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Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment has grown into an American legend.
Almost everyone has heard of Franklin's famous experiment, but few
of us actually understand how the experiment worked. When a storm
cloud passed over Franklin's kite the negative charges in the cloud
leaked onto his kite, his kite string, his key, and a Leyden
jar attached to the key by a thin metal wire. Franklin however,
was unaffected by the negative charges because he was holding a dry
silk string which insulated him from the charges on the key. When
Franklin reached out his knuckle to touch the key he received a shock,
because the negative charges in the key were so strongly attracted
to the positive charges in his body that a spark jumped from the
key to his hand. Franklin's experiment successfully showed that lightning
was actually static electricity.
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