The Van de Graaff generator is constructed of two Textolite columns,
six feet in diameter, each with a 15 foot hollow aluminum sphere at
the top. In its original state, rubber conveyer belts ran through
each column. Metal comb-like brushes sprayed electrical charge onto
the belts which carried the charge from the bottom of the machine to
the top, where another set of brushes distributed it on each of the
spheres. A tube with a target in it ran between the spheres. One
sphere was charged positively, the other negatively, until a
discharge between the two occurred, hitting the target in the
process. Laboratory equipment in each of the spheres was used to
examine and study what occurred as the particles were smashed. Each
sphere could be charged to approximately 2.5 million volts, resulting
in a 5 million volt discharge.
Later the two spheres were joined together (as they are today), to
create one large terminal. The right column contained the working
belts, motors, and brushes. The left column (which is now empty and
serves as only a support for the sphere) contained equipment to
generate high energy x-rays. Today the machine discharges to grounded
probes and props within the Theater of Electricity.
