Wireless Power
Mar 19, 2006, 10:10a
I've been reading a lot of Tesla lately - the man was pretty much a genius. He has hundreds of patents to his name and a large number of fantastical stories surround his life. Specifically, he is known for walking around his lab with light bulbs that would light up without being connected to any observable (wired) power source.
Above is a schematic he drew of how he made this happen. And here's what he had to say about it in "The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla" (scanned pages freely available from Google Books):
The ideal way of lighting a hall or room would, however, be to produce such a condition in it that an illuminating device could be moved and put anywhere, and that it is lighted, no matter where it is put and without being electrically connected to anything. I have been able to produce such a condition by creating in the room a powerful, rapidly alternating electrostatic field. For this purpose I suspend a sheet of metal a distance from the ceiling on insulating cords and connect it to one terminal of the induction coil, the other terminal being preferably connected to the ground. Or else I suspend two sheets as illustrated [above], each sheet being connected to one of the terminals of the coil, and their size being carefully determined. An exhausted tube may then be carried in the hand anywhere between the sheets or placed anywhere, even a certain distance beyond them; it remains always luminous.
Dave and I are planning to reproduce this effect in one of the rooms at our homes, so stay tuned for the results of that.
Read comments (2) - Comment
david
- Mar 19, 2006, 8:32p
I was reading about this; apparently if you're using a tesla coil, flourescent lights in the room will light up.
Amit Patel
- Apr 4, 2006, 9:43a
Ah, but can you recharge your laptop this way?
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