Transformer Tesla

Perhaps this is the only one of Tesla's inventions bearing his name today. It is a device producing high voltage at a high frequency. It was used by Tesla in several sizes and variations for his experiments. Transformer Tesla, also known as Tesla coil, is used today in various applications in radio and television.

Description

In its elementary form, the Tesla transformer consists of two coils, primary and secondary, with "loss of inductive coupling". The primary coil is built of several turns of large diameter wire and secondary of many turns of wire of smaller diameter. Unlike other transformers, here there is no ferromagnetic core and thus the mutual inductance between the two coils is small.

In the primary coil, high-intensity electric waves are applied, discharging the corresponding condenser, initially charged to a voltage of several kilovolts. The procedure is carried out by means of a spark gap device. The spark gap is configured to fire as soon as the voltage between the condenser terminals reaches a certain value.

When the spark gap is in a conducting state, the condenser and primary coil are connected in series, thereby forming an RLC circuit in which electrical oscillations of a certain frequency are generated. In the secondary coil, which also forms another RLC circuit, electric oscillations are also produced due to voltage induction. The oscillation frequencies of both chains are determined by their structural parameters.

For the proper operation of the transformer, the two RLC circuits (primary and secondary) must be in resonance, that is, their oscillation frequencies must coincide. When this happens, the oscillation amplitude in the secondary coil is multiplied and the transformer produces a high output voltage.

Using a Tesla Transformer

The output voltage of the Tesla transformer can reach several million volts. This voltage at the resonance frequency is capable of creating impressive electrical discharges in the air, which can have a length of many meters, as well as other phenomena.

The transformer was used by Tesla to generate and propagate electrical oscillations aimed at controlling devices at a distance without wires (telecontrol), wireless communication (radio), and wireless transmission of energy, all of which were achieved by them. At the beginning of the century, Tesla's transformer also found popular use in medicine. Patients were treated with high frequency currents, capable of traveling through the human body without harm, providing a toning and healing effect.