electrostatic generator

American  

noun

Physics, Electricity.

1. Van de Graaff generator.

---

electrostatic generator British  

noun

1. any device for producing a high voltage by building up a charge of static electricity

---

electrostatic generator Scientific  

1. Any of various devices, including the electrophorus, the Wimshurst machine, and especially the Van de Graaff generator, that generate or store high voltages by accumulating static electric charge.

---

Etymology

Origin of electrostatic generator

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which had a giant electrostatic generator shooting 7,000,000-volt sparks from electrode to electrode four years ago, has not yet put it to work smashing atoms because of the discharge tube problem.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tuve moved on to an electrostatic generator invented by a Princeton University engineer named Robert Van de GraafF.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

A later development, the Van de Graaff electrostatic generator, produced a beam of hydrogen ions and other positively charged ions, and electrons at even higher energies.

From A Brief History of Element Discovery, Synthesis, and Analysis by Watson, Glen W.