Tesla coil - wikipedia Tesla coil For other uses, see Tesla ( disambiguation ). This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding or removing subheadings. ( October 2016 ) Tesla coil Tesla coil at Questacon -- the National Science and Technology center in Canberra, Australia Uses Application in educational demonstrations, novelty lighting, music Inventor Nikola Tesla Related items Transformer, electromagnetic field, resonance The Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891. It is used to produce high - voltage, low - current, high frequency alternating - current electricity. Tesla experimented with a number of different configurations consisting of two, or sometimes three, coupled resonant electric circuits. Tesla used these circuits to conduct innovative experiments in electrical lighting, phosphorescence, X-ray generation, high frequency alternating current phenomena, electrotherapy, and the transmission of electrical energy without wires. Tesla coil circuits were used commercially in sparkgap radio transmitters for wireless telegraphy until the 1920s, and in medical equipment such as electrotherapy and violet ray devices. Today their main use is for entertainment and educational displays, although small coils are still used today as leak detectors for high vacuum systems. Contents 1 Operation 1.1 Resonant transformer 1.2 Operation cycle 1.3 Oscillation frequency 1.4 Output voltage 1.5 The top load or `` toroid '' electrode 2 Types 3 History 3.1 Invention 3.2 Tesla 's demonstrations 3.3 Wireless power experiments 3.4 Magnifying transmitter 3.5 Wardenclyffe tower 3.6 Use in radio 3.7 Use in medicine 3.8 Use in show business 3.9 Use in education 3.10 Later uses 4 Modern - day Tesla coils 4.1 Primary switching 5 Practical aspects of design 5.1 High voltage production 5.1. 1 Tuning precautions 5.1. 2 Air discharges 6 Applications 6.1 Education and entertainment 6.2 Vacuum system leak detectors 7 Health hazards 7.1 Skin effect myth 8 Related patents 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links Operation Homemade Tesla coil in operation, showing brush discharges from the toroid. The high electric field causes the air around the high voltage terminal to ionize and conduct electricity, allowing electricity to leak into the air in colorful corona discharges, brush discharges and streamer arcs. Tesla coils are used for entertainment at science museums and public events, and for special effects in movies and television. A Tesla coil is a radio frequency oscillator that drives an air - core double - tuned resonant transformer to produce high voltages at low currents. Tesla 's original circuits as well as most modern coils use a simple spark gap to excite oscillations in the tuned transformer. More sophisticated designs use transistor or thyristor switches or vacuum tube electronic oscillators to drive the resonant transformer. Tesla coils can produce output voltages from 50 kilovolts to several million volts for large coils. The alternating current output is in the low radio frequency range, usually between 50 kHz and 1 MHz. Although some oscillator - driven coils generate a continuous alternating current, most Tesla coils have a pulsed output ; the high voltage consists of a rapid string of pulses of radio frequency alternating current. The common spark - excited Tesla coil circuit, shown below, consists of these components : A high voltage supply transformer ( T ), to step the AC mains voltage up to a high enough voltage to jump the spark gap. Typical voltages are between 5 and 30 kilovolts ( kV ). A capacitor ( C1 ) that forms a tuned circuit with the primary winding L1 of the Tesla transformer A spark gap ( SG ) that acts as a switch in the primary circuit The Tesla coil ( L1, L2 ), an air - core double - tuned resonant transformer, which generates the high output voltage. Optionally, a capacitive electrode ( top load ) ( E ) in the form of a smooth metal sphere or torus attached to the secondary terminal of the coil. Its large surface area suppresses premature air breakdown and arc discharges, increasing the Q factor and output voltage. Resonant transformer For more details on this topic, see Resonant inductive coupling. For more details on this topic, see Transformer types § Resonant transformer. Unipolar Tesla coil circuit. C2 is not an actual capacitor but represents the capacitance of the secondary windings L2, plus the capacitance to ground of the toroid electrode E. A more detailed equivalent circuit of the secondary showing the contributions of various stray capacitances. The specialized transformer used in the Tesla coil circuit, called a resonant transformer, oscillation transformer or radio - frequency ( RF ) transformer, functions differently from an ordinary transformer used in AC power circuits. While an ordinary transformer is designed to transfer energy efficiently from primary to secondary winding, the resonant transformer is also designed to temporarily store electrical energy. Each winding has a capacitance across it and functions as an LC circuit ( resonant circuit, tuned circuit ), storing oscillating electrical energy, analogously to a tuning fork. The primary coil ( L1 ) consisting of a relatively few turns of heavy copper wire or tubing, is connected to a capacitor ( C1 ) through the spark gap ( SG ). The secondary coil ( L2 ) consists of many turns ( hundreds to thousands ) of fine wire on a hollow cylindrical form inside the primary. The secondary is not connected to an actual capacitor, but it also functions as an LC circuit, the inductance of ( L2 ) resonates with stray capacitance ( C2 ), the sum of the stray parasitic capacitance between the windings of the coil, and the capacitance of the toroidal metal electrode attached to the high voltage terminal. The primary and secondary circuits are tuned so they resonate at the same frequency, they have the same resonant frequency. This allows them to exchange energy, so the oscillating current alternates back and forth between the primary and secondary coils. The peculiar design of the coil is dictated by the need to achieve low resistive energy losses ( high Q factor ) at high frequencies, which results in the largest secondary voltages : Ordinary power transformers have an iron core to increase the magnetic coupling between the coils. However at high frequencies an iron core causes energy losses due to eddy currents and hysteresis, so it is not used in the Tesla coil. Ordinary transformers are designed to be `` tightly coupled ''. Due to the iron core and close proximity of the windings, they have a high mutual inductance ( M ), the coupling coefficient is close to unity 0.95 - 1.0, which means almost all the magnetic field of the primary winding passes through the secondary. The Tesla transformer in contrast is `` loosely coupled '', the primary winding is larger in diameter and spaced apart from the secondary, so the mutual inductance is lower and the coupling coefficient is only 0.05 to 0.2. This means that only 5 % to 20 % of the magnetic field of the primary coil passes through the secondary when it is open circuited. The loose coupling slows the exchange of energy between the primary and secondary coils, which allows the oscillating energy to stay in the secondary circuit longer before it returns to the primary and begins dissipating in the spark. Each winding is also limited to a single layer of wire, which reduces proximity effect losses. The primary carries very high currents. Since high frequency current mostly flows on the surface of conductors due to skin effect, it is often made of copper tubing or strip with a large surface area to reduce resistance, and its turns are spaced apart, which reduces proximity effect losses and arcing between turns. Unipolar coil design widely used in modern coils. The primary is the flat red spiral winding at bottom, the secondary is the vertical cylindrical coil wound with fine red wire. The high voltage terminal is the aluminum torus at the top of the secondary coil. Bipolar coil, used in the early 20th century. There are two high voltage output terminals, each connected to one end of the secondary, with a spark gap between them. The primary is 12 turns of heavy wire, which is located at the midpoint of the secondary to discourage arcs between the coils. The output circuit can have two forms : Unipolar - One end of the secondary winding is connected to a single high voltage terminal, the other end is grounded. This type is used in modern coils designed for entertainment. The primary winding is located near the bottom, low potential end of the secondary, to minimize arcs between the windings. Since the ground ( Earth ) serves as the return path for the high voltage, streamer arcs from the terminal tend to jump to any nearby grounded object. Bipolar - Neither end of the secondary winding is grounded, and both are brought out to high voltage terminals. The primary winding is located at the center of the secondary coil, equidistant between the two high potential terminals, to discourage arcing. Operation cycle The circuit operates in a rapid, repeating cycle in which the supply transformer ( T ) charges the primary capacitor ( C1 ) up, which then discharges in a spark through the spark gap, creating a brief pulse of oscillating current in the primary circuit which excites a high oscillating voltage across the secondary : Current from the supply transformer ( T ) charges the capacitor ( C1 ) to a high voltage. When the voltage across the capacitor reaches the breakdown voltage of the spark gap ( SG ) a spark starts, reducing the spark gap resistance to a very low value. This completes the primary circuit and current from the capacitor flows through the primary coil ( L1 ). The current flows rapidly back and forth between the plates of the capacitor through the coil, generating radio frequency oscillating current in the primary circuit at the circuit 's resonant frequency. The oscillating magnetic field of the primary winding induces an oscillating current in the secondary winding ( L2 ), by Faraday 's law of induction. Over a number of cycles, the energy in the primary circuit is transferred to the secondary. The total energy in the tuned circuits is limited to the energy originally stored in the capacitor C1, so as the oscillating voltage in the secondary increases in amplitude ( `` ring up '' ) the oscillations in the primary decrease to zero ( `` ring down '' ). Although the ends of the secondary coil are open, it also acts as a tuned circuit due to the capacitance ( C2 ), the sum of the parasitic capacitance between the turns of the coil plus the capacitance of the toroid electrode E. Current flows rapidly back and forth through the secondary coil between its ends. Because of the small capacitance, the oscillating voltage across the secondary coil which appears on the output terminal is much larger than the primary voltage. The secondary current creates a magnetic field that induces voltage back in the primary coil, and over a number of additional cycles the energy is transferred back to the primary. This process repeats, the energy shifting rapidly back and forth between the primary and secondary tuned circuits. The oscillating currents in the primary and secondary gradually die out ( `` ring down '' ) due to energy dissipated as heat in the spark gap and resistance of the coil. When the current through the spark gap is no longer sufficient to keep the air in the gap ionized, the spark stops ( `` quenches '' ), terminating the current in the primary circuit. The oscillating current in the secondary may continue for some time. The current from the supply transformer begins charging the capacitor C1 again and the cycle repeats. This entire cycle takes place very rapidly, the oscillations dying out in a time of the order of a millisecond. Each spark across the spark gap produces a pulse of damped sinusoidal high voltage at the output terminal of the coil. Each pulse dies out before the next spark occurs, so the coil generates a string of damped waves, not a continuous sinusoidal voltage. The high voltage from the supply transformer that charges the capacitor is a 50 or 60 Hz sine wave. Depending on how the spark gap is set, usually one or two sparks occur at the peak of each half - cycle of the mains current, so there are more than a hundred sparks per second. Thus the spark at the spark gap appears continuous, as do the high voltage streamers from the top of the coil. The supply transformer ( T ) secondary winding is connected across the primary tuned circuit. It might seem that the transformer would be a leakage path for the RF current, damping the oscillations. However its large inductance gives it a very high impedance at the resonant frequency, so it acts as an open circuit to the oscillating current. If the supply transformer has inadequate leakage inductance, radio frequency chokes are placed in its secondary leads to block the RF current. Oscillation frequency The impedance of a Tesla transformer as a function of frequency measured by a network analyzer. The coil acts as a transmission line, exhibiting multiple resonant frequencies. To produce the largest output voltage, the primary and secondary tuned circuits are adjusted to resonance with each other. Since the secondary circuit is usually not adjustable, this is generally done by an adjustable tap on L 1 ( displaystyle L1 , ) the primary coil. If the two coils were separate, the resonant frequencies of the primary and secondary circuits, f 1 ( displaystyle f_ ( 1 ) ) and f 2 ( displaystyle f_ ( 2 ) ), would be determined by the inductance and capacitance in each circuit f 1 = 1 2 π 1 L 1 C 1 f 2 = 1 2 π 1 L 2 C 2 ( displaystyle f_ ( 1 ) = ( 1 over 2 pi ) ( sqrt ( 1 over L_ ( 1 ) C_ ( 1 ) ) ) qquad qquad f_ ( 2 ) = ( 1 over 2 pi ) ( sqrt ( 1 over L_ ( 2 ) C_ ( 2 ) ) ) , ) However, because they are coupled together, the frequency at which the secondary resonates is affected by the primary circuit and the coupling coefficient k ( displaystyle k ), and