Constituents

Construction(Procedures1.a,b,c)
100ofmagnetwire
25of14Gauge,insulated,solid,copperwire
2mediumtolongsticksofhotglue
1ozofClearEnamel
16Gaugeinsulated,stranded,copperwire
1rollScotchTape
1rollElectricalTape
1PVCTube(oranynonconductivetube)11/2indiameterand6inheight
2PlasticUtensils
Wiring(Procedures2.a,b)
1ElectricFlyRacket
1Switch
1SwitchBox(Optional)
4terminals(or1longterminalstripthatcanbecut)
16Gaugeinsulated,stranded,copperwire
1ofRosinCoreSoldering
25of14Gauge,insulated,solid,copperwire
2SteelCornerBraceswithscrews
Preparation(Procedure3)
1Groundedelectricalsocket
1Stripofindustrialstaples(anysize)
2Dcellbatteries
Experimentation(Procedure4)
Slowmotioncamerathatcanrecord240fps.
Stopwatch
Notebook
Pencil
Fifteen6X2rectanglesof0.05mmthickpaper.
6ofinsulatedcopperwire
Tools(genericforallprocedures)
Solderingtool
PhillipsHeadScrewdriver
FlatHeadScrewdriver
HotGlueGun
Hacksaw(oranysawthatisfinelyserrated)
Voltmeter
WireStripper

 NeedlenosePliers
StapleGun
Procedure1(BuildingtheResonantTransformer)

Tobegin,acquireallmaterialsandtoolslistedonPage5underconstruction.

Procedure1.aSecondaryCoil
ConfirmthatthePVCtubeisdryanddustfree.Afterconfirmingthis,Coilthe100feetof
magnetwirearoundthePVCtubeleaving1/4thofaninchateachend.Besurethatnocoilis
overlappinganotherandthatthereisminimalspaceinbetweeneachcoil.Thiswillcausean
irregularityintheinductionthatthecoilisgoingtoprovide.Coattheentirecoilwithclear
enamelandapplyasmanycoatsasneededtoensurethatthecoiliscompletelycovered.Then,
sand2ofenamelcompletelyoffofeachend.Thecoiljustcreatedisreferredtoasthe
SecondaryCoil.Afterthesecondarycoiliscomplete,securethecoilstensionbycuttinga
smalllengthofelectrictapeandwrappingitaroundeachofthePVCtube,overthewire.

Procedure1.bPrimaryCoil1
Tobeginconstructionontheprimarycoil,besurethatthe14gaugecopperwireisnotbentor
tightlylooped,asthismayaffecttheinductionneededtocarryoutresonance.Coilthecopper
wiretightlyaroundthesecondarycoilonthePVCtube.Ensurethattherearenooverlappingor
extremespacesbetweencoils.Secureittothesecondarycoilwithelectrictapeorhotglue.Then,
strip1inchoffeachendofthecopperwire.Thecoiljustconstructedisreferredtoasthe
PrimaryCoil.Aftertheprimarycoiliscomplete,secureittothesecondarycoilbywrappingit
withelectrictapeorconnectingittothesecondarycoilwithhotglue.

Procedure1.cCapacitativeElectrode
Toconstructthecapacitiveelectrode,ortopload,gatheraluminumfoilandcreateatorusfrom
it.Then,cuttheheadsofoftwoplasticutensils.Placetheutensilsintoacrosslikeshapeanduse
hotgluetosecurethemtogether.Oncethegluehasfullydried,placethecrossontopofthePVC
tubeandsecureitwithhotglue.Thiswillactasabaseforthetopload.Next,obtainthetorus
previouslyconstructedandsecureitwithhotgluetothebase.Thiswillsoonbeconnectedtothe
primarycoilandwillbecomecrucialtotheentiretransformer.

Theformatoftheprimarycoilcanvarybasedonmaterialsandcoilsetup.However,thecoildescribedinthis
experimentisspecificmyresults.Iftheprimarycoilsetupvaries,somaytheresults.

Procedure2(WiringtheResonantTransformer)

Tobegin,acquireallmaterialsandtoolslistedonPage5underwiring.

