Uploaded October 2012 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Details on how to make a Van de Graaff generator. This part improves on the Van de Graaff made in part 1, showing how to make a better dome, out of a soda can, for 20% better performance, many options for grounding the brush near the motor, different materials for making rollers including a glass one using glass taken from a fuse and also a drinking straw, and it shows how to use batteries to run the motor. It also talks about the advantages and disadvantages of having the brushes touching the belt versus not touching it, and shows how to have no ground at all by using domes, or soda cans, at both ends.

Click here to watch part 1, How to Make/Build a Van de Graaff Generator Part 1:
youtu.be/fsT69XnjxgU

Click here for the How a Van de Graaff Generator Works video:
youtu.be/EsZQS2GOMQE

Click here for the Van de Graaff Faraday Cage Science Experiment video which shows the experiment that determined that having to top brush inside the can is 20% better than having just the wire going into the can:
youtu.be/xRLvbwF2MnM

Click here for a video all about the Triboelectric Effect/Series or Triboelectricity:
youtu.be/Fph08eKTVZM

Click here for How to Make an Electroscope:
youtu.be/2PmWlPjV6n0

And see here for my webpage about making Van de Graaff Generators:
rimstar.org/equip/build_make_van_de_graaff.htm

And I seem to keep using this Van de Graaff generator in more and more videos as time goes by:

Van de Graaff Demonstrations and Explanations
youtu.be/Gf6EbRmYImI

Franklin's Bells - How to Make and Demonstrations
youtu.be/cjlMrSlIIIQ

Ion Wind Rotor
youtu.be/UgWTjCHsm3M

How to Make a Corona Motor or Electrostatic motor/Atmospheric motor
youtu.be/ksp_O_1WmvA

To follow me on Twitter:
twitter.com/#!/RimStarz

rimstar.org