Re: 12 MV 100 years ago

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

Original poster: "Peter Terren by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <pterren-at-iinet-dot-net.au>


Malcolm see comments below.
 > Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz
<teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>
 >
 >  >  > Some sources say that Tesla reached voltages like 12 MV
 >  >  >  using  his magnifier in Colorado Springs.
 >  >
 >  > 12 MV is comparable to natural lightning which is between 10 and 120
MV.
 >  > This is much less than you would expect from 1 MV giving 4 feet with a
Tesla
 >  > coil due to the nature of spark propagation.
 >  > The biggest tesla coils currently at around 55 ft are about 5.5 MV.
 >  > The longest spark described at 100m (325ft) was generated by a 5 MV
 >  > generator in Siberia.
 >  > References for these statements on my website at
 >  > http://members.iinet-dot-net.au/~pterren/Tesla%20coils%20intro.htm
 >  > Peter (Tesla Downunder)
 >
 > I had a look at one of those references. There is a bald statement
 > that Vout = such and such without a scrap of theoretical
 > justification for the formula. In fact, a consideration of output
 > voltage taking energy conservation into account invalidates the
 > claims made above. This has been known about for a long time. I
 > posted something about this just a week or two ago and there must be
 > dozens of messages dating back more than 7 years in the list archives.
 > Malcolm

  My simple point was that spark length is not a linear function of voltage
and that 12 MV may give huge sparks of length well beyond any manmade sparks
before. The exact relationships are the product of many variables and
uncertainties.  I have provided 3 references for this to give estimates, all
from very different points of view, including those of respected coilers
such as John Couture who has influenced Bill Wysock's thinking on the matter
and reported in the list archives in threads in 1998.
http://www.pupman-dot-com/listarchives/1998/january/msg00458.html
You have been a bit harsh in your criticism only looking at one of the
references without providing any clear ones of your own or explaining
exactly what 'has been known about for some time'. It is also not clear from
your statement how energy conservation invalidates a voltage vs spark length
relationship.
I am a newbie with 20 years tesla experience and am keen to increase my
knowledge and accept the collective scientific wisdom and experience of
others. The purpose of this forum is to do that.
Cheers, Peter (Tesla Downunder) http://members.iinet-dot-net.au/~pterren/