What Ben actually did in his famous 1752 experiment was to cause some excess electrical charge near a storm cloud to ground out through his kite string–still an impressive demonstration, but a much less powerful prospect than an actual lightning strike.
在1752年的这次著名实验中,富兰克林只是将暴风云附近的过量电荷通过风筝线引到地面上,虽然这比实际的雷击威力小很多,但此举仍然令人印象深刻。
Nor is it true that Franklin discovered electricity, as people tend to say.
事实上,富兰克林并不像人们所传的那样发现了电。
What he was trying to do was to demonstrate that lightning itself is simply a powerful electric discharge between the clouds and the earth. In this he was entirely correct.
他的行动就是要证明:闪电只是云与地球之间的一种强大的放电现象,在这一点上,他是完全正确的。
Now, did you know that two of the basic terms we use even today to describe electric charge were coined by Franklin? Next time.
如今,我们用来描述电荷的两个基本术语都是富兰克林创造的,你知道吗?且听下回分解。
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