Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods

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written by Robert Morse
published by the Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University

This resource integrates historical documents and drawings to explore Benjamin Franklin's experiments using lightning rods. It includes a translation of a 1752 experiment conducted in France, full text of Franklin's letters on the subject, and historic journal articles describing how to use lightning rods to protect buildings. It is part of a larger collection by the author, where related activities for the modern physical science classroom are also available.

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Published: September 1, 2004
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Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Electricity & Magnetism - Electrostatics General Physics - History	- High School	- Instructional Material = Laboratory - Reference Material

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- Educators - Learners	- application/pdf	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2004 Wright Center for Science Eduction
Keywords:: Franklin writings, history of physics, lightning, lightning rods
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created March 2, 2006 by Amin Parnian
Record Updated:: January 9, 2012 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: September 1, 2004
Other Collections:: The Physics Front

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=3434">Morse, Robert. Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods. Medford: Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University, September 1, 2004.</a>

AIP Format

R. Morse, (Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University, Medford, 2004), WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513).

AJP/PRST-PER

R. Morse, Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods (Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University, Medford, 2004), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513>.

APA Format

Morse, R. (2004, September 1). Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods. Retrieved May 2, 2025, from Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University: https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513

Chicago Format

Morse, Robert. Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods. Medford: Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University, September 1, 2004. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513 (accessed 2 May 2025).

MLA Format

Morse, Robert. Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods. Medford: Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University, 2004. 1 Sep. 2004. 2 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Robert Morse", Title = {Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods}, Publisher = {Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {2 May 2025}, Month = {September 1, 2004}, Year = {2004} }

Refer Export Format

%A Robert Morse %T Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods %D September 1, 2004 %I Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University %C Medford %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Morse, Robert %D September 1, 2004 %T Ben Franklin as my Lab Partner: Lightning and Lightning Rods %I Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University %V 2025 %N 2 May 2025 %8 September 1, 2004 %9 application/pdf %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=3434&DocID=2513

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The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

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