Nikola Tesla - Free-Energy Devices

HIGH FREQUENCY AND HIGH POTENTIAL CURBENT8. 317duced without the discharge gap, and there might even not be anyquicker superimposed vibration ; yet the differences of potential atthe various points of the circuit, the impedance and other phenomena,dependent upon the rate of change, will bear no similarity inthe two cases. Thus, when working with currents discharging disruptively,the element chiefly to be considered is not the frequency,as a student might be apt to believe, but the rate of change perunit of time. With low frequencies in a certain measure the same.effects may be obtained as with high frequencies, provided the rateof change is sufficiently great. So if a low frequency current israised to a potential of, say, 75,000 volts, and the high tension currentpassed through a series of high resistance lamp filaments, theimportance of the rarefied gas surrounding the filament is clearlynoted, as will be seen later; or, if a low frequency current of severalthousand amperes is passed through a metal bar, striking phenomenaof impedance are observed, just as with currents of highfrequencies. But it is, of course, evident that with low frequencycurrents it is impossible to obtain such rates of change per unit oftime as with high frequencies, hence the effects produced by thelatter are much more prominent. It is deemed advisable tomake the preceding remarks, inasmuch as many more recentlydescribed effects have been unwittingly identified with highfrequencies. Frequency alone in reality does not mean anything,except when an undisturbed harmonic oscillation is considered.In the branch uib a similar disposition to that in ib is illustrated,with the difference that the currents discharging through the gapd d are used to induce currents in the secondary s of a transformerT. In such case the secondary should be provided with anadjustable condenser for the purpose of tuning it to the primary.lib illustrates a plan of alternate current high frequencyconversion which is most frequently used and which is found tobe most convenient. This plan has been dwelt upon in detail onprevious occasions and need not be described here.Some of these results A were obtained by the use of a highfrequency alternator. description of such machines will befound inmy original paper before the American Institute ofElectrical Engineers, and in periodicals of that period, notablyin THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER of March 18, 1891.I will now proceed with the experiments.