Re: Current

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>



> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Tesla729-at-cs-dot-com>
>  So, just a theoretical question here but, if someone made a primary coil out
>  of platinum or gold (besides the heat and melting issues with gold) the
>  output would increase by noticeable amounts due to the less resistance? Has
>  anyone tried this or something similar?
> 
>  73, Kc0Ion, "Ion-Boy"
>   >>
> 
> Hi "Ion Boy",
> 
> Besides the idea of a multi- thousand $$ primary coil being some-
> what impractical for the average coiler, it is my understanding that
> silver is the best conductor. I believe gold lies between copper and
> aluminum in relative conductance, if I remember correctly. I sup-
> pose you could build a silver primary and keep your primary mate-
> rial cost doen to a few thousand $$ :-) I think the main reason that
> many small electronic circuit conductors are gold-palted is that
> although gold doesn't have the highest relative conductance, gold
> does have about the highest resistance to surface corrosion/ tar-
> nishing and this is an important consideration when considering the
> skin effect. I'm not sure about the relative conductance of platinum
> but I do know that platinum also has very high resistance to corrosion.
> Maybe some of the resident metallurgists could comment further on
> this.

Yes, Gold isn't as good a conductor as Copper, although, as the previous
poster pointed out, it IS better than aluminum. In addition to its
non-corrodability, Gold is also easily solderable, an important thing for
electronic devices, and, as well, very malleable, so with vibration,
bending, etc., the leads don't break.  I don't know off hand if gold "work
hardens", as do copper and aluminum.