Re: Giving credit to Tesla (fwd)

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Giving credit to Tesla (fwd)
From: Tesla List <mod1-at-pupman-dot-com>
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 1998 21:20:21 -0600 (MDT)
Approved: mod1-at-pupman-dot-com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 1998 20:37:19 -0700
From: "Antonio C. M. de Queiroz" <acmq-at-compuland-dot-com.br>
To: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: Giving credit to Tesla (fwd)

Patrick J. Gustafson wrote:

> Tesla created a wireless power system in which he transmitted
> approximately 10000 watts a distance of 26 miles from his laboratory, is
> it feasible to use such systems at the present time?

This sounds extremely improbable... Sources? 

> In the above system, he charged the Earth to a high potential by using
> his resonance coil.  This was after the fact that he found out that the
> Earth acted as a plate of large capacitor for high frequency voltages
> (with the lower atmosphere being the dielectric and the upper atmosphere
> as the other plate), but did he ever determine an estimated capacitance
> of this Earth/atmosphere system?

This too... 

> The skin effect is painless because of the body's(nerve endings) slow
> response rate to the high frequency voltages from the Tesla Coil, what
> frequency is the upper limit to the responsiveness of the nerves?  Is it
> 700 Hz?

Not only this, but the current flows close to the surface, without touching
the nerves below. High current at high frequency can produce burns even
with skin effect, because they dissipate a lot of power at the skin surface.
A friend told me about a radio transmitter where a coil at the output filter
appears to be very hot to an approaching hand, but is sensed cool immediately
after the power being switched off. The heat is caused by induced currents
in the skin, not by the coil being hot.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz
http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq