Wimshurst machine

The Wimshurst influence machine is an electrostatic generator, a

machine for generating high voltages developed between 1880 and Wimshurst machine
1883 by British inventor James Wimshurst (1832–1903).

It has a distinctive appearance with two large contra-rotating discs

mounted in a vertical plane, two crossed bars with metallic
brushes, and a spark gap formed by two metal spheres.

Contents
Description Wimshurst machine with two
Operation Leyden jars.
See also Type electrostatic generator
References Inventor James Wimshurst
External links Inception c. 1880

Description
These machines belong to a class of electrostatic generators called
influence machines, which separate electric charges through
electrostatic induction, or influence, not depending on friction for
their operation. Earlier machines in this class were developed by
Wilhelm Holtz (1865 and 1867), August Toepler (1865), J. Robert
Voss (1880), and others. The older machines are less efficient and
exhibit an unpredictable tendency to switch their polarity while the
Wimshurst machine has neither defect.

In a Wimshurst machine, the two insulated discs and their metal

An engineering drawing of a
sectors rotate in opposite directions passing the crossed metal
Wimshurst machine, from Hawkins
neutralizer bars and their brushes. An imbalance of charges is
Electrical Guide
induced, amplified, and collected by two pairs of metal combs with
points placed near the surfaces of each disc. These collectors are
mounted on insulating supports and connected to the output
terminals. The positive feedback increases the accumulating charges exponentially until the dielectric
breakdown voltage of the air is reached and an electric spark jumps across the gap.

The machine is theoretically not self-starting, meaning that if none of the sectors on the discs has any
electrical charge there is nothing to induce charges on other sectors. In practice, even a small residual
charge on any sector is enough to start the process going once the discs start to rotate. The machine will
only work satisfactorily in a dry atmosphere. It requires mechanical power to turn the disks against the
electric field, and it is this energy that the machine converts into the electric power of the spark. The steady
state output of the Wimshurst machine is a direct (non-alternating) current that is proportional to the area
covered by the metal sector, the rotation speed, and a complicated function of the initial charge distribution.
The insulation and the size of the machine determine the maximum
output voltage that can be reached. The accumulated spark energy
can be increased by adding a pair of Leyden jars, an early type of
capacitor suitable for high voltages, with the jars’ inner plates
independently connected to each of the output terminals and the
jars’ outer plates interconnected. A typical Wimshurst machine can
produce sparks that are about a third of the disc's diameter in
length and several tens of microamperes.

The available voltage gain can be understood by noting that the Play media
charge density on oppositely charged sectors, between the Wimshurst machine in operation
neutralizer bars, is nearly uniform across the sectors, and thus at
low voltage, while the charge density on same charged sectors,
approaching the collector combs, peaks near the sector edges, at a
consequently high voltage relative to the opposite collector combs.

Wimshurst machines were used during the 19th century in physics

research. They were also occasionally used to generate high
voltage to power the first-generation Crookes X-ray tubes during
the first two decades of the 20th century, although Holtz machines
and induction coils were more commonly used. Today they are Quadruple Sector-less Wimshurst
only used in science museums and education to demonstrate the Machine
principles of electrostatics.

Operation
The two contra-rotating insulating discs (usually made of glass) have a number of metal sectors stuck onto
them. The machine is provided with four small earthed brushes (two on each side of the machine on
conducting shafts at 90° to each other), plus a pair of charge-collection combs. The conducting shafts, that
hold the brushes on a typical Wimshurst machine, would form the shape of an "X", if one could see
through the insulating discs, as they are perpendicular to each other. The charge-collection combs are
typically mounted along the horizontal and equally contact the outer edges of both front and back discs.
The collection combs on each side are usually connected to respective Leyden jars.

Animation

Any small charge on either of the two discs suffices to begin the charging process. Suppose, therefore, that
the back disc has a small, net electrostatic charge. For concreteness, assume this charge is positive (red) and
that the back disc ([A] lower chain) rotates counter-clockwise (right to left). As the charged sector (moving
red square) rotates to the position of the brush ([Y] down arrow tip) next to front disc ([B] upper chain near
center), it induces a polarization of charge on the conducting shaft ([Y-Y1] upper horizontal black line)
holding the brush, attracting negative (green) charge to the near side ([Y] upper square becoming green), so
that positive (red) charge accumulates on the far side (across the disc, 180 degrees away) ([Y1] upper
square becoming red). The shaft's polarized charges attach to the nearest sectors on disc B, resulting in
negative charge on B [Y] closer to the original positive charge on A, and positive charge on the opposite
side of B [Y1]. After an additional 45° rotation ([Z] near lower chain middle), the positive (red) charge on
A (lower chain) is repelled by a positive (red) charge on B ([Z] upper chain) approaching. The first
collection comb ([Z] arrow-tipped lines to triangles) encountered allows both positive (red) charges to leave
the sectors neutral (squares becoming black), and accumulate in the Leyden jar anode (red triangle)
attracted to the Leyden jar cathode (green triangle). The charge completes the cycle across the discs when a
spark (yellow zigzag) discharges the Leyden jar (red and green triangles).

As B rotates 90° clockwise (left to right), the charges that have been induced on it line up with the brushes
next to disc A [X, X1]. The charges on B induce the opposite polarization of the A-brushes' shaft, and the
shaft's polarization is transferred to its disc. Disc B keeps rotating and its charges are accumulated by the
nearest charge-collection combs.

Disc A rotates 90° so that its charges line up with the brush of disc B [Y, Y1], where an opposite charge-
polarization is induced on the B conducting shaft and the nearest sectors of B, similar to the description two
paragraphs above.

The process repeats, with each charge polarization on A inducing polarization on B, inducing polarization
on A, etc. The "influence" of neighboring attractive sectors induces exponentially larger charges, until
balanced by the conducting shaft's finite capacitance. All of these induced positive and negative charges are
collected by combs to charge the Leyden jars, electrical charge-storage devices similar to capacitors. The
mechanical energy required to separate the opposing charges on the adjacent sectors provides the energy
source for the electrical output.

See also
Kelvin water dropper
Pelletron
Van de Graaff generator
Tesla coil

References
"History of Electrostatic Generators (http://www.hp-gramatke.net/history/english/page4000.ht
m)". Hans-Peter Mathematick Technick Algorithmick Linguistick Omnium Gatherum.
de Queiroz, Antonio Carlos M., "The Wimshurst Electrostatic Machine (http://www.coe.ufrj.br/
~acmq/wimshurst.html)"
Weisstein, Eric W., "Wimshurst Machine (http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Wimshurs
tMachine.html)".
Bossert, François, "Wimshurst machine (http://www-physique.u-strasbg.fr/~udp/articles/wims
hurst/wimshurst.htm)". Lycée Louis Couffignal, Strasbourg. (English (http://babelfish.altavist
a.com/babelfish/urltrurl?url=http%3A//www-physique.u-strasbg.fr/%7Eudp/articles/wimshurs
t/wimshurst.htm&lp=fr_en&tt=url) version)
Charrier Jacques "La machine de Wimshurst (http://www.sciences.univ-nantes.fr/physique/p
erso/charrier/tp/wimshurst/wimshurst.html)". Faculté des Sciences de Nantes.

External links
The Wimshurst Machine Website: Photos and Video Clips of a Wimshurst Machine (http://w
ww.wimshurstmachine.com)
 MIT video demonstration and explanation of a Wimshurst machine (https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=Zilvl9tS0Og) (MIT TechTV physics demo)
How Does a Wimshurst machine Work? (https://demos.smu.ca/demos/e-n-m/43-wimshurst-
machine) Saint Mary's Physics Demo Site

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