occurs at its antiresonant frequency f 2 ′ = 1 2 π 1 ( 1 − k 2 ) L 2 C 2 ( displaystyle f_ ( 2 ) ' = ( 1 over 2 pi ) ( sqrt ( 1 over ( 1 - k ^ ( 2 ) ) L_ ( 2 ) C_ ( 2 ) ) ) , ) So resonance, and the highest voltages occur when 1 2 π 1 L 1 C 1 = 1 2 π 1 ( 1 − k 2 ) L 2 C 2 ( displaystyle ( 1 over 2 pi ) ( sqrt ( 1 over L_ ( 1 ) C_ ( 1 ) ) ) = ( 1 over 2 pi ) ( sqrt ( 1 over ( 1 - k ^ ( 2 ) ) L_ ( 2 ) C_ ( 2 ) ) ) , ) Thus the condition for resonance between primary and secondary is L 1 C 1 = ( 1 − k 2 ) L 2 C 2 ( displaystyle L_ ( 1 ) C_ ( 1 ) = ( 1 - k ^ ( 2 ) ) L_ ( 2 ) C_ ( 2 ) , ) However the Tesla transformer is very loosely coupled, and the coupling coefficient k ( displaystyle k , ) is small, in the range 0.05 to 0.2. So the factor 1 − k 2 ( displaystyle ( sqrt ( 1 - k ^ ( 2 ) ) ) , ) is close to unity, 0.98 to 0.999, so the two resonant frequencies differ by 2 % at most. Therefore, most sources state the transformer is resonant when the resonant frequencies of primary and secondary are equal. The resonant frequency of Tesla coils is in the low radio frequency ( RF ) range, usually between 50 kHz and 1 MHz. However, because of the impulsive nature of the spark they produce broadband radio noise, and without shielding can be a significant source of RFI, interfering with nearby radio and television reception. Output voltage Large coil producing 3.5 meter ( 10 foot ) streamer arcs, indicating a potential of millions of volts. In a resonant transformer the high voltage is produced by resonance ; the output voltage is not proportional to the turns ratio, as in an ordinary transformer. It can be calculated approximately from conservation of energy. At the beginning of the cycle, when the spark starts, all of the energy in the primary circuit W 1 ( displaystyle W_ ( 1 ) ) is stored in the primary capacitor C 1 ( displaystyle C_ ( 1 ) ). If V 1 ( displaystyle V_ ( 1 ) ) is the voltage at which the spark gap breaks down, which is usually close to the peak output voltage of the supply transformer T, this energy is W 1 = 1 2 C 1 V 1 2 ( displaystyle W_ ( 1 ) = ( 1 over 2 ) C_ ( 1 ) V_ ( 1 ) ^ ( 2 ) , ) During the `` ring up '' this energy is transferred to the secondary circuit. Although some is lost as heat in the spark and other resistances, in modern coils, over 85 % of the energy ends up in the secondary. At the peak ( V 2 ( displaystyle V_ ( 2 ) ) ) of the secondary sinusoidal voltage waveform, all the energy in the secondary W 2 ( displaystyle W_ ( 2 ) ) is stored in the capacitance C 2 ( displaystyle C_ ( 2 ) ) between the ends of the secondary coil W 2 = 1 2 C 2 V 2 2 ( displaystyle W_ ( 2 ) = ( 1 over 2 ) C_ ( 2 ) V_ ( 2 ) ^ ( 2 ) , ) Assuming no energy losses, W 2 = W 1 ( displaystyle W_ ( 2 ) ; = ; W_ ( 1 ) ). Substituting into this equation and simplifying, the peak secondary voltage is V 2 = V 1 C 1 C 2 = V 1 L 2 L 1. ( displaystyle V_ ( 2 ) = V_ ( 1 ) ( sqrt ( C_ ( 1 ) over C_ ( 2 ) ) ) = V_ ( 1 ) ( sqrt ( L_ ( 2 ) over L_ ( 1 ) ) ). ) The second formula above is derived from the first using the resonance condition L 1 C 1 = L 2 C 2 ( displaystyle L_ ( 1 ) C_ ( 1 ) ; = ; L_ ( 2 ) C_ ( 2 ) ). Since the capacitance of the secondary coil is very small compared to the primary capacitor, the primary voltage is stepped up to a high value. The above peak voltage is only achieved in coils in which air discharges do not occur ; in coils which produce sparks, like entertainment coils, the peak voltage on the terminal is limited to the voltage at which the air breaks down and becomes conductive. As the output voltage increases during each voltage pulse, it reaches the point where the air next to the high voltage terminal ionizes and coronas, brush discharges and streamer arcs, break out from the terminal. This happens when the electric field strength exceeds the dielectric strength of the air, about 30 kV per centimeter. Since the electric field is greatest at sharp points and edges, air discharges start at these points on the high voltage terminal. The voltage on the high voltage terminal can not increase above the air breakdown voltage, because additional electric charge pumped into the terminal from the secondary winding just escapes into the air. The output voltage of open - air Tesla coils is limited to around several million volts by air breakdown, but higher voltages can be achieved by coils immersed in pressurized tanks of insulating oil. The top load or `` toroid '' electrode Solid state DRSSTC Tesla coil with pointed wire attached to toroid to produce brush discharge Most Tesla coil designs have a smooth spherical or toroidal shaped metal electrode on the high voltage terminal. The electrode serves as one plate of a capacitor, with the Earth as the other plate, forming the tuned circuit with the secondary winding. Although the `` toroid '' increases the secondary capacitance, which tends to reduce the peak voltage, its main effect is that its large diameter curved surface reduces the potential gradient ( electric field ) at the high voltage terminal, increasing the voltage threshold at which corona and streamer arcs form. Suppressing premature air breakdown and energy loss allows the voltage to build to higher values on the peaks of the waveform, creating longer, more spectacular streamers. If the top electrode is large and smooth enough, the electric field at its surface may never get high enough even at the peak voltage to cause air breakdown, and air discharges will not occur. Some entertainment coils have a sharp `` spark point '' projecting from the torus to start discharges. Types The term `` Tesla coil '' is applied to a number of high voltage resonant transformer circuits. Tesla coil circuits can be classified by the type of `` excitation '' they use, what type of circuit is used to apply current to the primary winding of the resonant transformer : Spark - excited or Spark Gap Tesla Coil ( SGTC ) - This type uses a spark gap to switch pulses of current through the primary, exciting oscillation in the transformer. This pulsed ( disruptive ) drive creates a pulsed high voltage output. Spark gaps have disadvantages due to the high primary currents they must handle. They produce a very loud noise while operating, noxious ozone gas, and high temperatures which often require a cooling system. The energy dissipated in the spark also reduces the Q factor and the output voltage. Static spark gap - This is the most common type, which was described in detail in the previous section. It is used in most entertainment coils. An AC voltage from a high voltage supply transformer charges a capacitor, which discharges through the spark gap. The spark rate is not adjustable but is determined by the line frequency. Multiple sparks may occur on each half - cycle, so the pulses of output voltage may not be equally - spaced. Static triggered spark gap - Commercial and industrial circuits often apply a DC voltage from a power supply to charge the capacitor, and use high voltage pulses generated by an oscillator applied to a triggering electrode to trigger the spark. This allows control of the spark rate and exciting voltage. Commercial spark gaps are often enclosed in an insulating gas atmosphere such as sulfur hexafluoride, reducing the length and thus the energy loss in the spark. Rotary spark gap - These use a spark gap consisting of electrodes around the periphery of a wheel rotated at high speed by a motor, which create sparks when they pass by a stationary electrode. Tesla used this type on his big coils, and they are used today on large entertainment coils. The rapid separation speed of the electrodes quenches the spark quickly, allowing `` first notch '' quenching, making possible higher voltages. The wheel is usually driven by a synchronous motor, so the sparks are synchronized with the AC line frequency, the spark occurring at the same point on the AC waveform on each cycle, so the primary pulses are repeatable. Switched or Solid State Tesla Coil ( SSTC ) - These use power semiconductor devices, usually thyristors or transistors such as MOSFETs or IGBTs, to switch pulses of current from a DC power supply through the primary winding. They provide pulsed ( disruptive ) excitation without the disadvantages of a spark gap : the loud noise, high temperatures, and poor efficiency. The voltage, frequency, and excitation waveform can be finely controllable. SSTCs are used in most commercial, industrial, and research applications as well as higher quality entertainment coils. A simple single resonant solid state Tesla coil circuit in which the ground end of the secondary supplies the feedback current phase to the transistor oscillator Single resonant solid state Tesla coil ( SRSSTC ) - In this circuit the primary does not have a capacitor and so is not a tuned circuit ; only the secondary is. The pulses of current to the primary from the switching transistors excite resonance in the secondary tuned circuit. Single tuned SSTCs are simpler, but do n't have as high a Q and can not produce as high voltage from a given input power as the DRSSTC. Dual Resonant Solid State Tesla Coil ( DRSSTC ) - The circuit is similar to the double tuned spark excited circuit, except in place of the spark gap semiconductor switches are used. This functions similarly to the double tuned spark - excited circuit. Since both primary and secondary are resonant it has higher Q and can generate higher voltage for a given input power than the SRSSTC. Singing Tesla coil or musical Tesla coil - This is a Tesla coil which can be played like a musical instrument, with its high voltage discharges reproducing simple musical tones. The drive current pulses applied to the primary are modulated at an audio rate by a solid state `` interrupter '' circuit, causing the arc discharge from the high voltage terminal to emit sounds. Only tones and simple chords have been produced so far ; the coil can not function as a loudspeaker, reproducing complex music or voice sounds. The sound output is controlled by a keyboard or MIDI file applied to the circuit through a MIDI interface. Two modulation techniques have been used : AM ( amplitude modulation of the exciting voltage ) and PFM ( pulse - frequency modulation ). These are mainly built as novelties for entertainment. Continuous wave - In these the transformer is driven by a feedback oscillator, which applies a sinusoidal current to the transformer. The primary tuned circuit serves as the tank circuit of the oscillator, and the circuit resembles a radio transmitter. Unlike the previous circuits which generate a pulsed output, they generate a continuous sine wave output. Power vacuum tubes are often used as active devices instead of transistors because they are more robust and tolerant of overloads. In general, continuous excitation produces lower output voltages from a given input power than pulsed excitation. Tesla circuits can also be classified by how many coils ( inductors ) they contain : Two coil or double - resonant circuits - Virtually all present Tesla coils use the two coil resonant transformer, consisting of a primary winding to which current pulses are applied, and a secondary winding that produces the high voltage, invented by Tesla in 1891. The term `` Tesla coil '' normally refers to these circuits. Three coil, triple - resonant, or magnifier circuits - These are circuits with three coils, based on Tesla 's `` magnifying transmitter '' circuit which he began experimenting with sometime before 1898 and installed in his Colorado Springs lab 1899 - 1900, and patented in 1902. They consist of a two coil air - core step - up transformer similar to the Tesla transformer, with the secondary connected to a third coil not magnetically coupled to the others, called the `` extra '' or `` resonator '' coil, which is series - fed and resonates with its own capacitance. The presence of three energy - storing tank circuits gives this circuit more complicated resonant behavior. It is the subject of research, but has been used in few practical applications. History Henry Rowland 's 1889 spark - excited resonant transformer, a predecessor to the Tesla coil. Steps in Tesla 's development of the Tesla transformer around 1891. ( 1 ) Closed - core transformers used at low frequencies, ( 2 - 7 ) rearranging windings for lower losses, ( 8 ) removed iron core, ( 9 ) partial core, ( 10 - 11 ) final conical Tesla transformer, ( 12 - 13 ) Tesla coil circuits Nikola Tesla patented the Tesla coil circuit April 25, 1891. and first publicly demonstrated it May 20, 1891 in his lecture `` Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination '' before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers at Columbia College, New York. Although Tesla patented many similar circuits during this period, this was the first that contained all the elements of the Tesla coil : high voltage primary transformer, capacitor, spark gap, and air core `` oscillation transformer ''. Invention First drawing of Tesla coil circuit from Tesla 's April 25, 1891 patent. Drawing of Tesla coil circuit from Tesla 's May 20, 1891 lecture at Columbia College, New York. Elihu Thomson 's Tesla coil, published February 1892, identical to Tesla 's except for a compressed air spark blowout ( J ). During the Industrial Revolution the electrical industry exploited direct current ( DC ) and low frequency alternating current ( AC ), but not much was known about frequencies above 20 kHz, what are now called radio frequencies. In 1887, four years previously, Heinrich Hertz had discovered Hertzian waves ( radio waves ), electromagnetic waves which oscillated at very high frequencies. This attracted much attention, and a number of researchers began experimenting with high frequency currents. Tesla 's background was in the new field of alternating current power systems, so he understood transformers and resonance. In 1888 he decided that high frequencies were the most promising field for research, and set up a laboratory at 33 South Fifth Avenue, New York for researching them, initially repeating Hertz 's