Procedure2.aElectricFlyRacketDisassembly
Inordertowirethetransformer,crucialcomponentsmustbeacquiredfromtheelectricfly
racket.Tobegindisassembling,bepositivethatallelectricalcurrenthasbeendischargedfrom
theracket.Thisincludesremovingthebatteriesfromtheircasing.Afteryouhaveconfirmedthat
thereisnoelectricchargeintheracket,removethecasingfromtheracketselectronicswiththe
appropriatescrewdriver.Afterthecasinghasbeenremoved,locatethecircuitboardand
disconnectthetwowires1thatconnectthecircuitboardtotheheadoftheracket.Then,remove
thecircuitboardandallofitscomponentsfromthecasing2.Next,slidethetwometalbattery
connectionsandswitchoutoftheirdesignatedslots.Aftertheentirecircuithasbeenremoved
fromtheracket,theremainingcomponentsoftheracketcanbediscarded.Onlythecircuit,
batteryconnectors,andswitchwillbeusedinthenextprocedure.

Procedure2.bResonantTransformerWiring

Whilewiring,itmaybenecessarytorefertothewiringschematicofthetransformeronPage4

Tobeginwiringthetransformer,confirmthatallcomponentslistedonPage5areonthecircuit
boardbeingusedforthisexperiment.Onceconfirmed,desolderallwiresfromthecircuit3.
Beforecontinuing,cutsix,10inchpieces,ofstranded,16gaugecopperwire.Strip1inchof
insulationoffofeachendofeachwirepreviouslycut.Then,solderoneofthewirestoeach
connectionthatanoriginalwirewasremovedfrom.Thisshouldcreateacircuitboardwithfour
evenlycutwiresprotrudingfromit.Afterattachingthenewwires,discardtheoriginalwires,as
thismaycauseconfusionanddisorderoftheworkplace.Next,locatethewirethatwasrecently
solderedtotheportpreviouslyusedforabatteryconnection(oftentheconnectionwithaflat
plateandaspringprotrudingfromit)andconnectitsecurelytooneofthetwosteelcorner
braces4.Next,locateandconnectthewirepreviouslyusedforthemainconnectiontotheswitch
tothenewswitch.Fromtheinvertedconnectionontheswitch,attachanotherwireandconnectit
tothesecondbracket,completingthebatteryconnectors.Then,obtaintheprimarycoil
constructedduringProcedure1.bonPage6.Oncetheprimarycoilhasbeenconstructed,
solderoneofthewirestoportonthecircuitboardwhereoneofthetwowirespreviouslycarry

electricitytotheracketwere.Connectthissamewiretooneoftheendsoftheprimarycoil5.

Itisrecommendedtotakeapictureofthecircuitbeforeremovingthewiretouseasareferenceorguide,asevery
circuitmaybedifferent.
4
Itisrecommendedthatthebracesaresecuredtoapieceofwoodwiththescrewsusuallyprovidedduring
purchase,asthiswillbeyourbatteryconnections.
5
Asingleterminalcanbeusedtoconnectwireseasily,howeverthiswillrequiremorewire.

Beforecontinuing,constructthesparkgapbycuttingtwoterminalsofoftheterminalstripand
insertingtwo,completelystripped,twoinchpiecesof14gaugecopperwireintoseparate
terminals.Besurethatthewiresareabout1mmclosetoeachother,asthisisveryimportantto
thefunctionofthecoil.Aftertheterminalstriphasbeencompleted,connectthelastsoldered
wirethatisnotconnectedtoanycomponentintooneoftheterminalsofthesparkgap.Now,
obtainthelastuntouchedwireandconnectitfromtheprimarycoiltotheotherterminalinthe
sparkgap.Thiswillconcludetheconstructionoftheprimarycoil.Ensurethatthereisno
resistanceintheprimarycoilbyconnectingoneprobefromthevoltmetertooneterminalofthe
sparkgapandtheotherprobetotheotherterminal.Onceyouhaveensurednoresistanceinthe
primarycoil,continueontowiringthesecondarycoil.Wiringthesecondarycoilisrelatively
simple.First,cutathreefootpieceofcopperwire(anycopperwireoperatesequivalently)and
strip1inchofinsulationoffofeachend.Then,connectoneendofthewiretothebottomwireof
thesecondarycoil.Thiswillactasthegroundingwireforthetransformer.Lastly,connectthe
topmostwireofthesecondarycoiltothecapacitiveelectrode.Useavoltmetertoensureno
resistanceinthesecondarycoil.Thesecondarycoilandresonanttransformerisnowcomplete
andreadyforexperimentation.

Procedure3(PreparingtheResonantTransformerfortheExperiment)

Tobegin,acquireallmaterialsandtoolslistedonPage5underPreparation.

