Re: Fw: Arc Impedance Study - Computer Models

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Fw: Arc Impedance Study - Computer Models
From: FutureT-at-aol-dot-com (by way of Terry Fritz <terryf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 12:47:25 -0600
Approved: terryf-at-verinet-dot-com

In a message dated 98-10-14 21:00:53 EDT, you write:

<<     There were at most two streamers at any time.  One was growing
> while the other one was being absorbed (appearance).  Just as one
> streamer finished the second would dart out four to five feet from the
> toroid as a solid trunk with no branches like a tube coil streamer.
> Then the branches would form outward from the end like a flower
> blossoming before the eye.  The streamer branches formed slowly
> compared to the initial trunk.  It sometimes took more than a second
> to finish.  Like a Lichtenberg ballet the last little streamerlets
> filled in the end to give it the appearance of a three dimensional
> snowflake on a long pole or a loblolly pinesque quality.  Then
> immediately a long spike like streamer would form on the other side of
> the toroid and the previous streamer would quickly fade.  The sound
> was like the crack of a quick whip.
  >>

Barry, all,

I noticed that smooth toroids seem to create this general type
of spark, but i've never seen the long spike with flowery ends using
a corregated toroid (except for Greg's coil which has the thin tube
toroid, and gives sort of a tendril spark at times).

With smooth toroids, the sparks tend to rotate around the toroid,
but with rough toroids, the sparks get "stuck" on certain edges.
Aluminum foil seems to be smooth enough to allow the rotating
spark effect.  When the sprarks are stuck on an edge, it seems
to limit the type of streamers that can form.  It may be OK if the
corrugations are circumferential, rather than radial across the
small diameter as in dryer duct materials.

I'll be on the lookout for those elusive Lichtenburg ballets.

John Freau