experiments. He first developed alternators as sources of high frequency current, but by 1890 found they were limited to frequencies of about 20 kHz. In search of higher frequencies he turned to spark - excited resonant circuits. Tesla 's innovation was in applying resonance to transformers. Transformers functioned differently at high frequencies than at the low frequencies used in power systems ; the iron core in low frequency transformers caused energy losses due to eddy currents and hysteresis. Tesla and Elihu Thomson independently developed a new type of transformer without an iron core, the `` oscillation transformer '', and the Tesla coil circuit to drive it to produce high voltages. Tesla invented the Tesla coil during efforts to develop a `` wireless '' lighting system, with gas discharge light bulbs that would glow in an oscillating electric field from a high voltage, high frequency power source. For a high frequency source Tesla powered a Ruhmkorff coil ( induction coil ) with his high frequency alternator. He found that the core losses due to the high frequency current overheated the iron core in the Ruhmkorff coil and melted the insulation between the primary and secondary windings. To fix this problem Tesla changed the design so that there was an air gap instead of insulating material between the windings, and made the iron core adjustable so it could be moved in or out of the coil He eventually found the highest voltages could be produced when the iron core was omitted. Tesla also found he needed to put the capacitor normally used in the Ruhmkorff circuit between his alternator and the coil 's primary winding to avoid burning out the coil. By adjusting the coil and capacitor Tesla found he could take advantage of the resonance set up between the two to achieve even higher frequencies. He found that the highest voltages were generated when the `` closed '' primary circuit with the capacitor was in resonance with the `` open '' secondary winding. One of Tesla 's early coils at his New York lab in 1892, with a conical secondary. Prototype `` magnifying transmitter '' in Tesla 's New York lab around 1898 producing 2.5 million volts. The round `` spiderweb '' secondary coil is visible in background Compact coil designed by Tesla for use as an ozone generator for water treatment Tesla was not the first to invent this circuit. Henry Rowland built a spark - excited resonant transformer circuit ( above ) in 1889 and Elihu Thomson had experimented with similar circuits in 1890, including one which could produce 64 inch ( 1.6 m ) sparks, and other sources confirm Tesla was not the first. However he was the first to see practical applications for it and patent it. Tesla did not perform detailed mathematical analyses of the circuit, relying instead on trial and error and his intuitive understanding of resonance. He even realized that the secondary coil functioned as a quarter - wave resonator ; he specified the length of the wire in the secondary coil must be a quarter wavelength at the resonant frequency. The first mathematical analyses of the circuit were done by Anton Oberbeck ( 1895 ) and Paul Drude ( 1904 ). Tesla 's demonstrations Tesla demonstrating wireless lighting at his 1891 lecture at Columbia College. The two metal sheets are connected to a Tesla coil oscillator, which applies a high radio frequency oscillating voltage. The oscillating electric field between the sheets ionizes the low pressure gas in the two long Geissler tubes he is holding, causing them to glow by fluorescence, similar to neon lights, without wires. A charismatic showman and self - promoter, in 1891 - 1893 Tesla used the Tesla coil in dramatic public lectures demonstrating the new science of high voltage, high frequency electricity. The radio frequency AC electric currents produced by a Tesla coil did not behave like the DC or low frequency AC current scientists of the time were familiar with. In lectures at Columbia College May 20, 1891, scientific societies in Britain and France during an 1892 European speaking tour, the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia in February 1893, and the National Electric Light Association, St. Louis in March 1893, he impressed audiences with spectacular brush discharges and streamers, heated iron by induction heating, showed RF current could pass through insulators and be conducted by a single wire without a return path, and powered light bulbs and motors without wires. He demonstrated that high frequency currents often did not cause the sensation of electric shock, applying hundreds of thousands of volts to his own body, causing his body to light up with a glowing corona discharge in the darkened room. These lectures introduced the `` Tesla oscillator '' to the scientific community, and made Tesla internationally famous. Wireless power experiments Main article : World Wireless System Light bulb ( bottom ) powered wirelessly by `` receiver '' coil tuned to resonance with the huge `` magnifying transmitter '' coil at Tesla 's Colorado Springs lab, 1899. Tesla 's proposed wireless power system, from his 1897 patent. The transmitter ( left ) consists of a Tesla coil ( A, C ) driving an elevated capacitive terminal ( B ) suspended by a balloon ( D ). The receiver ( right ) is a similar terminal and resonant transformer. Tesla employed the Tesla coil in his efforts to achieve wireless power transmission, his lifelong dream. In the period 1891 to 1900 he used it to perform some of the first experiments in wireless power, transmitting radio frequency power across short distances by inductive coupling between coils of wire. In his early 1890s demonstrations such as those before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago he lit light bulbs from across a room. He found he could increase the distance by using a receiving LC circuit tuned to resonance with the Tesla coil 's LC circuit, transferring energy by resonant inductive coupling. At his Colorado Springs laboratory during 1899 - 1900, by using voltages of the order of 10 million volts generated by his enormous magnifying transmitter coil ( described below ), he was able to light three incandescent lamps at a distance of about 100 feet ( 30 m ). Today the resonant inductive coupling discovered by Tesla is a familiar concept in electronics, widely used in IF transformers and short range wireless power transmission systems such as cellphone charging pads. It is now understood that inductive and capacitive coupling are `` near - field '' effects, so they can not be used for long - distance transmission. However, Tesla was obsessed with developing a long range wireless power transmission system which could transmit power from power plants directly into homes and factories without wires, described in a visionary June 1900 article in Century Magazine ; `` The Problem of Increasing Human Energy ''. He claimed to be able to transmit power on a worldwide scale, using a method that involved conduction through the Earth and atmosphere. Tesla believed that the entire Earth could act as an electrical resonator, and that by driving current pulses into the Earth at its resonant frequency from a grounded Tesla coil with an elevated capacitance, the potential of the Earth could be made to oscillate, creating global standing waves, and this alternating current could be received with a capacitive antenna tuned to resonance with it at any point on Earth. Another of his ideas was that transmitting and receiving terminals could be suspended in the air by balloons at 30,000 feet ( 9,100 m ) altitude, where the air pressure is lower. At this altitude, he thought, a layer of electrically conductive rarefied air would allow electricity to be sent at high voltages ( hundreds of millions of volts ) over long distances. Tesla envisioned building a global network of wireless power stations, which he called his `` World Wireless System '', which would transmit both information and electric power to everyone on Earth. There is no reliable evidence that he ever transmitted significant amounts of power beyond the short range demonstrations above. Magnifying transmitter See also : Colorado Springs Notes, 1899 -- 1900 Famous image of magnifying transmitter in operation with Tesla sitting next to it. This is a `` trick '' photo, a double exposure ; Tesla was not in the room when the coil was operating. Coil in operation, at - 12 million volts. The 10 ft diameter `` extra '' coil is shown. The 51 ft diameter secondary coil is visible dimly in background, and in the previous photo. Discharge of same coil with a metal sphere capacitive terminal Primary circuit, showing oil capacitor bank ( boxes, foreground ), 40 kV supply transformer and rotary spark gap ( rear ), and part of secondary winding ( wall, left ) The huge `` magnifying transmitter '' coil at Tesla 's Colorado Springs laboratory, 1899 -- 1900, photos by photographer Dickenson Alley December 1899. The long arcs shown above were not a feature of the normal operation of the transmitter because they wasted energy ; for these photos Tesla forced the machine to produce arcs by switching the power rapidly on and off. Circuit of magnifying transmitter at Tesla 's Colorado Springs laboratory. C2 represents the parasitic capacitance between the windings of coil L3. Tesla 's wireless research required increasingly high voltages, and he had reached the limit of the voltages he could generate within the space of his New York lab. Between 1899 and 1900 he built a laboratory in Colorado Springs and performed experiments on wireless transmission there. He chose this location because the polyphase alternating current power distribution system had been introduced there and he had associates who were willing to give him all the power he needed without charging for it. The Colorado Springs laboratory had one of the largest Tesla coils ever built, which Tesla called a `` magnifying transmitter '' as it was intended to transmit power to a distant receiver. With an input power of 300 kilowatts it could produce potentials of the order of 10 million volts, at frequencies of 50 -- 150 kHz, creating huge `` lightning bolts '' reportedly up to 135 feet long. During experiments, it caused an overload which set fire to the alternator of the Colorado Springs power company, destroying it, and Tesla had to rebuild the alternator. In the magnifying transmitter, Tesla used a modified design ( see circuit ) which he had developed in his New York lab in the period 1895 - 1898, and patented in 1902, different from his previous double - tuned circuits. In addition to the primary ( L1 ) and secondary ( L2 ) coils, it had a third coil ( L3 ) which he called the `` extra '' coil, not magnetically coupled to the others, attached to the top terminal of the secondary. When driven by the secondary it produced additional high voltage by resonance, being adjusted to resonate with its own parasitic capacitance ( C2 ) The use of a series - fed resonator coil to generate high voltages was independently discovered by Paul Marie Oudin in 1893 and employed in his Oudin coil. The Colorado Springs apparatus consisted of a 51 - foot - diameter ( 15.5 m ) Tesla transformer composed of a secondary winding ( L2 ) of 50 turns of heavy wire wound on a 6 - foot - high ( 2 m ) circular wooden `` fence '' around the periphery of the lab, and a single - turn primary ( L1 ) either mounted on the fence or buried in the ground under it. The primary was connected to a bank of oil capacitors ( C1 ) to make a tuned circuit, with a rotary spark gap ( SG ), powered by 20 to 40 kilovolts from a powerful utility step - up transformer ( T ). The top of the secondary was connected to the 100 - turn 8 ft ( 2.4 m ) diameter `` extra '' or `` resonator '' coil ( L3 ) in the center of the room. Its high - voltage end was connected to a telescoping 143 - foot ( 43.6 m ) `` antenna '' rod with a 30 - inch ( 1 m ) metal ball on top which could project through the roof of the lab. By cranking the rod up or down he could adjust the capacitance in the circuit of the extra coil, tuning it to resonance with the rest of the circuit. In his autobiography, Tesla stated that ``... I feel certain that of all my inventions, the Magnifying Transmitter will prove most important and valuable to future generations. '' Wardenclyffe Tower Main article : Wardenclyffe tower Wardenclyffe Tower wireless station, essentially a huge Tesla coil intended as a prototype transatlantic radiotelegraphy and wireless power transmitter, built by Tesla at Shoreham, NY, 1901 - 1902. It was never completed. Design on which the Wardenclyffe plant was based, from Tesla 's 1902 patent In 1901, convinced his wireless theories were correct, Tesla with financing from banker J.P. Morgan began construction of a high - voltage wireless station, now called the Wardenclyffe Tower, at Shoreham, New York. Although it was built as a transatlantic radiotelegraphy station, Tesla also intended it to transmit electric power without wires as a prototype transmitter for his proposed `` World Wireless System ''. Essentially an enormous Tesla coil, it consisted of a powerhouse with a 400 - horsepower generator and a 187 - foot ( 57 m ) tower topped by a 68 - foot ( 21 m ) diameter metal dome capacitive electrode. The circuit he used was a version of the `` magnifying transmitter '' he built at Colorado Springs ( above ). Underneath the surface was an elaborate ground system that Tesla said was needed to `` grip the earth '' to create the oscillating earth currents which he believed would transmit the power. By 1904 his investors had pulled out and the facility was never completed ; it was torn down in 1916. Although Tesla seems to have believed his wireless power ideas were proven, he had a history of making claims that he had not confirmed by experiment, and there seems to be no evidence that he ever transmitted significant power beyond the short - range demonstrations mentioned above. The few reports of long - distance power transmission by Tesla are not from reliable sources. For