Beginthepreparationforexperimentationbyfirstdoublechecking000resistanceonthe
voltmeterforallcircuits.Onceensuredthatthereisnoresistanceinanyofthecircuits,placethe
twoDCellbatteriesintheirsequencewiththetwobracesasconnectors.Itisrecommendedthat
thesearescrewedtoabasewiththescrewsusuallyprovidedwiththemduringpurchase.Besure
toplacethebatteriesinadirectsequencewiththepositiveterminalfacingtheconnector
connectingthebatteriestotheswitch1.Beextremelycarefulwhileplacingthebatteries,as
electricalshockmayoccuriftheswitchisnotintheoffposition.Afterplacingthebatteries
correctlyintheirposition,locateawallsocket2.Unscrewthecoverfromthewallsocket.Once
thecoverhasbeenremovedfromthesocket,insertoneofthevoltmeterprobesintotheright,
verticalterminalofthesocket3.Placetheotherprobeontothescrewofthesocketcover.Ifthere
isacurrentbeingreadonthevoltmeter,thismeansthatthesocketcoverscrewisgrounded

thereforemoveontothenextstep.However,ifthereisnocurrentbeingdetected,locateanother
socketandrepeatuntilasocketthatisgroundedcanbefound.Onceagroundedsocketcover
screwhasbeenlocated,connectthegroundingwireconstructedonPage7underProcedure
2.btothescrew.Uponcompletingthesesteps,thetransformerisnowoperational.

Thisisveryimportant,forthecurrentrunningthroughthecircuitisdirectcurrentandisdependantonthe
batteriesbeingpositionedinaspecificdirection.
2
Trytolocateawallsocketwithacover.However,ifonecannotbefound,thegroundingterminalonthesocket
canbeusedasasubstitute.
3
Beextremelycautiouswhenplacingobjectsinsocketterminals,aselectricshockmayresultfromneglect.

Procedure4(ExperimentationoftheResonantTransformer)

Tobegin,acquireallmaterialsandtoolslistedonPage5underExperimentation.

BecomefamiliarwithalltermsandexperimentalaspectsonPage9beforecontinuing

Forthisexperiment,fivedischargerateswillbetested,eachrequiringfivetrials.Thiswillresult
inatotaloftwentyfivetrials.resultsfromeachtrialwillberecordedonanotepadwithapencil
orpen.1Itisrecommendedthatachartisdrawntohelporganizethedata.Sincetherateof
dischargedecreaseswhenthewidthbetweentwohighpotentialterminal,dischargerateswill
increasebyafactorof0.05mm.Thisbeingsaid,thefirsttrialconductedwilltesta0.05mmgap
betweentheterminals.Beforeconductingthefirsttrial,besurethewiresprotrudingfromthe
twohighpotentialterminalsareflattenedattheirendsforatleast1.27centimeter.2Toconduct
thefirsttrial,insertone6X2pieceofpaperbetweenthetwowiresextendingfromthe
terminalsandbesurenottoinsertthepapermorethanthreemillimetersfromtheendofthe
wires.Thiswillallowforaseparationof0.05millimetersbetweentheterminals.Now,apply
powertothecoilandvideothedischargesfromthe
terminalsfortensecondsin240framespersecond(fps).
Reviewthevideoandcountthenumberofdischargesthat
occurredduringafoursecondperiodofthevideo.This
numbercountedisyourdischargespersecond(dps),orthe
rateatwhichthecapacitordischarges.Dothisthreetimes
foreachofthewidthsandaveragethemtofindtheaverage
numberofdischargespersecondforeachofthewidths.
Thiswillnowrepresenttherateofdischarge.Nowthatyou
haveestablishedyourfirstdischargerate,strip1inchofinsulationoffofthesixinchpieceof
copperwire.Thiswillserveasyoursparkstick.Afterconstructionofthesparkstickis
complete,slowlyprogressitnearthecapacitiveelectrodeandmeasurethearchlengthof
electricalarchthatiscreated.Recordthislengthonthedatanotepadandassociateitwiththefirst

trial.Thesestepswillneedtoberepeatedfivetimesforeachofthefivetrialsof0.00mm,
0.05mm,0.10mm,0.15mm,and0.20mm.Acontroltrialof0.00mmisneededinorderto
compareresults,soconductonetrialwiththewirestouching.Thiswillnotallowanychargeto
buildinthecapacitor.Besuretorecordalldataandobservationsonthenotepad.