User:Maliyusuf65/Van De Graff Generator

Problem
Create a simple Van de Graff generator out of basic household items.

History
The Van de Graaff generator was first designed by American physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff in 1929. It works by moving a belt inside a tube, and the belt brushes up against brushes on the bottom and top of the tube. The friction of this generates high amounts of electrical potential which is stored in a hollow metal globe at the top of the tube. The positive electric charges can be seen when something that is negatively charged comes near it as a spark of electricity. So, basically this generator makes static electricity.

The original Robert J. Van de Graaff's High-Voltage Generator

The largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator in the world, built by Dr. Van de Graaff in the 1930s, is now on permanent display at Boston's Museum of Science. With two conjoined 4.5-meter (15-foot) aluminium spheres standing on columns 22 feet (6.7 m) tall, this generator can often reach 2 MV (2 million volts). Shows using the Van de Graaff generator and several Tesla coils are conducted two to three times a day. Many science museums, such as the American Museum of Science and Energy, have small-scale Van de Graaff generators on display, and exploit their static-producing qualities to create "lightning" or make people's hair stand up. Van de Graaff generators are also used in schools and in science shows.

Conceive
We've found several different working models online:
 * Van de Graff generator model made from junk


 * 350kv Van de Graaff Generator

There are hundreds of homemade models online, but out of the ones we considered, it was easy to decide which one we were to follow. We will be following the "Van de Graff generator model made from junk." This was the simplest and cheapest model we've found as we don't have much experience.
 * Mini Van De Graaf... M & M style!

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Design
A very simple and basic design, made up of household items, with a block of wood as its' base. It will be powered by a motor of a toy car which will be powered by a 9-volt battery. We choose this design because the materials needed are easy to find, and the instructions to make it are fairly clear. So, we can build it fast which is good since we have only a short amount of time left.

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Implement
The first thing we did was drill a hole in the block of wood the size of the PVC pipe so that it may fit snug.

. Next, we stuck the PVC pipe into the drilled out hole. Then drilled a straight hole in the PVC pipe through both sides of the pipe where the axle of the motor will touch the PVC pipe.

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