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Re: Primary Qs
On Fri, 4 Oct 1996, Tesla List <tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com> wrote:
>> >> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>
>>From hullr-at-whitlock-dot-comFri Oct 4 22:09:51 1996
>Date: Fri, 04 Oct 1996 10:28:54 -0700
>From: Richard Hull <hullr-at-whitlock-dot-com>
>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>
>Tesla List wrote:
>>
>> >> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >Subject: Re: Primary Qs
>> >> Subject: Re: Primary Qs
<SNIP>
>
>Remember folks, if you are out havin' fun and looking for sparks, use
>equations the least and the power switch the most. You will develop a
>feel for the system and all the charcteristics which science seeks to pin
>down with precision. You will ultimately acquire a general comprehension
>of materials and methods required through deed and artifice. Most of
>your work will evolve through hunches and guess work.
>
>If you are out to further the science of High voltage resonant
>systems, then be very mindful of the need for physical constants in
>formulating equations. You will need to do a bit of lab work to define
>them in order to apply the mathematics which guides you hand.
>
>
>I'm a little of both and a lot of neither. Engineers rely on mathematics
>to design a lot of stuff. Old engineers rely on experience to temper the
>rush to accept the math as something precise and use a lot of "fudge
>factors" (formerly, physical constants) in creating real works.
>
>Richard Hull, TCBOR
>
Your response was amusing but not entirely accurate in my opinion. I happen to
believe as many do that there is order behind the undiscovered secrets of the
universe. While the models we use to try to explain the behavior of physical
devices such as Tesla coils fall short of providing general solutions, they do
help guide the experimentalist to make better choices about what to do next.
Paschen's curve is simply one of those models. It is incomplete and relies on
assumptions about electric fields that are not completely accurate. Neverthe
less it does provide a starting place for the selection of gap spacings type of
gas and electrode material. Every day I read the postings of this group, and I
see some very sophisticated work being discussed. Why do you assume that the
majority of the participants are incapable of using models based on concepts of
plasma physics when they seem perfectly capable of using models that derive from
Maxwell's equations which are far more complex than Paschen's Law?
Dave Lockwood