Wimshurst Machine and Hertz's Vibrator

Abstract

IT may interest those who wish to repeat Hertz's experiments on electro-magnetic radiation to know that many of these can be done very well by using a small Wimshurst machine in place of the usual induction coil and battery. The vibrator and resonator which we used were like those described in NATURE (vol. xxxix. p. 548), and the Wimshurst machine had two 12-inch plates (giving at most with the jars on a 4-inch spark). The wires from the vibrator, instead of being connected with an induction coil, were connected with the two outer coatings of the jars of the machine. The machine spark-gap and the vibrator spark-gap should be so adjusted that when a spark occurs at the former one also occurs at the latter. With the apparatus described we got good results when the spark-gaps were 38 mm. and 3 mm. respectively. The outer coatings of the jars are only connected together by the wood of the machine, but it is sometimes an advantage to put a few inches of damp string between the balls of the vibrator.