The is the Japanese name for a type of generator of static electricity used for electric experiments in the 18th century. In

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Hiraga Gennai presented his own ''elekiter'' in 1776, derived from an ''elekiter'' from Holland. The ''elekiter'' consists of a small box that uses the power of

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of t ...

to generate

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

and store it. The ''Elekiter'' relied on the various Western experiments with static electricity during the 18th century, which depended on the discovery that electricity could be generated through friction, and on the invention of the

Leyden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typi ...

in the 1740s, as a convenient means to store static electricity in rather large quantities."電気の実験が盛んになったのは、１８世紀になりガラス版の円盤を摩擦する強力な起電機と、１７４０年代なかばのライデン瓶の発明によります”: "The development of experiments with electricity, relied on the creation of powerful static electricity through the friction of a glass cylinder, and the invention of the Leyden jar in the 1740s" Suzuki, p.68 Hiraga Gennai acquired an ''elekiter'' from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

during his second trip to

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

in 1770, and made a formal demonstration of his ''elekiter'' in 1776.

Notes

References

* Suzuki, Kazuyoshi (2006) ''Edo Technology'' (Japanese: 見て楽しむ江戸のテクノロジー), Suuken Publishing, 18th century in Japan History of science and technology in Japan {{japan-hist-stub

See also

Notes

References