example, a widely repeated myth is that in 1899 he wirelessly lit 200 light bulbs at a distance of 26 miles ( 42 km ). There is no independent confirmation of this supposed demonstration ; Tesla did not mention it, and it does not appear in his laboratory notes. It originated in 1944 from Tesla 's first biographer, John J. O'Neill, who said he pieced it together from `` fragmentary material... in a number of publications ''. In the 100 years since, others such as Robert Golka have built equipment similar to Tesla 's, but long - distance power transmission has not been demonstrated, and the scientific consensus is his World Wireless system would not have worked. Contemporary scientists point out that while Tesla 's coils ( with appropriate antennas ) can function as radio transmitters, transmitting energy in the form of radio waves, the frequency he used, around 150 kHz, is far too low for practical long - range power transmission. At these wavelengths the radio waves spread out in all directions and can not be focused on a distant receiver. Tesla 's world power transmission scheme remains today what it was in Tesla 's time : a bold, fascinating dream. Use in radio Main article : Spark - gap transmitter Powerful spark - gap transmitter, showing series spark gaps ( horizontal cylindrical objects ), Leyden jar capacitors ( vertical cylinders, rear ), and resonant transformer ( top ) Spark transmitter circuit from Marconi 's 1900 patent. Its similarity to a Tesla coil can be seen ; the only difference is the addition of a variable inductor ( g ) to tune the antenna ( f ) to resonance. `` ( The Tesla coil ) was invented not for wireless but for making vacuum lamps glow without external electrodes, and it later played a principal part in other hands in the operation of big spark stations. '' -- William H. Eccles, 1933 One of the largest applications of the Tesla coil circuit was in early radio transmitters called spark gap transmitters. The first radio wave generators, invented by Heinrich Hertz in 1887, were spark gaps connected directly to antennas, powered by induction coils. Because they lacked a resonant circuit, these transmitters produced highly damped radio waves. As a result, their transmissions occupied an extremely wide bandwidth of frequencies. When multiple transmitters were operating in the same area their frequencies overlapped and they interfered with one another, causing garbled reception. There was no way for a receiver to select one signal over another. In 1892 William Crookes, a friend of Tesla, had given a lecture on the uses of radio waves in which he suggested using resonance to reduce the bandwidth in transmitters and receivers. By using resonant circuits, different transmitters could be `` tuned '' to transmit on different frequencies. With narrower bandwidth, separate transmitter frequencies would no longer overlap, so a receiver could receive a particular transmission by `` tuning '' its resonant circuit to the same frequency as the transmitter. This is the system used in all modern radio. With an appropriate wire antenna, the Tesla coil circuit could function as such a narrow - bandwidth radio transmitter. In his March 1893 St. Louis lecture, Tesla demonstrated a wireless system that was the first use of tuned circuits in radio, although he used it for wireless power transmission, not radio communication. A grounded spark - excited capacitor - tuned Tesla transformer attached to an elevated wire antenna transmitted radio waves, which were received across the room by a wire antenna attached to a receiver consisting of a second grounded resonant transformer tuned to the transmitter 's frequency, which lighted a Geissler tube. This system, patented by Tesla on September 2, 1897, was the first use of the `` four - circuit '' concept later claimed by Guglielmo Marconi. However, Tesla was mainly interested in wireless power and never developed a practical radio communication system. He never believed that radio waves could be used for practical communication, instead clinging to an erroneous theory that radio communication was due to currents in the Earth. Practical radiotelegraphy communication systems were developed by Marconi beginning in 1895. By 1897 the advantages of narrow - bandwidth ( lightly damped ) systems noted by Crookes were recognized, and resonant circuits, capacitors and inductors, were incorporated in transmitters and receivers. The `` closed primary, open secondary '' resonant transformer circuit used by Tesla proved a superior transmitter, because the loosely - coupled transformer partially isolated the oscillating primary circuit from the energy - radiating antenna circuit, reducing the damping, allowing it to produce long `` ringing '' waves which had a narrower bandwidth. Versions of the circuit were patented by Marconi, John Stone Stone and Oliver Lodge, and were widely used in radio for twenty years. In 1906 Max Wien invented the quenched or `` series '' spark gap, which extinguished the spark after the energy had been transferred to the secondary, allowing the secondary to oscillate freely after that, reducing damping and bandwidth still more. Although their damping had been reduced as much as possible, spark transmitters still produced damped waves which had a wide bandwidth, creating interference with other transmitters. Around 1920 they became obsolete, superseded by vacuum tube transmitters which generated continuous waves at a single frequency, which could also be modulated to carry sound. Tesla 's resonant transformer continued to be used in vacuum tube transmitters and receivers, and is a key component in radio to this day. During the `` spark era '' the radio engineering profession gave credit to Tesla ; his circuit became known as the `` Tesla coil '' or `` Tesla transformer ''. However Tesla did not benefit financially, due to competing patent claims. Marconi had claimed rights to the `` closed primary open secondary '' transmitter circuit in his controversial 1900 `` four circuit '' wireless patent. Tesla sued Marconi in 1915 for patent infringement, but did n't have the resources to pursue the action. However, in 1943, in a separate suit brought by the Marconi Company against the US government for use of its patents in World War I, the US Supreme Court invalidated Marconi 's 1900 patent claim to the `` four circuit '' concept. The ruling cited the prior patents of Tesla, Lodge, and Stone, but did not decide which of these parties had rights to the circuit. By that time the issue was moot ; the patent had expired in 1915 and spark transmitters had long been obsolete. Although there is some disagreement over the role Tesla himself played in the invention of radio, sources agree on the importance of his circuit in early radio transmitters. From a modern perspective, most spark transmitters could be regarded as Tesla coils. Use in medicine Small Tesla coil for electrotherapy, 1905. The Tesla transformer is immersed in a tank of oil for insulation to prevent arcs. Effluvation treatment of knee with an Oudin coil ( left ), a high voltage transformer similar to a Tesla coil, 1915 Tesla electrotherapy coil manufactured by Adolphe Gaiffe, around 1900. The primary capacitor is in the box ; the spark gap is mounted on top. Treatment of cancer with an Oudin coil ( left ), 1910. The induction coil that powers the Oudin coil is behind the patient 's head. Combined Tesla / D'Arsonval / Oudin electrotherapy and x-ray outfit 1907 Electrotherapy treatment of diabetes with a vacuum electrode, 1922. The series spark gap is visible mounted on the front of the machine. Longwave spark diathermy machine using Tesla circuit, 1921. Diathermy of elbow 1945 Vacuum electrode `` violet ray '' wand in operation. A violet ray wand, a handheld Tesla coil sold as a quack home medical device until about 1940. Said to cure everything from carbuncles to lumbago. The three circuits used in electrotherapy apparatus in the early 20th century : ( 1 ) Tesla coil, ( 2 ) D'Arsonval coil, ( 3 ) Oudin coil. In medical coils for safety two capacitors ( Leyden jars ) were used, one in each branch of the primary circuit, to completely isolate the patient 's body from the potentially lethal currents of the supply transformer, in case of an electrical fault. Tesla had observed as early as 1891 that high frequency currents above 10 kHz did not cause the sensation of electric shock, and in fact currents that would be lethal at lower frequencies could be passed through the body without apparent harm. He experimented on himself, and claimed daily applications of high voltage relieved depression. He was one of the first to observe the heating effect of high frequency currents on the body, the basis of diathermy. During his highly publicized early 1890s demonstrations he passed hundreds of thousands of volts through his body. With characteristic hyperbole he called electricity `` the greatest of all doctors '' and suggested burying wires under classrooms so its stimulating effect would improve performance of `` dull '' schoolchildren. Tesla wrote two pioneering papers, in 1891 and 1898 on the medical uses of high frequency currents, but did little further work on the subject. A few other researchers were also experimentally applying high frequency currents to the body at this time. Elihu Thomson, the co-inventor of the Tesla coil, was one, so in medicine the Tesla coil became known as the `` Tesla - Thomson apparatus ''. In France, from 1889 physician and pioneering biophysicist Jacques d'Arsonval had been documenting the physiological effects of high frequency current on the body, and had made the same discoveries as Tesla. During his 1892 European trip Tesla met with D'Arsonval and was flattered to find they were using similar circuits. D'Arsonval's spark - excited resonant circuits ( above ) did not produce as high voltage as the Tesla transformer. In 1893 French physician Paul Marie Oudin added a `` resonator '' coil to the D'Arsonval circuit to create the high voltage Oudin coil, a circuit very similar to the Tesla coil, which was widely used for treating patients in Europe. During this period, people were fascinated by the new technology of electricity, and many believed it had miraculous curative or `` vitalizing '' powers. Medical ethics were also looser, and doctors could experiment on their patients. By the turn of the century, application of high voltage, `` high frequency '' currents to the body had become part of a Victorian era medical field, part legitimate experimental medicine and part quack medicine, called electrotherapy. Manufacturers produced medical apparatus to generate `` Tesla currents '', `` D'Arsonval currents '', and `` Oudin currents '' for physicians. In electrotherapy, a pointed electrode attached to the high voltage terminal of the coil was held near the patient, and the luminous brush discharges from it ( called `` effluves '' ) were applied to parts of the body to treat a wide variety of medical conditions. In order to apply the electrode directly to the skin, or tissues inside the mouth, anus or vagina, a `` vacuum electrode '' was used, consisting of a metal electrode sealed inside a partially evacuated glass tube, which produced a dramatic violet glow. The glass wall of the tube and the skin surface formed a capacitor which limited the current to the patient, preventing discomfort. These vacuum electrodes were later manufactured with handheld Tesla coils to make `` violet ray '' wands, sold to the public as a quack home medical device. The popularity of electrotherapy peaked after World War 1, but by the 1920s authorities began to crack down on fraudulent medical treatments, and electrotherapy largely became obsolete. A part of the field that survived was diathermy, the application of high frequency current to heat body tissue, pioneered by German physician Karl Nagelschmidt in 1907. During the 1920s `` long wave '' ( 0.5 ~ 2 MHz ) Tesla coil spark diathermy machines were used, in which the current was applied to the body by electrodes. By the 1930s these were being replaced by `` short wave '' ( 10 ~ 100 MHz ) vacuum tube diathermy machines, which had less danger of causing burns, but Tesla coils continued to be used in both diathermy and quack medical devices like violet ray until World War 2. During the 1920s and 30s all unipolar ( single terminal ) high voltage medical coils came to be called Oudin coils, so today 's unipolar Tesla coils are sometimes referred to as `` Oudin coils ''. Use in show business `` Electrice '' sideshow performer being `` electrocuted '' 1914 `` Electrice '' lighting a candle with brush discharge from her fingers. The current came from the electric chair she is touching, which is connected to the Tesla coil in the background. Evangelist Irwin Moon shooting `` lightning bolts '' from fingers, 1938. Demonstrating 10 inch ( 25 cm ) brush discharge from hand, 1913 RF current from Tesla coil lights the bulb 's filament as it passes through the wire to charge and discharge the performer 's body, which acts as a capacitor plate. Turn - of - the - century sideshow performers did stunts with Tesla coils that would be considered extremely dangerous today. DON 'T TRY THESE The Tesla coil 's spectacular displays of sparks, and the fact that its currents could pass through the human body without causing electric shock, led to its use in the entertainment business. In the early 20th century it appeared in traveling carnivals, freak shows and circus and carnival sideshows, which often had an act in which a performer would pass high voltages through his body Performers such as `` Dr. Resisto '', `` The Human Dynamo '', `` Electrice '', `` The Great Volta '', and `` Madamoiselle Electra '' would have their body connected to the high voltage terminal of a hidden Tesla coil, causing sparks to shoot from their fingertips and other parts of their body, and neon lights and fluorescent tube lamps to light up when brought near them. They could also light candles or cigarettes with their fingers. Although they did n't