Van de Graaff generator

I always wanted a Van de Graaff generator. The thing that made your hand stand on end in physics class. At 16 after leaving school and a couple of years after having seen a working Van de Graaff generator and the technical aspects of how it really worked a distant memory, me and a friend thought we would re-live our child-hood and make our own Van de Graaff in his bedroom at his Mum's house. We were stoned.

We took a large rubics cube and a small rubics cube, covered them in silver foil and forced 2 glass rods into each of them. We pushed them into a cardboard box so they stood about an inch apart. We took apart the cable from a bedside lamp and attached one wire each to the foil on each rubics cube. We plugged it into the wall.

Nothing happened. There was no static electricity jumping between the two globes as we had seen in class.
We pushed the two rods closer and closer waiting for static. Closer and closer but no spark.
Holding one rod each we then touched them together....
HUGE FLASH. Major Bang! All the lights go out and we're left in the dark. We blew all the fuses.
Lots of screaming from downstairs, lights come back on, we push the apparatus under the bed and friends Mum comes bursting into the room screaming "What the fucking hell are you two doing!?!?!"
As is the teenage way, we deny everything and sit innocently on the bed covering scorch marks and ignoring the lingering smoke. We had huge blots on our eyes for hours because we were about 6 inches from the flash.

Method:
a couple of spliffs
1x large Rubics cube
1x small Rubics cube
tin foil
2x glass rods (or anything non-conducting)
an electrical cord with a plug on the end
an ounce of stupidity

Results:
Blindness and near death.

Conclusion:
get a job in IT support where you get paid for blowing things up.

sorry for lazy re-post
(twistngo, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 8:47, 4 replies)

Any chance of an explanation for non-science types please?
As in, how should it have worked and why the novelty "ker-pow" ending? In inbred redneck friendly terminology too if poss! Hope its not too big an ask!
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 8:58, closed)

Well
Im no means a scientist but if i remember from school it works by having two metal globes, covered with a band of some material that goes around them at speed, causing friction and static electricity, the top globe covered with more metal over the band, which you can touch and it makes your hair stand on end and you feel all tingly due to the static electricity coursing through you.

You can also touch it while standing on a box, then touch some one else and it shocks them. You can then proceed to pretend you are Thor, god of lightning and thunder and you should COWER MERE MORTALS.
(Guilt wants to get in your moist confines, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 9:04, closed)

Explanation :d
Normally the rubber band creates a positive or negative charge in one of the globes, while the other one stays negative. The charge gets larger and larger, and when you bring the other globe towards it eventually the charge will "jump across" making a spark.

What happened here is I don't think plugs work the same way as a piece of rubber and a fine tooth comb. Basically it just short circuited the entire house.
(Tetigi can't be bothered with apathy., Fri 25 Jul 2008, 9:58, closed)

thanks lads!
Still dont get it though. I gave up trying to get science as a teen.
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 10:45, closed)