Charles François de Cisternay du Fay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay
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Charles François de Cisternay du Fay
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| Born | 14 September 1698 Paris
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| Died | 16 July 1739 (aged 40) Paris
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| Nationality | French |
| Known for | electric charge |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | chemistry |
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (born September 14, 1698 – died July 16, 1739) was a smart French scientist. He was a chemist and also managed the King's Garden in Paris. He is famous for his amazing discoveries about electricity.
Du Fay found that there are two different kinds of electricity. He called them "vitreous" (like glass) and "resinous" (like tree sap). Today, we know these as positive and negative electric charges. He also noticed that objects with the same type of charge push each other away. But objects with different charges pull each other closer.
He also figured out that some materials let electricity move through them easily. He called these "electrics," which we now call conductors. Other materials do not let electricity pass through them. He called these "non-electrics," which we now call insulators. He saw that these materials could create electricity just by touching them.
Du Fay also proved some old ideas about electricity were wrong. For example, another scientist, Dr. Stephen Gray, thought that a material's color changed how it held electricity. Du Fay showed this was not true. Du Fay wrote down all his observations about electricity in a paper in 1733. It was published in a science journal in 1734. He became a member of the important French Academy of Sciences in 1723.
Sadly, Du Fay died from smallpox in 1739. He was only 40 years old. His work helped other scientists understand electricity much better.
Images for kids
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A robot, representing technology that uses electricity.
