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Step 8FUN
Turn off the lights. Observe corona discharge by pointing a finger at the collector; the tip of your finger should have a blue glow. Hold the back of your hand near the bottle lid to cause brush discharge. This will look like lots of little lightning bolts. Draw a spark from the collector by moving one of your second knuckles towards the collector. If you've got your VDG working well you should be able to draw sparks a little over an inch long. Since dielectric breakdown of air is approximately 84kV/in (33kV/cm) this tells us the collector voltage is around 84 kV! Tape a needle to the the top of the collector and hold you're hand over the tip of the needle. You should feel a cool breeze. This is called ionic wind.
Ring Franklin's bells. I like to set up Franklin's bells without a grounding wire; normally the can on the right in the video below would be grounded. Without the grounding wire the tab/clapper transfers charge between the cans until both cans are at the same voltage as the VDG. Then one can turn off the VDG, set it aside, and then discharge the second can; lo and behold, the bells start ringing again as if by magic.
Cause an incandescent light bulb to flash a violet-blue. A burnt out bulb works fine. Cover the glass with some clear tape to prevent shattering if the glass breaks.
Bend a thin stream of water.
Deflect soap bubbles.
Light a small neon bulb.
Stick paper to a wall.
Levitate Fun Fly Stick fliers.
Check out Prof. Bunsen's Fun Fly Stick video for various demostrations of a handheld VDG's powers.
Bill Beaty's website describes some other interesting VDG stunts.
_NOT FUN_
Giving a shock to someone who isn't expecting it sounds like good fun, but it's a bad idea. Though the current and pain will be minimal, the surprise of the shock could cause a person to jump back reflexively and hurt themselves. It's also possible you could destroy an expensive or essential electronic device they have on them.
You can make a CFL bulb glow, but you probably shouldn't. Once I was making a CFL glow while holding it in my hand when I received a shock much brighter, louder, and more painful than anything I've received from the VDG by itself. Unlike an ordinary fluorescent tube a CFL has an integrated starter and ballast. This circuitry contains capacitors which will charge slowly from the VDG, but will release that charge all at once with the result being a higher current and a bigger shock. If the shock doesn't harm you, the surprise of it could cause you to drop the bulb releasing mercury and broken glass into your surroundings.
Never charge a capacitor with a VDG unless you understand the risks involved. A VDG is a high voltage but very low current device. A capacitor can have high voltage and supply a potentially deadly current.
Ring Franklin's bells. I like to set up Franklin's bells without a grounding wire; normally the can on the right in the video below would be grounded. Without the grounding wire the tab/clapper transfers charge between the cans until both cans are at the same voltage as the VDG. Then one can turn off the VDG, set it aside, and then discharge the second can; lo and behold, the bells start ringing again as if by magic.
Cause an incandescent light bulb to flash a violet-blue. A burnt out bulb works fine. Cover the glass with some clear tape to prevent shattering if the glass breaks.
Bend a thin stream of water.
Deflect soap bubbles.
Light a small neon bulb.
Stick paper to a wall.
Levitate Fun Fly Stick fliers.
Check out Prof. Bunsen's Fun Fly Stick video for various demostrations of a handheld VDG's powers.
Bill Beaty's website describes some other interesting VDG stunts.
_NOT FUN_
Giving a shock to someone who isn't expecting it sounds like good fun, but it's a bad idea. Though the current and pain will be minimal, the surprise of the shock could cause a person to jump back reflexively and hurt themselves. It's also possible you could destroy an expensive or essential electronic device they have on them.
You can make a CFL bulb glow, but you probably shouldn't. Once I was making a CFL glow while holding it in my hand when I received a shock much brighter, louder, and more painful than anything I've received from the VDG by itself. Unlike an ordinary fluorescent tube a CFL has an integrated starter and ballast. This circuitry contains capacitors which will charge slowly from the VDG, but will release that charge all at once with the result being a higher current and a bigger shock. If the shock doesn't harm you, the surprise of it could cause you to drop the bulb releasing mercury and broken glass into your surroundings.
Never charge a capacitor with a VDG unless you understand the risks involved. A VDG is a high voltage but very low current device. A capacitor can have high voltage and supply a potentially deadly current.
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I think all of us have seen demonstrations of ordinary fluorescent tubes (just gas in a tube) lighting up when held near a tesla coil, so I don't think it takes a big leap of imagination for someone to get the idea to try the same thing with a CFL. However, this is actually a bad idea, because a CFL is not just a fluorescent tube but a fluorescent tube plus a starter and a ballast. A picture I found shows two 8.4uF 250V caps plus a couple more electrolytics in the uF range.
I admit saying the CFl acted like a capacitor was lazy of me. Thanks for making me think more about it.
"what's that?"
"my discharging plate."
"what's it do?"
"this."
*gets in chair, wiggles, gets back up, touches plate, bulb lights up*
"sometimes I acquire too much magic while I'm sitting there, so I have to get rid of it."
http://www.instructables.com/id/Static-discharge-toy/