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Re: How should we measure coil efficiency, was neon vs. potenti


From: 	John H. Couture[SMTP:couturejh-at-worldnet.att-dot-net]
Sent: 	Monday, August 04, 1997 11:18 PM
To: 	Tesla List
Subject: 	Re: How should we measure coil efficiency, was neon vs.     potenti

At 05:17 AM 8/3/97 +0000, you wrote:
>
>From: 	Scott Taylor[SMTP:staylor-at-ppco-dot-com]
>Sent: 	Friday, August 01, 1997 10:05 AM
>To: 	Tesla List
>Subject: 	Re: How should we measure coil efficiency, was neon vs.    potenti
>
>
>E=hf IS a quantum relationship dealing with atomic and molecular
>transitions.  If I want to excite and atom or molecule from an intial state
>to an excited state I need a photon with the appropriate energy given by
>delta_E = hf.  Where delta_E is the energy difference between states.  Going
>from the ground state to the excited state REQUIRES a photon.  If an
>atom/molecule is in an excited state it does not stay there indefinitely, it
>will decay EMITTING a photon (hang on we'll get to Tesla Coils in a minute)
>with energy given by delta_E = hf.
>
>Lets explore this for just a moment...consider an infrared transition
>needing a photon with wavelength of 1 micron ( one millionth of a meter).
>If I know the wavelength, I know the frequency, i.e., f = c/lambda (where
>lambda is the 1 micron wavelength of the photon and "c" is the speed of
>light).  Lets calculate the frequency of this photon
>
>
>f = 3 x 10^8 meters/sec / 1 micron = 3 x 10^14 Hz!!!!  or 300 THz (i.e. Tera
>Hertz!)
>
>
>This is way bigger than any Tesla Coils we deal with operate at.  Guess
>what, the frequency gets even larger once you go to the visible portion of
>the spectrum....Now in the spark/arc/streamers produced by a TC discharge
>delta_E = hf rules.  That is why you see the spark.  My guess is what we are
>seeing are the photons generated when ionized and excited gases capture
>electrons to become neutrals again (yes, that is considered a transition)
>and give off photons defined by delta_E = hf.  The "f" in this Bohr-Einstein
>equation has nothing to do with the spark length a TC is able to produce.
>For a given spark lengths, you will notice they are all about the same
>color.  When you put your grounding rod closer to your TC secondary the the
>spark gets more "white hot" because the Electric Field is that much more
>intense and you create more excited species (including ionized gases).
>
>My 2 cents worth,
>
>Scott Taylor
>
--------------------------------------------------------------

   Scott -

 Thank you for the dissertation on the E = hf equation.  Maybe someday we
will know enough about Tesla coil operation so we can apply wave mechanics
theory to improve the TC.

  How would you select the operating frequency of a Tesla coil for "x"
amount of watts? At present this is somewhat of a random selection based on
using large LC tanks for big watt coils and small LC tanks for small watt
coils. This would mean that there must be optimum conditions for best design.

  John Couture