Re: explanation of sparks into air needed

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

Original poster: "BunnyKiller" <bunikllr-at-bellsouth-dot-net> 

Since this is a Tesla Coil  based system,  I will assume you need to 
explain the sparks/streamer action of the coil and to where they are going 
when not contacting a grounded object.

here it goes   my best explination   ( im not a physicist  :)   )

since we are dealing with AC  voltages and currents, the field surrounding 
the toriod is pulsating at whatever frequency your coil is designed for...
the atom/molecules of air recieve energy from this field and become ionized 
( the electrons get powered up to a higher orbit field)  thus an energy 
transfer in general.  next, the higher powered electrons eventually loose 
the capacity to stay in the unnatural orbit and fall back into the orbit 
they usually exist in. when they do that, the energy they had is released 
as a photon...   thus the purple/blue colors of the streamers   ( the 
photons of certain gasses produce specific colors
nitrogen purple range   oxygen blue/white depending on voltage and current 
..   if you ran a Tesla Coil in a helium/neon enviroment the streamers 
would be red )

okay...now for streamer propigation    ( im guessing at this one)  since 
the toroid is not perfectly smooth, there exists points to where the 
electrons on the surface of the toroid tend to collect more so than the 
average suface   ( electrons like points   seems that the voltage would be 
higher at these points)  since we have possibly a higher differential in 
voltage at these points, the act of ionization of the surrounding gas is 
more prone to occur here. Once ionization occurs, the conductivity of that 
gas becomes much greater. Thus a streamer is born....

now as far as streamer propigation that moves around a toroid ( one that is 
smooth)  I guess its like the weather...   convection action of the 
surrounding gasses cause a constant movement of air and thus the excess 
electrons moving about the toroid looking for the path of least 
resistance...  finding the point where conduction can occur.

Scot D






Tesla list wrote:

>Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>
>That actually isn't the question, though.  I'm looking for a good
>explanation of "where is the spark going", when there's no explicit gap to
>jump.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 7:55 PM
>Subject: Re: explanation of sparks into air needed
>
>
> > Original poster: "robert heidlebaugh" <rheidlebaugh-at-desertgate-dot-com>
> >
> > Jim: your question is valid. To use the KISS principle consider a glass of
> > water. if gour glass will hold 250 Ml and you add 300 ml of water the
>excess
> > will spill out. The toroid has a specific amount of electrons it will hold
> > as the size and shape will determin. when the total volume of electrons is
> > exceded the excess will spill out like smoke into the air. once that point
> > is surpassed the air conducts and the resistance of the air drops spilling
> > out more of the contained electrons untill all electrons form a spark of
> > ionized air , noise, and light. Then you re- fill the toroid to cause the
> > electrons to spill out again. If the toroid is to large no sparks will
>form.
> > if the toroid is to small small sparks will form that are not impressive.
> >        Robert   H
> > --
> >
> >
> >  > From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> >  > Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2004 16:16:36 -0600
> >  > To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> >  > Subject: explanation of sparks into air needed
> >  > Resent-From: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> >  > Resent-Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 16:19:33 -0600
> >  >
> >  > Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>
> >  >
> >  > I'm looking for a good short explanation of how sparks can go into air
>from
> >  > a charged object. The problem I'm having is trying to explain that not
>all
> >  > sparks have to go from one place to another place, partly because my
> >  > audience has a hard time conceptualizing the idea of a high field that
>can
> >  > cause a breakdown.
> >  >
> >  >
> >
> >
>
>