Trent LaCour

Physics 122
Dave Esterl
Feb 15
th
-Mar 19
th
On AC Electrical Current and other Inventions by Niola Tesla
It will soon be possible to transmit wireless messages around the world so simply that any individual
can carry and operate his own apparatus.
Nikola Tesla, via the New York Times, ctober !"#".
Niola Tesla !as born on "uly 1#
th
$ 1%5& in Lia$ Croatia' (is )other !as an inventor o* si)+le
household a++liances$ and his *ather !as a +riest' At the a,e o* seventeen he studied at -ealschule$
.arlstadt/ the Polytechnic Institute in 0ra1/ and at the 2niversity o* Pra,ue$ *ocusin, )ostly on +hysics
and )athe)atics' 3y t!enty4*ive years old he had started a career as an electrical en,ineer$ and then
5oined a co)+any in Paris !here he desi,ned and built dyna)os' It !as there that he success*ully
asse)bled a +rivate +rototy+e o* his induction )otor !hich ran on AC current$ but he !as unable to
interest any euro+eans in +ro)otin, it' It later ,ot the attention o* Tho)as Edison$ and Tesla acce+ted
a 5ob o**er *ro) hi) in Ne! 6or' Tesla arrived in Ne! 6or in 1%%7 !here he !as to s+end the ne8t
*i*ty4nine years o* his li*e' It !as !hilst
!orin, in one o* Edison9s labs i)+rovin,
his dyna)os that his debate !ith Edison
about direct current versus alternatin,
current be,an' Edison9s li,htbulbs !ere
di) and ine**icient !hen +o!ered by direct
current$ and DC cannot be easily ste++ed
u+ to hi,her volta,es to trans)it distances lon,er than : ilo)eters'
Nikola Tesla sitting in front of the coil of a transformer
;hilst in 0ra1$ Tesla develo+ed a +ro*iciency *or billiards$ cards$ and chess' (e su++osedly had a
+hoto,ra+hic )e)ory$ and !as a +oly,lot$ s+eain, ei,ht lan,ua,es' (e did not slee+ *or )ore than
t!o hours at a ti)e$ and su**ered *ro) )ild OCD' Tesla *ervently disa,reed !ith the ato)ic )odel
theory and the idea o* electrons' (e +re*erred the idea o* a +ervasive <aether= !hich !as the
trans)itter o* electrical ener,y$ and he !as very critical o* Einstein9s theory o* relativity'
Tesla9s ,reatest a)bition !as to +rovide !ireless ener,y to the entire !orld' In 1>#2 he +atented a
device that could trans)it electrical ener,y as *ar as !as needed
?:@
' A 1%A *oot tall$ &% *oot dia)eter
tesla coil$ !hich !ould use resonant inductive cou+lin, to trans)it ener,y as *ar as needed' That is
!hen t!o electro)a,netic resonators are tuned to the sa)e *reBuency$ allo!in, the ener,y o* the *irst
coil to be absorbed by the second' (e had +lanned to build one near nia,ara *alls to be used in
con5unction !ith his hydroelectric ,enerators' (e constructed a +rototy+e o* the to!er in Choreha)$
Lon, Island$ but it !as never *inished$ and it !as later destroyed durin, ;;I
?7@
' Dost entre+reneurs
!ere dis+leased !ith the idea o* !ireless electricity' "'D Dor,an *a)ously said$ <I* anyone can dra!
