfer their charge, then shoot downward for another cycle. If you plug in the discharge wand and move it over the top of the hailstorm, you get a very rapid flurry. If you leave it for a little while, the pith balls hover in the middle and stick to the sides. Then move the wand over it and you get another flurry. (Picture 4)(3) Electric whirl (spiked star): The corona discharge from the tips of the star cause it to rotate.(4) Electrostatic neon light wand and screwdriver with internal light. If you bring the light wand near the generator, it lights up.(Picture 7) The same is true for the screwdriver with internal light. But I found these tricky to use; I got zapped a lot when using them. In a dark room you can see the intensity of the light increase as you bring the wand nearer to the dome.(5) Artificial hair: When someone stands on an insulated base and puts their hands on the dome of the generator, they get charged just like the dome. This charge is seen in the hairs, which all repel each other. If you are bald or prefer to not to be charged with thousands of volts, then you can use the artificial hair. (Picture 6) If you bring the neon wand near, it will draw the charge from the hair, which will collapse as the wand lights.(6) Pith ball electroscope: You can also plug in a stand with a pith ball on string. As the generator charges, the pith ball moves away indicating the charge. This can also be used with other items to indicate amount of charge (Picture 5).(7) Faraday pail: Charge gathers on the outside of the pail, but not the inside. Various experiments can be done to explore charge distribution. The same principle is used to transfer the charge from the inside of the upper dome to the outside thus allowing a continual accumulation of the charge on the dome. This item is new. We took it out of the box and made sure it worked. We then repacked it in the original boxing. The pictures show some of the features of this unit in action. These are actual undoctored pictures we took while using one of these units.This is a nice quality unit that would enable you to conduct many of the classic electrostatic experiments. It puts out a hig... read more

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