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Charles François du Fay Biography

Charles François du Fay

(Charles François de Cisternay du Fay; Paris, 1698-id., 1739) French physicist.He continued the investigations of Stephen Gray on the conduction of electricity and determined in 1733 the existence of two classes of electricity obtained by rubbing: resinous and vitreous, corresponding to what would later be called positive and negative electricity.He also distinguished between conductors and insulators and revealed the repulsion between electrically charged bodies of the same sign.He also conducted studies on crystalline optics.

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