Tesla Coil Experiments

A homemade Tesla Coil is great for special effects style science experiments. The high voltage, high frequency output can cause strange effects in all sorts of materials. The Tesla Coil used in these experiments has a pipe inside the centre of the secondary coil. This pipe allows gas to be emitted from a small hole in the topload sphere.

Electricity and Fire

Fire is a type of plasma, as the constant exchange of electronic bonds between the molecules and the release of energy allows electrons to move around under the influence of an external electric field. Fire is considered as a 'cold plasma' because it temperature is relatively low when compared to electrically generated plasmas. A small flame from butane gas emitted form the top of the Tesla Coil acts as a discharge terminal or breakout point. The hot gasses rising from the flame also provide a further conductive channel.

Tesla Coul and Small FlameTesla Coul and Small FlameTesla Coul and Jet Flame

These images show how the electrical hot plasma from the Tesla Coil blends with the cold plasma of the flame. Click on the photos for a full view.

The rightmost image shows the electrical discharge through a hot jet flame like that of a bunsen burner. This flame causes the arc to stay mostly in one filament until the turbulence becomes too great.
See more photos of plasma on the plasma page

 

 

 

 

Noble Gases

The Noble gasses (often refered to as inert gas) are often used to make plasma because they will not react with the electrodes or surrounding material. Different gas types have different ionization voltages, and will also emit different colours of light.

Tesla Coil and Neon GasTesla Coil and Neon GasTesla Coil and Neon Gas

These photos show what happens when pure Neon gas is emitted from the top sphere of a small Tesla Coil. Neon has a much lower ionization voltage than air, so the gas will glow very brightly creating a plasma column to allow the arcs to be much larger. The picture on the right looks similar to the 'death ray' devices used in the movie War of the Worlds! You can see when tuned correctly the individual filaments tend to form multiple helices, allowing the plasma column to rise quite high.
See more photos of plasma on the plasma page

We can see from these images that the Neon only helps to increase the length of the plasma filaments when it is still relatively concentrated. The neon is not 'burnt' or consumed, but it quickly mixes with the air, and its effects on the plasma become negligible.

The top left video clip shows a TC with a perspex hemisphere loosely covering the top. When Neon gas is emitted from the top sphere it is forced to spread over the surface before escaping. You can see how the neon layer glows red. The next clip of a spontaneous single filament shows the TC in normal operation.

The erratic flowing arcs spontaneously disappear then return as one single extra long arc. The last two clips show how the gas affects the TC when it is emitted directly from the top of the metal sphere

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Comments and questions for Tesla Coil Experiments

The information provided here can not be guaranteed as accurate or correct. Always check with an alternate source before following any suggestions made here.

AlphaCoiler - Wednesday, 3rd May 2006 4:31am - #54
Some really fascinating photos. More Please!
swordofthespirit - Friday, 16th February 2007 7:31pm - #780
Can you tell me some sort of guide to making a tesla coil?
RMCybernetics - Friday, 16th February 2007 9:45pm - #781
You can see how this Tesla Coil was made on the following pages;
DIY Tesla Coil
DIY Power Pulse Generator (A Tesla Coil Driver)
Tiberiu - Wednesday, 5th November 2008 7:49pm - #3291
can you use this pulse generator in a electrolictic tank of water to see the effects. i expect that it will help water molecule dissociation creating hho far more efficiently if its tuned to the correct resonace of the water molecule. please experiment with this. the distance between anod and catod plates inside the tank shoud not be greater then 1.5 mm.
jango - Thursday, 20th November 2008 5:58pm - #3379


hello TIBERIU. J' carried out a test by putting end to end two carbon stems plunged in l' water with a little bicarbonate of sodium and connected on a battery of 12 volts. The reaction random but is produced a very white electric arc, a volume of gas (CO + H2) and a noise of Frelon. With a generator for electric welding the reaction is immediate and violent. With a generator TESLA like that presented to the page: small Tesla coil the reaction must be very good.
jango - Sunday, 23rd November 2008 5:00pm - #3391

hello TIBERIU. I am very interested by the production of gas with water. I want this summer to build a generator high voltage with a PWM. J' will eliminate all the black spots. My goal: to study the output of the reaction (production of gas and depollution (' water)) while varying Kv and Khz.
jango ggazz@neuf.fr - Saturday, 29th November 2008 12:13pm - #3403

