Re: Tesla Coil RF Transmitter

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz" <acmdq@xxxxxxxxxx>

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: stork <stork@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Does the current in the earth from the ground connection move as a 
> conduction current also?  Does one half cycle later current move 
> back from the earth as a conduction current into the ground connection?

Yes. It is the same current that exits at the base of the coil.
It quickly reduces to nothing (except for small waves that irradiate)
as it spreads, at some meters away, but keeps essentially the same
waveform.

> My question:  Is current in the earth to and fro from the ground 
> connection conduction or displacement current?  Is the earth itself 
> a conductor or dielectric?

Essentially conduction. The earth is a conductor, with smaller or
greater resistivity, depending on the composition. Some displacement
current exists too, as in all conductors, but it can be ignored.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz