Stephen Hiscock wrote:
Hi there,It is implied by DC Cox and Richard Hull it seems that the spark length of 135 feet is a myth?well just a question regarding this spark length... What has terminal size got to do with how far a spark will go?I'm not saying Richard Hulls analysis is wrong, but doesn't power ultimately determine spark length?Wouldn't a 3 feet sphere ONLY determine the initial break out voltage?ie power levels from 500 Kilowatts up to 2 Mega watts for k between 1 & 2 and if his coil had a k bigger then he only needed a small generator perhaps 50 kilowatts. But we know tesla had a big generator of perhaps this much power - I couldn't find a reference but I'm sure it was 2000 horse power -- which is easily big enoughAm I missing something? WHAT IS WRONG WITH 135 feet? cheers..
A few things1) Since Tesla's day, there has been substantial experimentation and testing and development of the theory of spark discharge. People have actually made 200+ ft sparks, so we know what it takes to do it (cf. that picture of the huge spark in Siberia) 2) Tesla described what he built fairly well, and we know, from the other data (e.g. the stuff I mention in #1) that he didn't have enough power/energy to do 135. 3) You *can* get to close to 135 feet if you count all the little twists and turns and count tip of one spark across the middle and to the tip of a spark on the other side. Bill Wysock's 13M gets there if you follow this somewhat unconventional measurement technique (of course he's running more power and has a much larger topload than a 3 foot ball)
Making long sparks takes a couple things: 1) A suitable non-uniform field to get the thing going 2) A charge source behind the electrode that can keep the spark growing.You can do a calculation of the current flow in the spark and what it takes to keep the channel hot and glowing(conductive) in terms of supplying charge to the growing spark channel. You also know how fast the spark channel grows, so you know what the maximum inductance is to feed the channel, etc.
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