usually cause electric shocks, RF arc discharges from the bare skin could cause painful burns ; to prevent them performers sometimes wore metal thimbles on their fingertips ( Rev. Moon, center image above, is using them ). These acts were extremely dangerous and could kill the performer if the Tesla coil was misadjusted. In carny lingo this was called an `` electric chair act '' because it often included a spark - laced `` electrocution '' of the performer in an electric chair, exploiting public fascination with this exotic new method of capital punishment, which had become the United States ' dominant method of execution around 1900. Today entertainers still perform high voltage acts with Tesla coils, but modern bioelectromagnetics has brought a new awareness of the hazards of Tesla coil currents, and allowing them to pass through the body is today considered extremely dangerous. Tesla coils were also used as dramatic props in early mystery and science fiction motion pictures, starting in the silent era. The crackling, writhing sparks emanating from the electrode of a giant Tesla coil became Hollywood 's iconic symbol of the `` mad scientist 's '' lab, recognized throughout the world. This was probably because the eccentric Nikola Tesla himself, with his famous high voltage demonstrations and his mysterious Colorado Springs laboratory, was one of the main prototypes from which the `` mad scientist '' stock character originated. Some early films in which Tesla coils appeared were Wolves of Kultur ( 1918 ), The Power God ( 1926 ), Metropolis ( 1927 ), Frankenstein ( 1931 ) and its many sequels such as Son of Frankenstein ( 1939 ), The Mask of Fu Manchu ( 1932 ), Chandu the Magician ( 1932 ), The Lost City ( 1935 ), and The Clutching Hand ( 1936 ) and many later films and television shows. By the 1980s, effects like high voltage sparks were being added to movies by CGI as visual effects in post-production, eliminating the need for dangerous high voltage Tesla coils on sets. The Tesla coils for many of these movies were constructed by Kenneth Strickfaden ( 1896 - 1984 ) who, beginning with his spectacular effects in the 1931 Frankenstein, became Hollywood 's preeminent electrical special effects expert. His large `` Meg Senior '' Tesla coil seen in many of these movies consisted of a 6 - foot 1000 turn conical secondary and a 10 turn primary, connected to a capacitor through a rotary spark gap, powered by a 20 kV transformer. It could produce 6 foot sparks. Some of his last gigs were the reassembly of the original 1931 Frankenstein high voltage apparatus for the Mel Brooks satire Young Frankenstein ( 1974 ), and construction of a million volt Tesla coil which produced 12 foot sparks for a 1976 stage show by the rock band Kiss. Use in Education Million volt Griffith Park Observatory coil, Los Angeles. Over 100 years old, it is one of the oldest working Tesla coils. Demonstration of inductance with a Tesla coil, 1906. RF current will not pass through the heavy copper wire because of the bend, and passes through the lamp instead. Small educational Tesla coil kit, 1918 Ever since Tesla 's 1890s lectures, Tesla coils have been used as attractions in educational exhibits and science fairs. They have become a way to counter the stereotype that science is boring. In the early 20th century, experts like Henry Transtrom and Earle Ovington gave high voltage demonstrations at `` electric fairs ''. High school classes built Tesla coils. From 1933 into the 1980s, between movie jobs Hollywood special effects expert Ken Strickfaden would take his high voltage apparatus on the road in an exhibition called `` Science on Parade '' and later `` The Kenstric Space Age Science Show '' to high schools, colleges, World Fairs and expositions. These spectacular shows, which reached 48 states, had a seminal influence on the birth of the modern `` coiling '' movement. A number of present - day Tesla hobbyists such as William Wysock say they were inspired to build Tesla coils by seeing Strickfaden 's show. One of the oldest and best - known coils still in operation is the `` GPO - 1 '' at Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles. It was originally one of a pair of coils built in 1910 by Earle L. Ovington, a friend of Tesla and manufacturer of high voltage electrotherapy apparatus. For a number of years Ovington displayed them at the December electrical trade show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, using them for demonstrations of high voltage science, which Tesla himself sometimes attended. Called the Million Volt Oscillator, the twin coils were installed on the balcony at the show. Every hour the lights were dimmed and the public was treated to a display of 10 foot arcs. Ovington gave the coils to his friend Dr. Frederick Finch Strong, a leading figure in the alternative health field of electrotherapy. In 1937 Strong donated the coils to the Griffith Observatory. The museum did n't have room to display both, but one coil was restored by Kenneth Strickfaden and has been in daily operation ever since. It consists of a 48 in. ( 1.2 m ) high conical secondary coil topped by a 12 in. ( 30 cm ) diameter copper ball electrode, with a 9 - turn spiral primary of 2 in. copper strip, a glass plate capacitor ( replacing the original Leyden jars ), and rotary spark gap. Its output has been estimated at 1.3 million volts. Later uses Breit and Tuve 's 5 MV Tesla coil used as particle accelerator, 1928 In addition to its use in spark - gap radio transmitters and electrotherapy described above, the Tesla coil circuit was also used in the early 20th century in x-ray machines, ozone generators for water purification, and induction heating equipment. However, in the 1920s vacuum tube oscillators replaced it in all these applications. The triode vacuum tube was a much better radio frequency current generator than the noisy, hot, ozone - producing spark, and could produce continuous waves. After this, industrial use of the Tesla coil was mainly limited to a few specialized applications which were suited to its unique characteristics, such as high voltage insulation testing. In 1926, pioneering accelerator physicists Merle Tuve and Gregory Breit built a 5 million volt Tesla coil as a linear particle accelerator. The bipolar coil consisted of a pyrex tube a meter long wound with 8000 turns of fine wire, with round corona caps on each end, and a 5 turn spiral primary coil surrounding it at the center. It was operated in a tank of insulating oil pressurized to 500 psi which allowed it to reach a potential of 5.2 megavolts. Although it was used for a short period in 1929 - 30 it was not a success because the particles ' acceleration had to be completed within the brief period of a half cycle of the RF voltage. In 1970 Robert K. Golka built a replica of Tesla 's huge Colorado Springs magnifying transmitter in a shed at Wendover Air Force Base, Utah, using data he found in Tesla 's lab notes archived at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Beograd, Serbia. This was one of the first experiments with the magnifier circuit since Tesla 's time. The coil generated 12 million volts. Golka used it to try to duplicate Tesla 's reported synthesis of ball lightning. Modern - day Tesla coils This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2015 ) Electric discharge showing the lightning - like plasma filaments from a ' Tesla coil ' Tesla coil ( discharge ). Tesla coil in terrarium ( I ) Modern high - voltage enthusiasts usually build Tesla coils similar to some of Tesla 's `` later '' 2 - coil air - core designs. These typically consist of a primary tank circuit, a series LC ( inductance - capacitance ) circuit composed of a high - voltage capacitor, spark gap and primary coil, and the secondary LC circuit, a series - resonant circuit consisting of the secondary coil plus a terminal capacitance or `` top load ''. In Tesla 's more advanced ( magnifier ) design, a third coil is added. The secondary LC circuit is composed of a tightly coupled air - core transformer secondary coil driving the bottom of a separate third coil helical resonator. Modern 2 - coil systems use a single secondary coil. The top of the secondary is then connected to a topload terminal, which forms one ' plate ' of a capacitor, the other ' plate ' being the earth ( or `` ground '' ). The primary LC circuit is tuned so that it resonates at the same frequency as the secondary LC circuit. The primary and secondary coils are magnetically coupled, creating a dual - tuned resonant air - core transformer. Earlier oil - insulated Tesla coils needed large and long insulators at their high - voltage terminals to prevent discharge in air. Later Tesla coils spread their electric fields over larger distances to prevent high electrical stresses in the first place, thereby allowing operation in free air. Most modern Tesla coils also use toroid - shaped output terminals. These are often fabricated from spun metal or flexible aluminum ducting. The toroidal shape helps to control the high electrical field near the top of the secondary by directing sparks outward and away from the primary and secondary windings. A more complex version of a Tesla coil, termed a `` magnifier '' by Tesla, uses a more tightly coupled air - core resonance `` driver '' transformer ( or `` master oscillator '' ) and a smaller, remotely located output coil ( called the `` extra coil '' or simply the resonator ) that has a large number of turns on a relatively small coil form. The bottom of the driver 's secondary winding is connected to ground. The opposite end is connected to the bottom of the extra coil through an insulated conductor that is sometimes called the transmission line. Since the transmission line operates at relatively high RF voltages, it is typically made of 1 '' diameter metal tubing to reduce corona losses. Since the third coil is located some distance away from the driver, it is not magnetically coupled to it. RF energy is instead directly coupled from the output of the driver into the bottom of the third coil, causing it to `` ring up '' to very high voltages. The combination of the two - coil driver and third coil resonator adds another degree of freedom to the system, making tuning considerably more complex than that of a 2 - coil system. The transient response for multiple resonance networks ( of which the Tesla magnifier is a sub-set ) has only recently been solved. It is now known that a variety of useful tuning `` modes '' are available, and in most operating modes the extra coil will ring at a different frequency than the master oscillator. Primary switching This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2015 ) Modern transistor or vacuum tube Tesla coils do not use a primary spark gap. Instead, the transistor ( s ) or vacuum tube ( s ) provide the switching or amplifying function necessary to generate RF power for the primary circuit. Solid - state Tesla coils use the lowest primary operating voltage, typically between 155 and 800 volts, and drive the primary winding using either a single, half - bridge, or full - bridge arrangement of bipolar transistors, MOSFETs or IGBTs to switch the primary current. Vacuum tube coils typically operate with plate voltages between 1500 and 6000 volts, while most spark gap coils operate with primary voltages of 6,000 to 25,000 volts. The primary winding of a traditional transistor Tesla coil is wound around only the bottom portion of the secondary coil. This configuration illustrates operation of the secondary as a pumped resonator. The primary ' induces ' alternating voltage into the bottom-most portion of the secondary, providing regular ' pushes ' ( similar to providing properly timed pushes to a playground swing ). Additional energy is transferred from the primary to the secondary inductance and top - load capacitance during each `` push '', and secondary output voltage builds ( called ' ring - up ' ). An electronic feedback circuit is usually used to adaptively synchronize the primary oscillator to the growing resonance in the secondary, and this is the only tuning consideration beyond the initial choice of a reasonable top - load. Play media Demonstration of the Nevada Lightning Laboratory 1 : 12 scale prototype twin Tesla Coil at Maker Faire 2008 In a dual resonant solid - state Tesla coil ( DRSSTC ), the electronic switching of the solid - state Tesla coil is combined with the resonant primary circuit of a spark - gap Tesla coil. The resonant primary circuit is formed by connecting a capacitor in series with the primary winding of the coil, so that the combination forms a series tank circuit with a resonant frequency near that of the secondary circuit. Because of the additional resonant circuit, one manual and one adaptive tuning adjustment are necessary. Also, an interrupter is usually used to reduce the duty cycle of the switching bridge, to improve peak power capabilities ; similarly, IGBTs are more popular in this application than bipolar transistors or MOSFETs, due to their superior power handling characteristics. A current - limiting circuit is usually used to limit maximum primary tank current ( which must be switched by the IGBT 's ) to a safe level. Performance of a DRSSTC can be comparable to a medium - power spark - gap Tesla coil, and efficiency ( as measured by spark length versus input power ) can be significantly greater than a spark - gap Tesla coil operating at the same input power. Practical aspects of design This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2015 ) High voltage production A large Tesla coil of more modern design often operates at very high peak power levels, up to many megawatts ( millions of watts ). It is therefore adjusted and operated carefully, not only for efficiency and economy, but also for safety. If, due to improper tuning, the maximum voltage point occurs below the terminal, along the secondary coil, a discharge ( spark ) may break out and damage or destroy the coil wire, supports, or nearby objects. Tesla coil