The first Van de Graaff generator was built at Princeton University in the fall of 1929. Van de Graaff decided to find some way of generating high electrostatic voltages in order to, as he phrased it, “meet the atom on its own terms.” But the electrostatic characteristics of the atomic nucleus gave him an idea. He also knew that conventional methods of electrical transformation might not provide the necessary energy. Van de Graaff knew that charged particles could be moved to high speeds by high voltages. Rutherford’s wish inspired a young American scholar by the name of Robert J. transcending in energy the alpha and beta particles from radioactive substances.” He was talking about an accelerator.
In 1927, New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford voiced the need for “a copious supply of atoms and electrons. It is an elementary physical fact that extremely high voltages can be generated by the repeated contact and separation of dissimilar substances, a process that is otherwise known as friction.
Otto von Guericke’s machine quickly became obsolete, but the triboelectric principles that allowed that generator to operate did not. When a dry hand was applied to the rotating sulfur sphere, the ball would become electrified, attract small objects, make a crackling sound, and glow faintly in the dark. The assembly was then mounted on a wooden frame that allowed the ball to spin freely. The generator’s ball was made by pouring molten sulfur into a spherical glass container “about the size of a child’s head.” When the sulfur cooled, the glass was broken open, and the globe removed and equipped with an iron axle. Though Guericke’s generator consisted of little more than a revolving ball of sulfur, that frictional device was capable of developing a very strong charge of static electricity. The first known electrical generator was built in 1660 by the German experimenter, Otto von Guericke (also known to historians as the inventor of the air pump).