Van de Graaff generator /van′ də gräf″/ [Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist, 1901–1967] , a device in which electrically charged particles are sprayed on a moving belt and carried by it to an insulated terminal, where they cause a large electrostatic charge to build up. The charged particles are then accelerated along a discharge path through a vacuum tube by the potential difference between the insulated terminal and the opposite end of the device. The generator often is used to inject charged particles into a larger accelerator.