schematics Typical circuit configuration Here, the spark gap shorts the high frequency across the first transformer that is supplied by alternating current. An inductance, not shown, protects the transformer. This design is favoured when a relatively fragile neon sign transformer is used. Alternative circuit configuration With the capacitor in parallel to the first transformer and the spark gap in series to the Tesla - coil primary, the AC supply transformer must be capable of withstanding high voltages at high frequencies. Tesla experimented with these, and many other, circuit configurations ( see right ). The Tesla coil primary winding, spark gap and tank capacitor are connected in series. In each circuit, the AC supply transformer charges the tank capacitor until its voltage is sufficient to break down the spark gap. The gap suddenly fires, allowing the charged tank capacitor to discharge into the primary winding. Once the gap fires, the electrical behavior of either circuit is identical. Experiments have shown that neither circuit offers any marked performance advantage over the other. However, in the typical circuit, the spark gap 's short circuiting action prevents high - frequency oscillations from ' backing up ' into the supply transformer. In the alternate circuit, high amplitude high frequency oscillations that appear across the capacitor also are applied to the supply transformer 's winding. This can induce corona discharges between turns that weaken and eventually destroy the transformer 's insulation. Experienced Tesla coil builders almost exclusively use the top circuit, often augmenting it with low pass filters ( resistor and capacitor ( RC ) networks ) between the supply transformer and spark gap to help protect the supply transformer. This is especially important when using transformers with fragile high - voltage windings, such as neon sign transformers ( NSTs ). Regardless of which configuration is used, the HV transformer must be of a type that self - limits its secondary current by means of internal leakage inductance. A normal ( low leakage inductance ) high - voltage transformer must use an external limiter ( sometimes called a ballast ) to limit current. NSTs are designed to have high leakage inductance to limit their short circuit current to a safe level. Tuning precautions The primary coil 's resonant frequency is tuned to that of the secondary, by using low - power oscillations, then increasing the power ( and retuning if necessary ) until the system operates properly at maximum power. While tuning, a small projection ( called a `` breakout bump '' ) is often added to the top terminal in order to stimulate corona and spark discharges ( sometimes called streamers ) into the surrounding air. Tuning can then be adjusted so as to achieve the longest streamers at a given power level, corresponding to a frequency match between the primary and secondary coil. Capacitive ' loading ' by the streamers tends to lower the resonant frequency of a Tesla coil operating under full power. A toroidal topload is often preferred to other shapes, such as a sphere. A toroid with a major diameter that is much larger than the secondary diameter provides improved shaping of the electrical field at the topload. This provides better protection of the secondary winding ( from damaging streamer strikes ) than a sphere of similar diameter. And, a toroid permits fairly independent control of topload capacitance versus spark breakout voltage. A toroid 's capacitance is mainly a function of its major diameter, while the spark breakout voltage is mainly a function of its minor diameter. Air discharges A small, later - type Tesla coil in operation : The output is giving 43 - cm sparks. The diameter of the secondary is 8 cm. The power source is a 10 000 V, 60 Hz current - limited supply. While generating discharges, electrical energy from the secondary and toroid is transferred to the surrounding air as electrical charge, heat, light, and sound. The process is similar to charging or discharging a capacitor, except that a Tesla coil uses AC instead of DC. The current that arises from shifting charges within a capacitor is called a displacement current. Tesla coil discharges are formed as a result of displacement currents as pulses of electrical charge are rapidly transferred between the high - voltage toroid and nearby regions within the air ( called space charge regions ). Although the space charge regions around the toroid are invisible, they play a profound role in the appearance and location of Tesla coil discharges. When the spark gap fires, the charged capacitor discharges into the primary winding, causing the primary circuit to oscillate. The oscillating primary current creates an oscillating magnetic field that couples to the secondary winding, transferring energy into the secondary side of the transformer and causing it to oscillate with the toroid capacitance to ground. Energy transfer occurs over a number of cycles, until most of the energy that was originally in the primary side is transferred to the secondary side. The greater the magnetic coupling between windings, the shorter the time required to complete the energy transfer. As energy builds within the oscillating secondary circuit, the amplitude of the toroid 's RF voltage rapidly increases, and the air surrounding the toroid begins to undergo dielectric breakdown, forming a corona discharge. As the secondary coil 's energy ( and output voltage ) continue to increase, larger pulses of displacement current further ionize and heat the air at the point of initial breakdown. This forms a very electrically conductive `` root '' of hotter plasma, called a leader, that projects outward from the toroid. The plasma within the leader is considerably hotter than a corona discharge, and is considerably more conductive. In fact, its properties are similar to an electric arc. The leader tapers and branches into thousands of thinner, cooler, hair - like discharges ( called streamers ). The streamers look like a bluish ' haze ' at the ends of the more luminous leaders. The streamers transfer charge between the leaders and toroid to nearby space charge regions. The displacement currents from countless streamers all feed into the leader, helping to keep it hot and electrically conductive. The primary break rate of sparking Tesla coils is slow compared to the resonant frequency of the resonator - topload assembly. When the switch closes, energy is transferred from the primary LC circuit to the resonator where the voltage rings up over a short period of time up culminating in the electrical discharge. In a spark gap Tesla coil, the primary - to - secondary energy transfer process happens repetitively at typical pulsing rates of 50 -- 500 times per second, depending on the frequency of the input line voltage. At these rates, previously - formed leader channels do not get a chance to fully cool down between pulses. So, on successive pulses, newer discharges can build upon the hot pathways left by their predecessors. This causes incremental growth of the leader from one pulse to the next, lengthening the entire discharge on each successive pulse. Repetitive pulsing causes the discharges to grow until the average energy available from the Tesla coil during each pulse balances the average energy being lost in the discharges ( mostly as heat ). At this point, dynamic equilibrium is reached, and the discharges have reached their maximum length for the Tesla coil 's output power level. The unique combination of a rising high - voltage radio frequency envelope and repetitive pulsing seem to be ideally suited to creating long, branching discharges that are considerably longer than would be otherwise expected by output voltage considerations alone. High - voltage, low - energy discharges create filamentary multibranched discharges which are purplish - blue in colour. High - voltage, high - energy discharges create thicker discharges with fewer branches, are pale and luminous, almost white, and are much longer than low - energy discharges, because of increased ionisation. A strong smell of ozone and nitrogen oxides will occur in the area. The important factors for maximum discharge length appear to be voltage, energy, and still air of low to moderate humidity. There are comparatively few scientific studies about the initiation and growth of pulsed lower - frequency RF discharges, so some aspects of Tesla coil air discharges are not as well understood when compared to DC, power - frequency AC, HV impulse, and lightning discharges. Applications Today, although small Tesla coils are used as leak detectors in scientific high vacuum systems and igniters in arc welders, their main use is entertainment and educational displays. Education and entertainment Electrum sculpture, the world 's largest Tesla coil. Builder Eric Orr is visible sitting inside the hollow spherical high voltage electrode. Tesla coils are displayed as attractions at science museums and electronics fairs, and are used to demonstrate principles of high frequency electricity in science classes in schools and colleges. Since they are simple enough for an amateur to make, Tesla coils are a popular student science fair project, and are homemade by a large worldwide community of hobbyists. Builders of Tesla coils as a hobby are called `` coilers ''. They attend `` coiling '' conventions where they display their home - made Tesla coils and other high voltage devices. Low - power Tesla coils are also sometimes used as a high - voltage source for Kirlian photography The world 's largest currently existing Tesla coil is a 130,000 - watt unit, part of a 38 - foot - tall ( 12 m ) sculpture titled Electrum owned by Alan Gibbs and currently resides in a private sculpture park at Kakanui Point near Auckland, New Zealand. A very large Tesla coil, designed and built by Syd Klinge, is shown every year at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in Coachella, Indio, California, USA. Austin Richards, a physicist in California, created a metal Faraday Suit in 1997 that protects him from Tesla coil discharges. In 1998, he named the character in the suit Doctor MegaVolt and has performed all over the world and at Burning Man 9 different years. Tesla coils can also be used to generate sounds, including music, by modulating the system 's effective `` break rate '' ( i.e., the rate and duration of high power RF bursts ) via MIDI data and a control unit. The actual MIDI data is interpreted by a microcontroller which converts the MIDI data into a PWM output which can be sent to the Tesla coil via a fiber optic interface. The YouTube video Super Mario Brothers theme in stereo and harmony on two coils shows a performance on matching solid state coils operating at 41 kHz. The coils were built and operated by designer hobbyists Jeff Larson and Steve Ward. The device has been named the Zeusaphone, after Zeus, Greek god of lightning, and as a play on words referencing the Sousaphone. The idea of playing music on the singing Tesla coils flies around the world and a few followers continue the work of initiators. An extensive outdoor musical concert has demonstrated using Tesla coils during the Engineering Open House ( EOH ) at the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign. The Icelandic artist Björk used a Tesla coil in her song `` Thunderbolt '' as the main instrument in the song. The musical group ArcAttack uses modulated Tesla coils and a man in a chain - link suit to play music. Vacuum system leak detectors Scientists working with high vacuum systems test for the presence of tiny pin holes in the apparatus ( especially a newly blown piece of glassware ) using high - voltage discharges produced by a small handheld Tesla coil. When the system is evacuated the high voltage electrode of the coil is played over the outside of the apparatus. At low pressures, air is more easily ionized and thus conducts electricity better than atmospheric pressure air. Therefore, the discharge travels through any pin hole immediately below it, producing a corona discharge inside the evacuated space which illuminates the hole, indicating points that need to be annealed or reblown before they can be used in an experiment. Health hazards The 50 / 60 Hz currents at several thousand volts in the primary circuit of a Tesla coil are lethally dangerous, and require standard safety precautions used with other kilovolt electrical devices. However, the high voltage radio frequency ( RF ) discharges from the output terminal pose a unique hazard not found in other high voltage equipment : when passed through the body they often do not cause the painful sensation and muscle contraction of electric shock, as lower frequency AC or DC currents do. The nervous system is insensitive to currents with frequencies over 10 -- 20 kHz. It is thought that the reason for this is that a certain minimum number of ions must be driven across a nerve cell 's membrane by the imposed voltage to trigger the nerve cell to depolarize and transmit an impulse. At radio frequencies, there is insufficient time during a half - cycle for enough ions to cross the membrane before the alternating voltage reverses. The danger is that since no pain is felt, experimenters often assume the currents are harmless. Teachers and hobbyists demonstrating small Tesla coils often impress their audience by touching the high voltage terminal or allowing the streamer arcs to pass through their body. If the arcs from the high voltage terminal strike the bare skin, they can cause deep - seated burns called RF burns. This is often avoided by allowing the arcs to strike a piece of metal held in the hand, or a thimble on a finger, instead. The current passes from the metal into the person 's hand through a wide enough surface area to avoid causing burns. Often no sensation is felt, or just a warmth or tingling. However this does not mean the current is harmless. Even a small Tesla coil produces many times the electrical energy necessary to stop the heart, if the