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The Power of AM (Spark Gap Shorting)

fm-engineer said:
arcs are quite different from sparks. :D
Click to expand...

Yes and no.

An arc is an electrical discharge through a gas which becomes ionized making what in physics is termed plasma. That is the glow you can see and is the basis of neon lights. A spark usually means the discharge or throwing off of burning particles like a metal saw or a burning substance.

However in common usage the term spark has become mostly the same and is used by some people to describe arcing as well. The glow of welding electrodes is technically plasma but there can also be particles of metal thrown off. So you can use whichever term you like and be mostly correct.
 
As for why no one stopped it, I wondered the same thing too. Perhaps there's a little Beavis and Butt-Head even in engineers. I noticed the ball moving as well, but without being able to see the mounting point, I couldn't be sure if someone was moving it or if it was just swaying. Though, it very likely could have been getting some outside help.

Not AM in the typical sense, but if anyone likes singing arcs, seach youtube for the singing Tesla coil.
 
Info-warrior said:
As for why no one stopped it, I wondered the same thing too. Perhaps there's a little Beavis and Butt-Head even in engineers. I noticed the ball moving as well, but without being able to see the mounting point, I couldn't be sure if someone was moving it or if it was just swaying. Though, it very likely could have been getting some outside help.

Not AM in the typical sense, but if anyone likes singing arcs, seach youtube for the singing Tesla coil.
Click to expand...

Looking at the video there it looks like there was not much current so maybe the pitting of the metal wasn't that bad. I was at 15 or so fascinated with Tesla Coils and all and I also put together a spark transmitter and wiped out radio reception for a mile or so. Also did a lot of experiments with electrical discharges in a partially evacuated glass tube about 5 feet long. The rare gases seem to be the last to be pumped out so you get a wide range of colors as the air pressure drops.

They used of course before vacuum tubes electrical arcs to generate the radio frequencies. I never thought about the other end of hearing modulation in a spark but it was fascinating. So if they had to do a little smoothing of the metal it was fun and I'd have been right there if I had been on scene.
 
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