the +o!er$ !here do !e +ut the )eterE=
?5@
'
Tesla9s ,reatest inventions !ere undoubtedly in the *ield o* electrical en,ineerin,$ but he did invent
so)e other note!orthy thin,s' A hi,h e**iciency )echanical oscillator 4 a stea) en,ine o+eratin,
!ithout a load 4 !hich he ho+ed to use to trans)it si,nals throu,h the earth9s crust$ via )echanical
oscillations' This oscillator had re+ortedly caused a s)all earthBuae in his Ne! 6or laboratory
?1@
' (e
also +atented an early$ but sli,ht i)+ractical version o* a tilt rotor FTOL air+lane
?2@
'
One o* his cro!n inventions is the Tesla coil' A Tesla coil is a s+eci*ic ty+e o* trans*or)er$ a resonate
trans*or)er' Inside a tesla coil is a +ri)ary and secondary inductor4ca+acitor circuit' The +ri)ary and
secondary circuits are loosely cou+led to,ether' Dains +o!er is su++lied into the (F trans*or)er
!hich char,es a (F ca+acitor' ;hen
there is a ,reat enou,h +otential across
the ca+acitor$ the s+ar ,a+ !ill short'
The ca+acitor !ill then dischar,e across
the +ri)ary coil' This !ill re+eat$
causin, the ener,y to oscillate bet!een
the (F ca+acitor and the +ri)ary coil
!indin, at hi,h *reBuencies G 2sually
around 1##4:## (1 H' As the +ri)ary circuit oscillates$ a current is induced in the secondary LC
circuit at a )uch hi,her volta,e' ;hen the +ri)ary and secondary circuits are tuned at the sa)e
*reBuency$ )a8i)u) +o!er e**iciency !ill be reached' Tunin, is ty+ically done by ad5ustin, the
nu)ber o* turns on the +ri)ary coil'
$% vs &%' range, e((iciency, and power loss)
The )ost i)+ortant reason AC is +re*erable to DC electricity is ho! si)+le it is to chan,e the volta,e
o* AC electricity' DC current cannot be easily ste++ed u+ to hi,her volta,es !ithout *irst convertin, it
to AC' 0enerated AC *ro) a hydroelectric or other!ise source can be ste++ed u+ to a very hi,h
volta,e G 1#s o* F H to be trans)itted and then ste++ed bac to a usable volta,e' -educin, +o!er
losses' The electrical resistance o* 1 ilo)eter o* : ))
2
cross sectional area co++er !ire isI
R=
1.7010
8
m1000m
3.0010
6
m
2
=5.66
The +o!er dissi+ated by a resistive )aterial is ,iven byI
Electrical Schematic of a Tesla Coil
P=I
2
R
Edison distributed his DC at 11#F$ ty+ical AC volta,es are around 5##F' Assu)in, a 12#D; +o!er
usa,eI
P
DC
=
[
12010
6
W
110V
]
2
5.66=6.7410
12
W
P
AC
=
[
12010
6
W
50010
3
V
]
2
5.66 =3.2610
5
W
P
DC
P
AC
=210
7
=2,000,000,000 %
That9s a lot o* +o!er lossJ The +o!er loss is +ro+ortional to the sBuare o* the a)+era,e$ or inversely
+ro+ortional to the sBuare o* the volta,e' Co doublin, the volta,e !ill ,ive a *our ti)es reduction in
+o!er loss' -ecently$ a hi,h volta,e DC G (FDC H has been e8+eri)ented !ith' This is no! *easible
because o* )odern advance)ents in electronics' (FDC ty+ically uses a dual su++ly o* K1##FL
&##F DC !ith as )uch as 7 ,i,a!atts' (FDC is only )ore econo)ic than AC !hen trans)ittin,
+o!er +oint4to4+oint' I* (FDC !ere to be used *or the +o+ulation$ there !ould be lar,e costs involved
!ith DC ste+ do!n eBui+)ent at residences' A (FDC trans)ission sche)e is currently bein, used to
interconnect the +o!er ,rids o* the Netherlands and Nor!ay' This 5%#) lon, +o!er syste) o+erates
under!ater at K75#F$ and has a ca+acity o* A##D;'
?1@
htt+IMM!!!'re8research'co)Mtesla)osMt)osc'ht)$ Dechanical oscillator trans)itter'
?2@
htt+IMM!!!',oo,le'co)M+atentsM2C1&55117$ FTOL tilt rotor'
?:@
htt+IMM!!!',oo,le'co)M+atentsM2C111>A:2$ Tesla to!er'
?7@
htt+IMM!!!'teslasociety'co)MteslaNto!er'ht)$ Tesla To!er'
?5@
htt+IMM!!!'teslasociety'co)Mbio,ra+hy'ht)$ 3io,ra+hy source'
htt+IMM!!!'studio:&#'or,MstoryM1%:1AA4niola4tesla4stran,e4,eniusM$ I)a,e source$ Tesla sittin, in
*ront o* trans*or)er'
htt+IMM!!!'biblioteca+leyades'netMteslaMes+NteslaN1A'ht) I)a,e source$ Tesla coil sche)atic'
htt+IMM!!!'tennet'euMnlM,rid4+ro5ectsMinternational4+ro5ectsMnorned'ht)l$ NorNed +o!er syste)'