Re: Strange shock (fwd)

["Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz" <acmq-at-compuland-dot-com.br> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-jpl.nasa.gov>
> 
> A quick test could be to take a piece of single sided copper clad board,
> ground the copper side and put it on a stand a few feet from the TC (out of
> range of the sparks) with the insulating side towards the coil.  Then,
> attach a few threads or similar insulating things (thin mylar ribbon would
> also work?) to the copper clad.  Run the coil. If charge builds up, the
> threads will be repelled away from the surface and stand out or up (as the
> case may be).

This will probably not work in this way, because the charges will be
fimly attached to the board, attracted by the grounded plate in the
other side (the charges will be "dissimulated", a term found in old
texts about static electricity). Something similar that works better
is to prepare a capacitor, with a metal plate glued to one side
of a plastic sheet (a copper cladded board may serve, but the insulation
may be not high enough for long storage of the charges), and another
metal plate at the other side, that can be removed. Ground the removable
plate and present the fixed plate to the ionized air around the coil,
at some distance. Charges will become trapped in the capacitor.
To observe the charges, connect the fixed plate to an electroscope
(or simply previously attach some threads to the fixed metal plate)
and move the back plate away.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz