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FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

Father of Alternating Current: Nikola Tesla Terrence Hartman Nicky Keefer Adrian Luna Alex Murphy Ryan Wallace Salt Lake Community College

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

Abstract Our team of five Physics 1010 students used this paper as an opportunity to explore the life and legacy of Nikola Tesla, a prolific part of our Physics knowledge. Tesla is a polarizing figure in American history, and this paper aims to prove that his creative output is more important than the personal eccentricities that often overshadow the chronicle of his inventions. A brief description of Teslas childhood frames his story and precedes an account of the most resonating relationship in his career: that of him and Thomas Edison. This paper claims that Thomas Edisons poor impression on Tesla spurred him to create an array of spectacular inventions, including the Tesla Coil and Alternating Current.

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

Father of Alternating Current: Nikola Tesla Las Vegas flashing neon signs, x-rays of broken bones, remote-control monster trucks, and the electricity that runs through your home are all made possible by the work of physicist, Nikola Tesla. While his name doesnt contain as much gravity as other pioneers in American invention, Tesla was a true innovator with his work in electromagnetic induction. At the time of his work, Teslas eccentricity often overshadowed his projectshe was self-mythologizing, arrogant, and boldly idealisticand while the inventors odd personality and grandiose assertions are fascinating, Teslas real significance lies in his inventions and ideas. Most of Teslas greatest work came to life in the United States, but he was born in Serbia and spent time in France, employed by Thomas Edisons company. Much of Teslas life, perhaps serendipitously, revolved around Thomas Edison. In fact, many years were spent working for him and even more years were spent in bitter rivalry with him. It wouldnt be farfetched to claim that Edison absorbed many accolades rightfully belonging to Tesla. In actuality, Teslas contributions to the world of invention, and the world of electromagnetic induction are both prolific and impressive.

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

Teslas Beginnings Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in a mountainous area on the Balkan Peninsula. His father, a stern, but loving Orthodox priest, was a gifted poet and his mother, while uneducated, was a gifted small appliance inventor (Her prized invention being a mechanical eggbeater). Tesla credited his mother for his inventive instincts. As a boy, young Tesla was immersed in his fathers library. While gaining all the knowledge he could at homeincluding learning seven languageshe attended gymnasium at Carlstadt in Croatia. Later, he enrolled into school at Smiljan. His mathematical skills were so advanced that he could perform integral calculus in his head, causing his teachers to accuse him of cheating. In addition, young Nikola was so motivated, even at his age, that after seeing a steel graving of Niagara Falls, he swore to his uncle that he would one day go to America and build a water condition dam at the falls. Though Tesla considered himself an engineer and a mathematician, his father constantly tried to push him towards the priesthood. Then, at the age of 17, he was diagnosed with chorea. After consulting with his father, Tesla was given permission to enroll in a school if he survived. So, after he recovered from his condition, he enrolled in the prestigious Austrian Polytechnic School.

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

During his studies at Polytechnic School, he studied mechanical and electrical engineering. One day in his classes, a teacher showed Tesla a Gramme dynamo that used Direct Currents to be used as a motor and a generator. Tesla suggested that the machine would be more efficient if one were to do away with its communicators that were a set of ineffective sparks created when the current flowed. The teacher laughed at him and told Tesla that such a feat was not possible. For the next several years, Tesla obsessed over his teachers challenge and vowed to prove him wrong. He knew what the problem was and he was determined to fix it. It wasnt until after he graduated, when he moved to Budapest at the age of twenty-four, that he discovered the answer he was looking for. Tesla had a keen memory and ability to visualize and construct complicated objects in his head. While working on his first job with the American Telephone, Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown in which he claimed to suffer from a bizarre hypersensitivity of perception. While recovering one afternoon, while reading poetry with his friend, the answer came to him through a passage from Goethes Faust, The glow retreats, done is the day of toil; It yonder haste, new fields of life exploring; Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil, upon its track to follow, follow soaring! From this passage, he foresaw rotating magnetic fields and the multiphase currents that they could create. It was this moment of inspiration that lead him to invent

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

the induction motor many years later. This discovery would change the world. It was the first system to uses Alternating Currents instead of Direct Currents. After his discovery, he was hired by the electrical power companies in Strasbourg and Paris to help with the Direct Currents that they were using for their generators. After many failed attempts to persuade companies that they could convert to the more efficient AC motors, Tesla decided to move to America and pursue his dreams. When he arrived in New York City, in 1884, Tesla was surprised by what he saw. He realized that his Serbian home was beautiful and artistic, while America was mechanical and unattractive. He believed that America was a century behind Europe as a civilization. Forever determined to accomplish his dream, Tesla came to New York, only baring a letter of recommendation addressed to Thomas Edison that said, I know two great men, one is you, and the other is this young man. Tesla and Edison When one hears the name, Thomas Edison, immediately people think of the light bulb. Most people upon hearing the name, Nikola Tesla, are left clueless. However, Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest masterminds in the course of human history and most of his works and ideas were taken and left unaccredited. Tesla was an emotionally driven dreamer with an outstanding background in

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

engineering and Edison was a self-driven inventor who underwent tedious experimentation due to his lack of formal education. Those who know Teslas legacy will recall the feud between him and Edisona battle for alternating or Direct Current. When he arrived in America, Tesla was a major admirer of Edisons work and inventions. Tesla, using his letter of recommendation, was hired by Edison to redesign the companys electric generators for a $50,000 prize. After several months of arduous labor and experimentation, Tesla designed several profitable patents for Edison. He then requested the $50,000 dollars Edison promised him. Edison replied with "When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke. Instead, Edison offered to raise Teslas wage from $18 a week to $28 a week, ($560, with todays inflation). Tesla was disgusted and he immediately resigned. This was the beginning of his lifelong feud with Edison. Next, Teslas dark days began when he spent a year in New York City digging ditches. He was walking outside one day, when he looked up and was appalled by the amount of wiring that was being used to transfer electricity. Several citizens recorded that the thick mass of wires would block out the sun in some parts of the city. The wires ran Direct Current and Thomas Edison was a major investor in Direct Current. Tesla knew there was a better way to transfer electricity and was determined to find an alternate. Thus the invention of Alternating Current was created by no other than Tesla himself. This was a more efficient way to move

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

electricity and it used a lot less copper than Direct Current (see Appendix B). He was approached by Mr. A.K Brown of Western Union to produce a small Alternating Current power generator and transmission. The race for this kind of motor was over, but the introduction and commercialization for the product was still in need. A Pittsburg industrialist, by the name of George Westinghouse, was interested in investing in Teslas inventions. He offered him $60,000 for several of his patents with $5,000 in cash. With this money, Tesla funded his own lab, designing several patents for Alternating Current generators, wire transformers, lights and all sorts of electrical motors. He sold most of his work to Westinghouse who was also in a feud with Edison. Edison, in response, launched propaganda against the use of Alternating Current. He tried to convince the public that it was dangerous. He conducted demonstrations by electrocuting several animals including dogs, horses and even elephant. Edison hired a professor name Harold Brown to conduct these presentations. Brown even went so far as to purchase one of Westinghouses AC generators to build the first ever electric chair. Brown attempted to execute a prison convict, but didnt use enough voltage to kill him. It was a horrific display and by no means humane. Edison was sullying the name of Alternating Current for profit. By 1893, Westinghouse and Nikola won the heated conflict by providing power to Chicagos world fair, which became the worlds first electric fair in history.

FATHER OF ALTERNATING CURRENT: NIKOLA TESLA

Over 27 million people attended the fair and Alternating Current was proven to be the power of the future. Edison then became frustrated with Tesla and refused to let him use his patented light bulbs. Tesla had come up with his own proper way to provide light bulbs for the fair. Teslas light bulb proved superior to Edisons. This greatly affected Edisons business for his investments were mostly in Direct Current and his patented light bulbs were not used. After this event, AC accounted for 80 percent of all electrical devices in the U.S. In conclusion, Tesla won the battle of the currents and Westinghouse and Edison became drained due to this battle. After Thomas Edisons passing, the New York Times posted a quote from Tesla, If he had a needle to find in a haystack he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be, but would proceed at once, with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was almost a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor. Teslas Inventions Its likely that very few people realize who created the tools that they use on a regular basis. In fact, Tesla is probably most responsible for the huge amount of technological progress of the 20th century. He acquired over 200 patents in his lifetime and paved the way for all our modern electronics. He was so ahead of his time that, in the year 1887, Nikola Tesla was experimenting with X-ray radiation,

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exactly eight years before Wilhelm Roentgen the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discover of X-rays. A few years later, Nikola introduced the Tesla Coil, which had huge implications for free energy. A Tesla Coil works the same way a rolled up hose works, with a nozzle on the end that pressurizes the water to makes it more powerful. The Coil goes through 2 amplifiers that pressurize the electricity to make it more powerful and efficient. Mr. Teslas long-term dream was to create giant Coils around the world that could send abundant amounts of electricity. He first tested one of the larger scale Coils in Colorado Springs where he was able to illuminate a light bulb about a mile away. Nikola Tesla paved the way for our modern Satellites and Predator Drones with the invention of Remote Control. He first demonstrated it in 1898 with a Remote Controlled Boat. By utilizing several large batteries, a small motor, and a radio signal, he was able to control the rudder on a boat. Although this technology was laid dormant for sometime, it eventually was picked back up again and used in various ways. Also in 1898, Tesla created something else that had a huge impact on the automobile industry: an Electrical Igniter for Gas Engines, which today is used in more than 600 million automobiles. Technology is a double-edged sword, and its interesting to see the implications that a new invention manifests. Although he has had enormous

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positive impact on mankind, Tesla had a darker side. Tesla claimed to have created an oscillator with an adjustable frequency, the size of an alarm clock. Nikola realized that every object has a natural frequency and if you could amplify it, the object could be destroyed. Such power in such a small device is scary. Nikola said, In a few minutes I felt a building beginning to tremble Ten more minutes I could have laid it to the street. And with the same device I could have dropped the Brooklyn Bridge into the East River in less than an hour. Its rumored that Nikola used his Oscillator to create an earthquake, and just as the police busted in his door, they found him smashing the device with a sledgehammer to stop the disaster-inducing machine. Over and over, Tesla was ahead of his time. In a year when no one else cared, he was adamant that we use the most environmentally friendly technology possible. The US used an insane amount of fossil fuel energy every day, about 20 million barrels of oil, so in 1901, Tesla patented the Utilization of Radiant Energy. Mr. Tesla said, If we use fuel to get our power, we are living on our own capitol and exhausting it rapidly. This method is barbarous and wantonly wasteful and will have to be stopped in the interest of coming generations. Nikola even proposed the concept of radio waves reflecting off objects, 17 years before the invention of radar. Then, in 1931, Tesla wrote an article about Geothermal Energy for the New

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York Times titled Our Future Made of Power. He had an innate ability to see the future of technology. Teslas Demonstrations At the Electrical Exhibition of 1898, held at Madison Square Garden, Tesla staged an important demonstration. His invention, covered in patent No. 613,809 (1898), took the form of a radio-controlled boat, which was a heavy, low-lying, steel craft of about four feet. Since radio hadn't been officially patented yet (Tesla's basic radio patent was filed in September 1897, but granted in March 1900), examiners from the US Patent Office were reluctant to recognize improbable claims made in the application "Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles." After seeing a working model of the device, examiners minds were quickly changed. Tesla had actually been picking up radio signals as far as 30 miles away from New York City at West Point since 1895! The Boat Itself Tesla's tub-like craft was self-powered with several large batteries on board. Radio signals controlled switches, which energized the boat's propeller, rudder, and scaled-down running lightsthis concept was simple, but compared to existing devices, it was quite a feat. The arrival of a radio signal pulse was the main tax on the rudimentary technology. So, Tesla invented a new kind of coherer (a radioactivated switch) for this purpose, which was essentially a canister with a little

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metal oxide powder in it. The powder oriented itself in the presence of an electromagnetic field, like radio waves, and became conductive. When the canister was flipped over, after the pulse's passage, the powder was restored to a random, nonconductive state. Applications and Fears of Such Technology While much of the world had little to no understanding of this brilliant idea, Tesla imagined that the military would have a great interest in this technology vis-vis radio-controlled weapons. However, these fears would not materialize until nearly 100 years later, after advancements in rocketry and guided bombs. Demonstration of the Tesla Coil Always pushing electrical understanding to its limits, another of his inventions was too built to investigate the realm of high frequency and voltage. While none of the components of this device were unknown at the time, he made refinements and construction modifications to key elements of the device that led to truly unique results. Particularly in the transformer or coil at the heart of the circuits performance. To understand a Tesla coil, one must first look at the components of the device and grasp what they accomplish (See Appendix A). Oscillators Oscillators consist of two main components, capacitors and inductors or condensers and coils respectively. These two components are somewhat opposite

