Leyden jars, though quite simple, represented a tremendous breakthrough in the history of electricity, as they were the very first capacitors, and as such were able to store electric charge.
Your students can repeat the experiments with this affordable jar. It's simple to use.
Our Leyden jar is designed for classroom demonstrations, and comes with inner and outer metal conductor plates. These are separated by a plastic dielectric.
The inner plate has a hook and ball attached, which makes it easy to charge.
Apply an electrical charge to the external knob, with a Van de Graff Generator or a wimshurst machine, and take the jar apart. Positive and negative charges accumulate on the two metal plates respectively, but they are unable to discharge due to the dielectric between them. The result is that the charges will hold each other in equilibrium until a discharge path is provided. Thus, the charge will then be stored in the Leyden jar.
- Our Leyden jar is 3” in diameter and 8” tall.