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Electric Bomb or Mortar
Continent, 1825-1875
Explosions make wonderful demonstration devices and teaching tools. Even the most disinterested observer perks up for an explosion. (Other explosive demonstrations are the Thunder House and the Volta's Pistol.) And if it is fun to watch explosions, it is even more fun to make them yourself - so this kind of apparatus makes a good toy as well. The small cup on the right would have a bit of gunpowder put in it. A grounding chain would be fastened to the hook on the right of the cup, going to ground or to the outer foil of a Leyden Jar. The upper knob of the Leyden Jar would then be touched to the brass ball on the left, and a wire would carry the charge to the hook on the left of the cup. There would be a spark inside the cup, the gunpowder would go off, and the ivory ball would go flying. (There's a metal loop on the ball for a twine to be fastened, so it wouldn't go flying out-of-bounds.) |
| The Bakken A Library and Museum of Electricity in Life 3537 Zenith Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55416-4623, USA Join our E-Mail List Contact Us Tele: 612-926-3878 Fax: 612-927-7265 |
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