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in their operation. In the type of circuit Tesla developed, called a tank circuit, the voltage can be made to "chase" each other back and forth from end to end in the circuit. Current quickly builds in a capacitor as it charges up but the voltage lags. But in the inductor, the voltage is felt immediately while the current is slowed down as it works against the magnetic field its own passage build in the coil. Spark Gaps The oscillators must be set "ringing." This is employed by sudden discharge of sparks across an adjustable gap between two electrodes. The air in the gap will break down once the capacitor reaches its threshold. By using screws to adjust the gap or "insulator clearance" he could control a larger or smaller breakdown of voltage. The initial impulse is very powerfulall the energy stored over several microseconds is released in a rush, and that impulse is itself transformed to a somewhat higher voltage in passing from the primary coil windings to those of its secondary. This, of course, completes but a single cycle in the circuit's operation. The air gap restores itself as an insulator, and the capacitor begins to charge until it reaches a breakdown value once again. The whole process can repeat itself many thousand times per second. Teslas coil is perhaps his most visually stunning demonstration. Shocked audiences were unprepared to see a man so comfortable playing with electricity.

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Tesla staged many demonstrations that were completely beyond the generally accepted limits of technology. Conclusion Not many people can claim to have played the antagonist to a character as well loved as Thomas Edison, but Nikola Tesla did, and he played it well. In addition to being as innovative and hard working as his more-famous counterpart, Nikola Tesla was well studied, and imaginative enough to design products that worked better than Edisons. The world we live in today owes much to the Father of Alternating Current, because even 70 years after his death, he is still powering our houses, our radios, and our creative spirits.

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References D.C. Diffen - Compare Anything. Diffen. Discern. Decide.. Edison vs Tesla Difference and Comparison | Diffen. Retrieved Oct 21, 2013, from http://www.diffen.com/difference/Edison_vs_Tesla. Hunt, I. and Draper, W. Lightning in his Hand: The Life Story of Nikola Tesla. Chula Vista, CA: Tesla Book Co., 1991. King, Al. N.p.., How a simple Tesla coil works. Web. 25 Oct 2013. <http://www.extremeelectronics.co.uk/tccct/>. Parry, Andew, and Dan Seminara. "Remote Controlled Vessel." Tesla Science Foundation, July 2010. Web. Fall 2013. PBS. Tesla - Life and Legacy. Retrieved Oct 21, 2013, from http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_america.html. Sandford, M. (2012, ). Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts - Fun Quizzes and Trivia | Mental Floss. AC/DC: The TeslaEdison Feud | Mental Floss. Retrieved Oct 21, 2013, from http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30140/acdctesla%E2%80%93edison-feud. Science, Bill. "How a Tesla Coil Works." Science Brothers. N.p., 22 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-vz82dx6gQ

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Appendix A AC vs. DC System

Appendix B How a Simple Tesla Coil Works

Voltage is applied, the primary capacitor (C) charges, the voltage across the primary capacitor increases.

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Spark gap (SG) fires, when the voltage across C reaches the spark gap break down voltage.

Capacitor (C) is discharged through the spark gap (SG) and primary coil (P).

The magnetic field in the primary (P) increases as the voltage across the capacitance (C) decreases.

When the voltage across the capacitor (C) is zero, the field in the primary coil (P) starts to collapse, creating a voltage, which recharges the capacitor (C). This creates an Alternating Current in the primary coil (P). Because the secondary coil (S) is connected (by transformer action) to the primary coil (P). The Alternating Current in the primary coil is transferred to the secondary coil (S). It takes a few of the above cycles for all of the power to be transferred into the secondary coil (S).

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The top load (T) and the secondary coil (S) are designed to swap power between them in the same way and at the same rate as the primary capacitor (C) and the primary coil (P). This matching of frequencies multiplies the induced voltage in the secondary coil (S).

When there is more voltage than the top load can hold on its surface. The voltage breaks out into an arc.

This process continues until there is no more power in the primary capacitor (C) and primary coil (P). As there is now not enough voltage to maintain the arc across the spark gap (SG), The arc extinguishes. This allows the capacitor(C) to charge again and the sequence repeats.

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