The " GAS GENERATOR or GAZOGENE" is the process which made function the " TAXIS OF THE MARNE " by producing CO + H2. An inventor found another method to produce these gases, by creating an electric arc between two end to end put carbon electrodes and plunged in water. The process has several names: " AQUAFUEL, BINGOFUEL, COLD FUSION " . With a generator (PWM OC10A and a " ignition coil), study the output of the reaction and made starts us from your results.Thanks
solomon sami azar - Monday, 1st December 2008 4:24pm - #3408
solomon sami azarTESLA_ WHERE ARE YOU-Energy crisis-greenhouse gases- what a joke-19 straight months since april 2007 on the net to provoke fellow scientists to

replicate my experiment for fusion-to ask people to help spread this discovery- an experiment NEVER before in science- no one helps because i have no

credibility and association with any university- so much for the independent inventor who strives for solutions for all of us- NO WONDER the global

economy is collapsing over energy- YOU do nothing to help spread this ideology and experiment-my fellow marines battle for energy in wars and i am a us

marine who has embarked upon a path to try an experiment for all of us- i come to the net to find no help-people scream about being slaves of the

government- you deserve it- when those who sacrifice for all of us ask for assistance- you do nothing- thus- you must all be controlled as it is clear

you are too gluttonous and weak in your behavior with freedom and free will- you are lazy and weak as our fellow citizens fight wars for energy and you

do nothing :--Hello, my name is Solomon Azar- I HAVE FOUND THE ROAD TO SAFE CLEAN NUCLEAR FUSION- When this is found and understood- the energy

crisis will end- I have been looking at this system since 2002 and it is perfect in every way. I finished my experiments April-2007. I have since that

time tried to the best of my abilities to inform many people upon the net- there is no question It would be nice if concerned citizens would offer

suggestions or help provoke a university to simply repeat my experiment to end the energy crisis- 19 months and I still wait as the world crumbles from

lack of abundant clean energy.



I have performed an experiment never done before in science- I used a Tesla coil for its use in high voltage high frequency and apply its discharge

plasma not upon the dielectric of free air- but to the dielectric of water itself- Time will tell.
Joseph F Babendreier - Tuesday, 18th August 2009 3:40pm - #4002
Is there a book on how to do this stuff at home?

(I just happened to bump into this site by accident and was greatly intrigued.)
RMCybernetics - Wednesday, 19th August 2009 10:17pm - #4006
Check out the DIY Devices page for instructions on building these things.
jim - Sunday, 2nd January 2011 9:21am - #4473
Hey there aare manny people interested in the world having free energy, I am verry interested myself. dont get the gov interested, or the utility cos they will just put you away. share it with everyone , or noeone will have it
Plantguy - Monday, 16th May 2011 5:08am - #4563
Is there any limit to the resonance frequency of a tesla coil? Would anything special happen if a TC's frequency was the same as that of light (about 5*10^4 Hz)?
RMCybernetics - Monday, 16th May 2011 11:33am - #4568
It would not be possible. The frequency of light is much much higher than that (405 THz to 790 THz for visible light).

There are a number of reasons why it cant go do high in a coil. One being that the impedance of a coil increases with frequency, so at such high frequency it would not be possible to get current to flow.
Plantguy - Thursday, 19th May 2011 6:54pm - #4572
Could a coil made from superconducting material do it? Can coils conceivably be made from superconducting materials, or would that not work because of the lack of resistance or for some other reason? (btw, I meant 5*10^14 Hz on that last post; there was a typo.)
RMCybernetics - Saturday, 21st May 2011 2:54pm - #4573
Sper conducting electromagnets are used in MRI machines, but it is not the resistance that prevents such high frequency oscillations, it is the impedance caused by the inductive reactance. There are also quantum effects to be considered as the wavelength of light is so small that it can be the size of individual atoms.
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