Keep reading to find out who discovered electricity? Since electricity is a natural force in our world, it didn’t have to be invented. It did, however, have to be discovered and understood. Most people give credit to Benjamin Franklin for discovering electricity.
Benjamin Franklin had one of the greatest scientific minds of his time. He was interested in many areas of science, made many discoveries and invented many things, including bifocal glasses. In the middle of 1700’s, he became interested in electricity.
Up until that time, scientists had mainly known about and experimented with static electricity. Benjamin Franklin took things a big step ahead. He came up with the idea that electricity had positive and negative elements and that electricity flowed between these elements. He also believed that lightning was a form of this flowing electricity.
In 1752, Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment. In order to show that lightning was electricity, he flew a kite during a thunderstorm. He tied a metal key to the kite string to conduct the electricity.
Just as he thought, electricity from the storm clouds transferred to the kite and electricity flowed down the string and gave him a shock. He’s lucky that he didn’t get hurt, but he didn’t mind the shock since it proved his idea.
Building upon Franklin’s work, many other scientists studied electricity and began to understand more about how it works. For example, in 1879, Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb and our world has been brighter ever since!
But was Benjamin Franklin really the first person to discover electricity? Maybe not! In 1936, a clay pot was discovered that suggests that the first batteries may have been invented over 2,000 years ago. The clay pot contained copper plates, tin alloy and an iron rod.
It could have been used to create an electric current by filling it with an acidic solution, like vinegar. No one knows what the device was used for, but it sheds some light on the fact that people may have learned about electricity long before Benjamin Franklin! So now you know who discovered electricity.
Content for this question contributed by Carry Rogers, resident of Santa Rosa, California, USA
