Benjamin Franklin

The Discovery of Electricity (Benjamin Franklin)

Benjamin Franklin believed there is only one kind of electric fluid, which is present in all bodies. According to this theory, an object picks up an electric charge when some of this fluid is transferred from one body to another. When an object is rubbed, it either gains or loses electricity and thereby picks up either a positive or negative charge. Objects with opposite charges attract each other; those with the same charge repel.

Much of the language used to describe electricity was proposed by either Benjamin Franklin. Franklin introduced the words plus, minus, positive, negative, charge, and battery.