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Re: Not so Stupid question
Chris M:
I don't think you ever have to apologize in advance for a "stupid"
question. Some people on this list want to know what a tesla coil is. I
myself am only one or two steps above that. Others have been building
coils for 20 and 30 some-odd years and want to know the experimental
error of dielectric failure voltages for high tech plastics at a certain
temperature and thickness.
Moreover, this constituents of this list are mostly of hobbyists, who do
this for fun ..... and are quite lax.
About your question regarding power, you are right. Watts = Voltage *
current. It can also be figured with Watts = current squared *
resistance of the circuit.
Alternating current circuits have a few additional factors in computing
power, though. There are RMS Voltages vs. Amplitude voltages and RMS
currents vs. Amplitude currents. There is also the power factor.
The average power being delivered to the ENTIRE tesla coil would be:
P(avg) = RMS Voltage * RMS current * power factor
Finally, if you are trying to determine the "output" power of your coil,
I think there's a lot more to it because many components of the coil use
power, not just the toroid spitting out the sparks.
Anyway, if you have any more questions or don't understand something in
this explanation, feel free to ask more questions.
Brent
< StretchMonster -at- juno-dot-com >
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