The Leyden Jar

Overview

Objectives/Goals My project was to see if static electricity could be stored in a Leyden jar capacitor made out of common household materials, and if so, can the charge held inside the Leyden jar be measured. Methods/Materials An electrophorus was assembled using a disposable aluminum pie pan, a Styrofoam cup, and tape. A Leyden jar was then assembled using a small plastic jar with a lid, a hammer, a nail slightly longer than the jar, aluminum foil, and tap water. Then, for charging the electrophorus, I used an 11x14 acrylic sheet, wool cloth, and the electrophorus. For measuring the charge in the Leyden jar, I used a piece of aluminum sheet, a large, flat piece of Styrofoam, a plastic travel soap dish, scissors, insulated wire: 6# long, wire strippers, a metric ruler, and tape. Results What I found out was that if you charge the Leyden jar once, you don#t get a spark, which leaves you with an undeterminable voltage. If you charge the Leyden jar 5 times, you get a 3 mm spark, which is 9,000 volts. If you charge it 10 times, you get a 1 cm spark, which is 30,000 volts. Conclusions/Discussion My results support my hypothesis. I found out that static electricity can be stored in a Leyden jar capacitor made out of common household materials. Next time, I might make the Leyden jar a little bigger, so it could hold more charge. If I were to further investigate my experiment under a new question, it would be: #How much voltage does one charge cycle give the Leyden jar#.

Awards (1)

• Honorable Mention

Competition history

• CSEF 2009 Electronics & Electromagnetics · Entry J0918

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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