Electrostatic Generator

An electrostatic generator, also called an electrostatic machine, is an electrical generator that produces static electricity, or electricity at high voltage and low continuous current, rather than the higher-current output of a conventional dynamo or alternator. Knowledge of static electricity dates back to the earliest civilizations, but for millennia it remained only a curious and poorly understood phenomenon, often confused with magnetism; practical means of generating electricity by friction emerged by the end of the seventeenth century, and electrostatic machines only began serious development in the eighteenth century, when they became fundamental instruments for studying the new science of electricity. Manual electrostatic generators use hand or other mechanical power to transform mechanical work into electric energy, developing electrostatic charges of opposite sign on two separate conductors using electric forces alone, typically by using moving plates, drums or belts to carry electric charge to a high-potential electrode.