frequency happens to be low enough to cause ventricular fibrillation. A minor misadjustment of the coil could result in electrocution. In addition, the RF current heats the tissues it passes through. Tesla coil currents, applied directly to the skin by electrodes, were used in the early 20th century for deep body tissue heating in the medical field of longwave diathermy. The amount of heating depends on the current density, which depends on the power output of the Tesla coil and the cross-sectional area of the path the current takes through the body to ground. Particularly if it passes through narrow structures such as blood vessels or joints it may raise the local tissue temperature to hyperthermic levels, `` cooking '' internal organs or causing other injuries. International ICNIRP safety standards for RF current in the body in the Tesla coil frequency range of 0.1 - 1 MHz specify a maximum current density of 0.2 mA per square centimeter and a maximum power absorption rate ( SAR ) in tissue of 4 W / kg in limbs and 0.8 W / kg average over the body. Even low power Tesla coils could exceed these limits, and it is generally impossible to determine the threshold current where bodily injury begins. Being struck by arcs from a high power ( > 1000 watt ) Tesla coil is likely to be fatal. Another reported hazard of this practice is that arcs from the high voltage terminal often strike the primary winding of the coil. This momentarily creates a conductive path for the lethal 50 / 60 Hz primary current from the supply transformer to reach the output terminal. If a person is connected to the output terminal at the time, either by touching it or allowing arcs from the terminal to strike his body, then the high primary current could pass through the conductive ionized air path, through the person 's body to ground, electrocuting him. Skin effect myth An erroneous explanation for the absence of electric shock that has persisted among Tesla coil hobbyists is that the high frequency currents travel through the body close to the surface, and thus do not penetrate to vital organs or nerves, due to an electromagnetic phenomenon called skin effect. This theory is false. RF current does tend to flow on the surface of conductors, but the depth to which it penetrates, called skin depth, depends on the resistivity and permittivity of the material as well as the frequency. Although skin effect limits currents of Tesla coil frequencies to the outer fraction of a millimeter in metal conductors, the skin depth of the current in body tissue is much deeper due to its higher resistivity and lower permittivity. The depth of penetration of currents of Tesla frequency ( 0.1 - 1 MHz ) in human tissues is roughly 24 to 72 cm ( 9 to 28 inches ). Thus skin effect has little influence on the path of the current through the body ; it takes the path of lowest electrical impedance to ground, and can easily pass through the core of the body. In the medical therapy called longwave diathermy, RF current of Tesla frequencies was used for decades for deep tissue warming, including heating internal organs such as the lungs. Modern shortwave diathermy machines use a higher frequency of 27 MHz, which would have a correspondingly smaller skin depth, yet these frequencies are still able to penetrate deep body tissues. Related patents Tesla 's patents See also : List of Tesla patents `` Electrical Transformer Or Induction Device ''. U.S. Patent No. 433,702, August 5, 1890 `` Means for Generating Electric Currents '', U.S. Patent No. 514,168, February 6, 1894 `` Electrical Transformer '', Patent No. 593,138, November 2, 1897 `` Method Of Utilizing Radiant Energy '', Patent No. 685,958 November 5, 1901 `` Method of Signaling '', U.S. Patent No. 723,188, March 17, 1903 `` System of Signaling '', U.S. Patent No. 725,605, April 14, 1903 `` Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy '', January 18, 1902, U.S. Patent 1,119,732, December 1, 1914 ( available at U.S. Patent 1,119,732 Others ' patents J.S. Stone, U.S. Patent 714,832, `` Apparatus for amplifying electromagnetic signal - waves ''. ( Filed January 23, 1901 ; Issued December 2, 1902 ) A. Nickle, U.S. Patent 2,125,804, `` Antenna ''. ( Filed May 25, 1934 ; Issued August 2, 1938 ) William W. Brown, U.S. Patent 2,059,186, `` Antenna structure ''. ( Filed May 25, 1934 ; Issued October 27, 1936 ). Robert B. Dome, U.S. Patent 2,101,674, `` Antenna ''. ( Filed May 25, 1934 ; Issued December 7, 1937 ) Armstrong, E.H., U.S. Patent 1,113,149, `` Wireless receiving system ''. 1914. Armstrong, E.H., U.S. Patent 1,342,885, `` Method of receiving high frequency oscillation ''. 1922. Armstrong, E.H., U.S. Patent 1,424,065, `` Signalling system ''. 1922. Gerhard Freiherr Du Prel, U.S. Patent 1,675,882, `` High frequency circuit ''. ( Filed August 11, 1925 ; Issued July 3, 1928 ) Leydorf, G.F., U.S. Patent 3,278,937, `` Antenna near field coupling system ''. 1966. Van Voorhies, U.S. Patent 6,218,998, `` Toroidal helical antenna '' Gene Koonce, U.S. Patent 6,933,819, `` Multifrequency electro - magnetic field generator ''. ( Filed October 29, 2004 ; Issued August 23, 2005 ) See also Bifilar coil Henry Leroy Transtrom, an inventor and showman who worked with high voltage electricity. List of Tesla patents Oudin coil, invented in 1893 by Paul Marie Oudin Wireless energy transfer References ^ Jump up to : Uth, Robert ( December 12, 2000 ). `` Tesla coil ''. Tesla : Master of Lightning. PBS.org. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 20. ^ Jump up to : U.S. Patent No. 454,622, Nikola Tesla, SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC LIGHTING, filed 25 April 1891 ; granted 23 June 1891 Jump up ^ Dommermuth - Costa, Carol ( 1994 ). Nikola Tesla : A Spark of Genius. Twenty - First Century Books. p. 75. ISBN 0 - 8225 - 4920 - 4. Jump up ^ `` Tesla coil ''. Museum of Electricity and Magnetism, Center for Learning. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory website, Florida State Univ. 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Instruction and Application Manual '' ( PDF ). Model 10 - 206 Tesla Coil. Science First, Serrata, Pty. educational equipment website. 2006. p. 2. Retrieved September 12, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Cheney, Margaret ( 2011 ). Tesla : Man Out of Time. Simon and Schuster. p. 87. ISBN 1 - 4516 - 7486 - 4. Jump up ^ Constable, George ; Bob Somerville ( 2003 ). A Century of Innovation : Twenty Engineering Achievements that Transformed Our Lives. Joseph Henry Press. p. 70. ISBN 0 - 309 - 08908 - 5. ^ Jump up to : Smith, Craig B. ( 2008 ). Lightning : Fire from the Sky. Dockside Consultants Inc. ISBN 0 - 615 - 24869 - 1. ^ Jump up to : Plesch, P.H. ( 2005 ). High Vacuum Techniques for Chemical Syntheses and Measurements. Cambridge University Press. p. 21. ISBN 0 - 521 - 67547 - 2. ^ Jump up to : Tilbury, Mitch ( 2007 ). The Ultimate Tesla Coil Design and Construction Guide. New York : McGraw - Hill Professional. p. 1. ISBN 0 - 07 - 149737 - 4. Jump up ^ Ramsey, Rolla ( 1937 ). Experimental Radio ( 4th ed. ). New York : Ramsey Publishing. p. 175. ^ Jump up to : Mazzotto, Domenico ( 1906 ). Wireless telegraphy and telephony. Whittaker and Co. p. 146. ^ Jump up to : Sarkar, T.K. ; Mailloux, Robert ; Oliner, Arthur A. ; et al. ( 2006 ). History of Wireless. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 286, 84. ISBN 0 - 471 - 78301 - 3., archive Archived 2016 - 05 - 17 at the Portuguese Web Archive ^ Jump up to : `` Unfortunately, the common misunderstanding by most people today is that the Tesla coil is merely a device that produces a spectacular exhibit of sparks which tittilates audiences. Nevertheless, its circuitry is fundamental to all radio transmission '' Belohlavek, Peter ; Wagner, John W ( 2008 ). Innovation : The Lessons of Nikola Tesla. Blue Eagle Group. p. 110. ISBN 9876510096. ^ Jump up to : Haddad, A. ; Warne, D.F. ( 2004 ). Advances in High Voltage Engineering. IET. p. 605. ISBN 0852961588. ^ Jump up to : Naidu, M.S. ; Kamaraju, V. ( 2013 ). High Voltage Engineering. Tata McGraw - Hill Education. p. 167. ISBN 1259062899. ^ Jump up to : Sprott, Julien C. ( 2006 ). Physics Demonstrations : A Sourcebook for Teachers of Physics. Univ. of Wisconsin Press. pp. 192 -- 195. ISBN 0299215806. ^ Jump up to : Anderson, Barton B. ( November 24, 2000 ). `` The Classic Tesla Coil : A dual - tuned resonant transformer '' ( PDF ). Tesla Coils. Terry Blake, 3rd webpage. Retrieved July 26, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Denicolai, Marco ( May 30, 2001 ). `` Tesla Transformer for Experimentation and Research '' ( PDF ). Thesis for Licentiate Degree. Electrical and Communications Engineering Dept., Helsinki Univ. of Technology, Helsinki, Finland : 2 -- 6. Retrieved July 26, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Denicolai, 2001, Tesla Transformer for Experimentation and Research, Ch. 2, p. 8 - 10 ^ Jump up to : Gerekos, Christopher ( 2012 ). `` The Tesla Coil '' ( PDF ). Thesis. Physics Dept., Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium : 20 -- 22. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on October 1, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015., reprinted on The Zeus Tesla Coil, HazardousPhysics.com Jump up ^ Gottlieb, Irving ( 1998 ). Practical Transformer Handbook : for Electronics, Radio and Communications Engineers. Newnes. pp. 103 -- 114. ISBN 0080514561. ^ Jump up to : Burnett, Richie ( 2008 ). `` Operation of the Tesla Coil ''. Richie 's Tesla Coil Web Page. Richard Burnett private website. Retrieved July 24, 2015. Jump up ^ Burnett, Richie ( 2008 ). `` Coupling Coefficient ''. Richie 's Tesla Coil Web Page. Richard Burnett private website. Retrieved April 4, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Burnett, Richie ( 2008 ). `` Tesla Coil Components, P. 2 ''. Richie 's Tesla Coil Web Page. Richard Burnett private website. Retrieved July 24, 2015. Jump up ^ Gerekos, 2012, The Tesla Coil, p. 38 - 42 Archived June 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Gerekos, 2012, The Tesla Coil, p. 15 - 18 Archived June 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Observation of standing wave by using impedance analyzer Jump up ^ Bestimmung der elektrischen Kenngrößen von Teslaspulen Jump up ^ `` Improve efficiency and robustness by slightly modifying the problem of magnetic resonance theory ''. Green Electronics ( in Japanese ). CQ publishing ( 19 ) : 59 -- 60, 65. October 2017. ISBN 9784789848503. Jump up ^ Teslaspulen in Aktion : Theorie der Solid State Tesla Coil ( SSTC ) ^ Jump up to : Gerekos, 2012, The Tesla Coil, p. 19 - 20 Archived June 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : Denicolai, 2001, Tesla Transformer for Experimentation and Research, Ch. 3, Sec. 3 - 5, p. 22 Jump up ^ `` Tesla Coils - Frequently Asked Questions ''. oneTesla website. oneTesla Co., Cambridge, MA. 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2015. Jump up ^ Denicolai, 2001, Tesla Transformer for Experimentation and Research, Ch. 2, p. 11 - 17 Jump up ^ Gerekos, 2012, The Tesla Coil, p. 1, 23 Archived June 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Denicolai, 2001, Tesla Transformer for Experimentation and Research, Ch. 2, p. 10 ^ Jump up to : US Patent No. 1119732, Nikola Tesla Apparatus for transmitting electrical energy, filed January 18, 1902 ; granted December 1, 1914 ^ Jump up to : Sarkar et al. ( 2006 ) History of Wireless, p. 279 - 280, archive Archived 2016 - 05 - 17 at the Portuguese Web Archive ^ Jump up to : Reed, John Randolph ( 2000 ). `` Designing high - gain triple resonant Tesla transformers '' ( PDF ). Dept. of Engineering and Computer Science, Univ. of Central Florida. Retrieved August 2, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Thomson, Elihu ( November 3, 1899 ). `` Apparatus for obtaining high frequencies and pressures ''. The Electrician. London : The Electrician Publishing Co. 44 ( 2 ) : 40 -- 41. Retrieved May 1, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Strong, Frederick Finch ( 1908 ). High Frequency Currents. New York : Rebman Co. pp. 41 -- 42. ^ Jump up to : Tesla, Nikola ( March 29, 1899 ). `` Some experiments in Tesla 's laboratory with currents of high frequencies and pressures ''. Electrical Review. New York : Electrical Review Publishing Co. 34 ( 13 ) : 193 -- 197. Retrieved November 30, 2015. p. 196 - 197 and fig. 2 : Tesla describes the steps in his invention of the high frequency transformer. ^ Jump up to : Denicolai, 2001, Tesla Transformer for Experimentation and Research, Ch. 1, p. 1 - 6 ^ Jump up to : The lecture `` Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination '' is reprinted in Martin, Thomas Cummerford ( 1894 ). The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla : With Special Reference to His Work in Polyphase Currents and High Potential Lighting, 2nd Ed. The Electrical Engineer. pp. 145 -- 197. The Tesla coil circuit is shown p. 193, fig. 127 Jump up ^ The lecture is reprinted in Tesla, Nikola ( 2007 ). The Nikola Tesla Treasury. Wilder Publications. pp. 68 -- 107. ISBN 1934451894. The Tesla coil illustration is shown p. 103, fig. 32 ^ Jump up to : Sarkar, T.K. ; Mailloux, Robert ; Oliner, Arthur A. ; et al. ( 2006 ). History of Wireless. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 268 -- 270. ISBN 0471783013. CS1 maint : Explicit use of et al. ( link ), archive Archived 2016 - 05 - 17 at the Portuguese Web Archive ^ Jump up to : Thomson, Elihu ( February 20, 1892 ). `` Induction by high potential discharges ''. Electrical World. New York : W.J. Johnson Co. 19 ( 8 ) : 116 -- 117. Retrieved November 21, 2015. Jump up ^ Aitken, Hugh G.J. ( 2014 ). Syntony and Spark : The Origins of Radio. Princeton Univ. Press. pp. 23 -- 25, 31 -- 36. ISBN 1400857880. ^ Jump up to : Carlson, W. Bernard ( 2013 ). Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. pp. 119 -- 125. ISBN 1400846552. ^ Jump up to : Uth, Robert ( 1999 ). Tesla, Master of Lightning. Barnes and Noble Publishing. pp. 65 -- 70. ISBN 0760710058. ^ Jump up to : `` Tesla is entitled to either distinct priority or independent discovery of '' three concepts in wireless theory : `` ( 1 ) the idea of inductive coupling between the driving and the working circuits ( 2 ) the importance of tuning both circuits, i.e. the idea of an ' oscillation transformer ' ( 3 ) the idea of a capacitance loaded open secondary circuit '' Wheeler, L.P. ( August 1943 ). `` Tesla 's contribution to high frequency ''. Electrical Engineering. IEEE. 62 ( 8 ) : 355 -- 357. doi : 10.1109 / EE. 1943.6435874. ISSN 0095 - 9197. ^ Jump up to : Pierce, George Washington ( 1910 ). Principles of Wireless Telegraphy. New York : McGraw - Hill Book Co. pp. 93 -- 95. ^ Jump up to : Fleming, John Ambrose ( 1910 ). The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy and Telephony, 2nd Ed. London : Longmans, Green and Co. pp. 581 -- 582. Jump up ^ W. Bernard Carlson, Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, Princeton University Press - 2013, page 122 Jump up ^ W. Bernard Carlson, Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, Princeton University Press - 2013, page 124 ^ Jump up to : `` Tesla 's system of electric power transmission through natural media ''. The Electrical Review. New York : H. Alabaster, Gatehouse and Co. 43 ( 1094 ) : 709. November 11, 1898. Retrieved August 7, 2015. Jump up ^ Tesla stated in Nikola Tesla My Inventions - Ch. 5 : The Magnifying Transmitter, Electrical Experimenter, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 1919, p. 112, that this picture showed a prototype of his magnifying transmitter, a smaller version of the apparatus installed in his Colorado Springs lab. Jump up ^ Tesla, Nikola ( July 1919 ). `` Electrical Oscillators '' ( PDF ). Electrical Experimenter. New York : Experimenter Publishing Co. 7 ( 3 ) : 228 -- 229, 259 -- 260. Retrieved August 20, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Transformer ''. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10th Ed. 33. The Encyclopaedia Britannica Co. 1903. p. 426. Retrieved May 1, 2015. Jump up ^ Thomson, Elihu ( April 1893 ). `` High Frequency Electric Induction ''. Technology Quarterly and Proceedings of Society of Arts. Boston : Massachusetts Inst. of Technology. 6 ( 1 ) : 50 -- 59. Retrieved November 22, 2015. Jump up ^ Thomson, Elihu ( July 23, 1906 ). `` Letter to Frederick Finch Strong ''. The Electrotherapy Museum website. Jeff Behary, Bellingham, Washington, USA. Reproduced by permission of The American Philosophical Society. Retrieved August 20, 2015. In this letter Thomson lists papers he published in technical journals which support his claim to priority in inventing the `` Tesla coil '' resonant transformer circuit Jump up ^ Fessenden, Reginald A. ( August 1908 ). `` Wireless Telephony ''. Telephony. Chicago, Illinois : The Telephony Publishing Co. 16 ( 2 ) : 75. Retrieved May 2, 2015. Jump up ^ `` The length of the... coil in each transformer should be approximately one quarter of the wave length of the electric disturbance in the circuit, this estimate being based on the velocity of propagation of the disturbaiice through the coil itself... '' US Patent No. 645576, Nikola Tesla, System of transmission of electrical energy, filed September 2, 1897 ; granted March 20, 1900 Jump up ^ Oberbeck, A. ( 1895 ). `` Ueber den Verlauf der electrischen Schwingungen bei den Tesla'schen Versuchen ( On the electrical oscillations in Tesla 's experiments ) ''. Annalen der Physik. Berlin : Wiedemann. 291 ( 8 ) : 623 -- 632. Bibcode : 1895AnP... 291... 623O. doi : 10.1002 / andp. 18952910808. Retrieved May 1, 2015. Jump up ^ Drude, P. ( February 1904 ). `` Über induktive Erregung zweier elektrischer Schwingungskreise mit Anwendung auf Periodenund Dämpfungsmessung, Teslatransformatoren und drahtlose Telegraphie ( Of inductive excitation of two electric resonant circuits with application to measure - ment of oscillation periods and damping, Tesla coils, and wireless telegraphy ) ''. Annalen der Physik. Wiley - VCH. 13 ( 3 ) : 512 -- 561. Bibcode : 1904AnP... 318... 512D. doi : 10.1002 / andp. 18943180306. ISSN 1521 - 3889. Retrieved July 25, 2015., English translation ^ Jump up to : Carlson, W. Bernard ( 2013 ). Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. pp. 133 -- 138. ISBN 1400846552. Jump up ^ A description of a similar demonstration which Tesla organized at the Westinghouse exhibit at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in St. Louis is found in Barrett, John Patrick ( 1894 ). Electricity at the Columbian Exposition ; Including an Account of the Exhibits in the Electricity Building, the Power Plant in Machinery Hall. pp. 168 -- 169. Retrieved 29 November 2010. Jump up ^ Thomas Cummerford Martin 1894 The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla, 2nd Ed., p. 198 - 293 ^ Jump up to : `` On light and other high frequency phenomena '', Thomas Cummerford Martin 1894 The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla, 2nd Ed., p. 294 - 373 ^ Jump up to : Goldman, Harry ( 2005 ). Kenneth Strickfaden, Dr. Frankenstein 's Electrician. McFarland. pp. 77 -- 83. ISBN 0786420642. ^ Jump up to : Sterling, Christopher H. ( 2013 ). Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio. Routledge. pp. 382 -- 383. ISBN 1136993754. ^ Jump up to : The longest Tesla wireless power transmission for which there is credible evidence is probably his 1899 picture of a receiving coil with a 10 watt light bulb lit by power transmitted from his 300,000 watt magnifying transmitter. Tesla did not give the distance, but Marincic has claimed Tesla 's lab notes indicate it was at a distance of 1,938 feet ( 591 m ) from the transmitter. Tesla, Nikola ; Marincic, Aleksandar ; Popovic, Vojin ; Ciric, Milan ( 2008 ). From Colorado Springs to Long Island : research notes : Colorado Springs 1899 - 1900, New York 1900 - 1901. Belgrade : Nikola Tesla Museum. p. 169. ISBN 9788681243442. This represents a transmission efficiency of only 0.0033 %. ^ Jump up to : US Patent No. 645576, Nikola Tesla, System of transmission of electrical energy, filed September 2, 1897 ; granted March 20, 1900 ^ Jump up to : Lee, Thomas H. ( 2004 ). The Design of CMOS Radio - Frequency Integrated Circuits. Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 37 -- 39. ISBN 0521835399. ^ Jump up to : Curty, Jari - Pascal ; Declercq, Michel ; Dehollain, Catherine ; Joehl, Norbert ( 2006 ). Design and Optimization of Passive UHF RFID Systems. Springer. p. 4. ISBN 0387447105. ^ Jump up to : Shinohara, Naoki ( 2014 ). Wireless Power Transfer via Radiowaves. John Wiley & Sons. p. 11. ISBN 1118862961. ^ Jump up to : Lee, C.K. ; Zhong, W.X. ; Hui, S.Y.R. ( September 5, 2012 ). Recent Progress in Mid-Range Wireless Power Transfer ( PDF ). The 4th Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition ( ECCE 2012 ). Raleigh, North Carolina : Inst. of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. pp. 3819 -- 3821. Retrieved November 4, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Tesla, Nikola ( May 20, 1891 ) Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination, lecture before the American Inst. of Electrical Engineers, Columbia College, New York. Reprinted as a book of the same name by. Wildside Press. 2006. ISBN 0809501627. Jump up ^ Tesla was notoriously secretive about the distance he could transmit power. One of his few disclosures of details was in the caption of fig. 7 of his noted magazine article : The Problem of Increasing Human Energy, Century magazine, June 1900. The caption reads : `` EXPERIMENT TO ILLUSTRATE AN INDUCTIVE EFFECT OF AN ELECTRICAL OSCILLATOR OF GREAT POWER - The photograph shows three ordinary incandescent lamps lighted to full candle - power by currents induced in a local loop consisting of a single wire forming a square of fifty feet each side, which includes the lamps, and which is at a distance of one hundred feet from the primary circuit energized by the oscillator. The loop likewise includes an electrical condenser, and is exactly attuned to the vibrations of the oscillator, which is worked at less than five percent of its total capacity. '' Jump up ^ Leyh, G.E. ; Kennan, M.D. ( September 28, 2008 ). Efficient wireless transmission of power using resonators with coupled electric fields ( PDF ). NAPS 2008 40th North American Power Symposium, Calgary, September 28 -- 30, 2008. Inst. of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. pp. 1 -- 4. doi : 10.1109 / NAPS. 2008.5307364. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4244 - 4283 - 6. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2014. Jump up ^ Sazonov, Edward ; Neuman, Michael R ( 2014 ). Wearable Sensors : Fundamentals, Implementation and Applications. Elsevier. pp. 253 -- 255. ISBN 0124186661. Jump up ^ Agbinya, Johnson I. ( February 2013 ). `` Investigation of near field inductive communication system models, channels, and experiments '' ( PDF ). Progress In Electromagnetics Research B. EMW Publishing. 49 : 130. Retrieved January 2, 2015. Jump up ^ Bolic, Miodrag ; Simplot - Ryl, David ; Stojmenovic, Ivan ( 2010 ). RFID Systems : Research Trends and Challenges. John Wiley & Sons. p. 29. ISBN 0470975660. Jump up ^ Tesla, Nikola ( June 1900 ). `` The Problem of Increasing Human Energy ''. Century Magazine. New York : The Century Co. Retrieved November 20, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Tesla, Nikola ( March 5, 1904 ). `` The Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires ''. Electrical World and Engineer. McGraw Publishing Co. 43 : 23760 -- 23761. Retrieved November 19, 2014., reprinted in Scientific American Supplement, Munn and Co., Vol. 57, No. 1483, June 4, 1904, p. 23760 - 23761 ^ Jump up to : Broad, William J. ( May 4, 2009 ). `` A Battle to Preserve a Visionary 's Bold Failure ''. New York Times. New York : The New York Times Co. pp. D1. Retrieved November 19, 2014. Jump up ^ Carlson 2013 Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, p. 209 - 210 ^ Jump up to : Cheney, Margaret ( 2011 ) Tesla : Man Out of Time, p. 187 -- 189 ^ Jump up to : Sewall, Charles Henry ( 1903 ). Wireless telegraphy : its origins, development, inventions, and apparatus. D. Van Nostrand Co. pp. 38 -- 42. Jump up ^ Tesla, Nikola ( March 8, 1907 ). `` Tuned Lightning ''. English Mechanic and World of Science. Retrieved October 18, 2015., reprinted in Tesla, Nikola ( 2012 ). The Nikola Tesla Treasury. Start Publications LLC. p. 526. ISBN 1627932569. ^ Jump up to : Carlson 2013 Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, p. 337 - 346 ^ Jump up to : Cheney, Margaret ; Uth, Robert ; Glenn, Jim ( 1999 ). Tesla, Master of Lightning. Barnes & Noble Publishing. pp. 90 -- 92. ISBN 0760710058. ^ Jump up to : Coe, Lewis ( 2006 ). Wireless Radio : A History. McFarland. pp. 111 -- 113. ISBN 0786426624. ^ Jump up to : Tomar, Anuradha ; Gupta, Sunil ( July 2012 ). `` Wireless Power Transmission : Applications and Components ''. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology. 1 ( 5 ). ISSN 2278 - 0181. Retrieved November 9, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Cooper, Christopher ( 2015 ). The Truth About Tesla : The Myth of the Lone Genius in the History of Innovation. Race Point Publishing. pp. 171 -- 172. ISBN 1631060309. ^ Jump up to : Brown, William C. ( 1984 ). `` The history of power transmission by radio waves ''. MTT - Trans. on Microwave Theory and Technique. Inst. of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. 32 ( 9 ) : 1230 -- 1234. Retrieved November 20, 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Life and Legacy : Colorado Springs ''. Tesla : Master of Lightning - companion site for 2000 PBS television documentary. PBS.org, Public Broadcasting Service website. 2000. Retrieved November 19, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Carlson 2013 Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, p. 297 -- 299 Jump up ^ Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents and Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power, Leland I. Anderson, 21st Century Books, 2002, p. 109, ISBN 1 - 893817 - 01 - 6. ^ Jump up to : Tesla, Nikola ( June 1919 ). `` My Inventions V. - The Magnifying Transmitter '' ( PDF ). Electrical Experimenter. New York : Experimenter Publishing Co. 7 ( 2 ) : 112. Retrieved August 8, 2015., reprinted in Nikola Tesla, My Inventions, The Philovox, 1919, Ch. 5 republished as Tesla, Nikola ( 2007 ). My Inventions : The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Wilder Publications. pp. 53 -- 16. ISBN 1934451770. ^ Jump up to : My Inventions : The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla, Hart Brothers, 1982, Ch. 5, ISBN 0 - 910077 - 00 - 2 ^ Jump up to : Martin, James M. ( 1912 ). Practical electro - therapeutics and X-ray therapy. C.V. Mosby Co. pp. 187 -- 192. ^ Jump up to : Shunamen, Fred ( June 1976 ). `` 12 Million Volts '' ( PDF ). Radio - Electronics. Gernsback Publications, Inc. 47 ( 6 ) : 32 -- 34, 69. Retrieved September 4, 2015. Jump up ^ Carlson 2013 Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, p. 267 -- 268 Jump up ^ Sarkar, T.K. ; Mailloux, Robert ; Oliner, Arthur A. ; et al. ( 2006 ). History of Wireless. John Wiley and Sons. p. 283. ISBN 0471783013. CS1 maint : Explicit use of et al. ( link ), archive Archived 2016 - 05 - 17 at the Portuguese Web Archive Jump up ^ Carlson 2013 Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, p. 318 - 327 Jump up ^ Hawkins, Lawrence A. ( February 1903 ). `` Nikola Tesla : His Work and Unfulfilled Promises ''. The Electrical Age. 30 ( 2 ) : 107 -- 108. Retrieved November 4, 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Dennis Papadopoulos interview ''. Tesla : Master of Lightning - companion site for 2000 PBS television documentary. PBS.org, Public Broadcasting Service website. 2000. Retrieved November 19, 2014. Jump up ^ Carlson, W. Bernard ( 2013 ). Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. pp. 294, 300 -- 301. ISBN 1400846552. Jump up ^ Tesla, Nikola ( 1977 ). Marinčić, