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The Electric Dynamo

In 1831, Faraday created a mechanical device which would later be known as "the world's first electric generator (Hecht)." This simple generator consisted of a hand crank, a copper disk, a large magnet, copper wire and a galvanometer.

Here, the hand crank was connected to the copper disk, which in turn was placed between the North and South poles of the large magnet. Then the copper wire was attached to the disk as well as the galvanometer. As the crank was rotated, Faraday noticed that the needle on the galvanometer moved. Moreover, the needle remained in that condition when the crank was rotated at a constant speed. This device Faraday named the Electric Dynamo (Williams).

Image 5: The Electric Dynamo (Hecht)