Text: An electrical condenser is a device which will absorb electrical energy as an "elastic stress." In simplest form it can be two metal plates. Placed between them is a piece of material through which an electric current cannot ordinarily pass. This material, of such nature as to be able to absorb and hold electrical energy as an elastic stress, is known as a dielectric. There are many different types of dielectrics - glass, hard and soft rubber, air, ceramics, paper, Bakelite and various other plastics, each possessing its own special advantage in a particular use. Some dielectrics are capable of absorbing huge quantities of electrical energy if fed them slowly at low potentials. Others, like lead-free glass, can be charged and discharged hundreds of thousands of times a second at extremely high potentials! How does an electrical condenser operate? Let us assume that we have a piece of sponge rubber four by six inches, two inches thick. It is the dielectric. We place this between our two hands (which are the condenser plates) and press - which is the charging potential or voltage. The plates (our hands) distribute this energy evenly over the rubber, forcing energy into a smaller space, where it remains until our arms cease to act; then the rubber springs back into its original shape. When the rubber is compressed it is similar to the condenser being charged. It is discharged when it "jumps" back into its original shape. The Biefield-Brown Effect proves that an electrical condenser will move toward its positive pole, and remain so positioned until discharged; that this movement will occur, regardless of which plate of the condenser is made the positive pole, or which side of the dielectric receives the positive charge. Gaston Burridge, American Mercury, June, 1958

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