7/23/2019 Life of Benjamin Franklin

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Benjamin Franklinwas one of theFounding Fathers of the

United States. A renownedpolymath, Franklin was a leading

author, printer,political theorist, politician, freemason,

postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and

diplomat.

As a scientist, he was a major figure in theAmerican

Enlightenmentand thehistory of physicsfor his discoveries and theories

regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for thelightning rod,bifocals,

and theFranklin stove, among other inventions.

About his kite experiment.

Franklin realized the dangers of using

conductive rods and instead used

akite. The increased height allowed

him to stay on the ground and the kite

was less likely to electrocute him.

According to the legend, Franklin kept

the string of the kite dry at his end to

insulate him while the rest of the string was allowed to get wet in the rain to

provide conductivity.A house keywas attached to the string and connected to

aLeyden jar, which Franklin assumed would accumulate electricity from the

lightning. The kite wasn't struck by visible lightning (had it done so, Franklin

would almost certainly have been killed) but Franklin did notice that the

strings of the kite were repelling each other and deduced that the Leyden jar

was being charged. Franklin reportedly received a mild shock by moving his

hand near the key afterwards, because as he had estimated, lightning had

negatively charged the key and the Leyden jar, proving the electric nature of

lightning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymathhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_philosophershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_physicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifocalshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stovehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Loxleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyden_jarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymathhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_philosophershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enlightenmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_physicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifocalshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stovehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Loxleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyden_jarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States