Lightning in a Bulb
Let’s just say, I am not good at science…Never was … and probably never will be, sadly. Even though I don’t really understand it, I’m still really fascinated by it, well the cool stuff like blowing things up or making things light up in weird ways that you would never could happen. I was really bad in physics and chemistry in high school, but we got to do some awesome experiments in that class, like having a Van de Graaff generator or getting to make gummy bears light up/spark and shoot through a tube with some chemicals. Those kinds of things are cool and getting to see them in class or getting to experience them is the best part of science in my opinion.
When Thomas Vales came into class, we got to see some really cool things that had to do with how renewable energy can work and the Tesla Coil. Tom Vales is the lab coordinator at Suffolk, and is a Tesla enthusiast. He has worked at numerous companies and helped out many places like the Museum Of Science, building and working with machines and electrical experiments. Tom came in to show us a couple of things, they were the Peltier Device, the Sterling Device, and the Mendocino Motor. In addition, he brought in the Tesla Coil as an extra fun and interesting experiment/topic. He simply and quickly showed and explained how all the devices worked.
The Peltier Device/Effect, or a thermoelectric device/effect, is an interesting concept to learn. The device consisted of two cups, on with hot water and one with cold water (two different temperatures), with a metal contraption that had two panels, each jutting out into the water in the separate cups. The way that this device creates electricity is that voltage is created because of the two different temperatures, the metal touching the two cups of water generates the voltage and then energy. We saw this because there was a windmill-like fan on the top of the metal that would spin as a result of the two different temperatures touching the metal and generating that voltage. We also saw that by the end of the demonstration, the wheel had stopped spinning because the two cups of water had now reached the same temperature. Because of this, no voltage was being created.
Like the previous device, the next one, the Sterling Device/Engine is run by heat energy that turns into mechanical work. Air or gas is compressed in a cyclical way and at different temperatures so that there is a conversion of the heat energy created to mechanical work, that will run the engine or machine attached. The engine has been around for a long time and in the later 20th century it was used in some radios and products made by Philips, the electronics company. Now the device is used to power generators and have solar components as well. The last little device that Tom Vales showed was the Mendocino Motor. The motor has solar cells that are attached, and when light hits the solar cell it creates an electrical current which then creates a magnetic field that will interact with the magnets that are alas attached at the ends. This interaction makes the other solar cell go into the light and this repetitive motion makes the motor turn and work.
The coolest thing in probably everyone’s opinions was the Tesla Coil. By turning it on and putting lightbulb like contraptions near it, they would light up and look really awesome. It looked like a bucket with a lot of wire wrapped around it, with the rest of the components inside the bucket I presume. The coil is meant to be a wireless form of energy to those light-bulbs. Nikola Tesla invented the coil as a wireless form of alternating current electricity. When you put the lightbulb near, the gas in the glass turns to plasma as a result and lights up. It looks like a a lightening bolt in a glass tube, which is probably the coolest thing ever.
As we watched him put different things near the coil we all wondered if he could feel the electricity and current that went into the pole, because you would think he could. When he asked if anyone wanted to test it out, my hand shot up so quickly, I thought it was detached from my body. I love participating in experiments and getting to actually experience them, so I tend to always volunteer myself for things like this. In physics in high school we had an experiment with a bowling ball attached to the ceiling that we would let go at a certain point and would swing right in front of the person’s face, but would stop before hitting the person who was sitting down on the floor. That was a scary moment of my life because you think its seriously going to hit your face, and I certainly thought so when I was the person sitting there. So getting to use the Tesla Coil was really exciting for me. When I put the pole near the coil, I couldn’t feel a thing running through the pole or through me, but the light bulb was lighting up. Pretty awesome in opinion, if I do say so myself.
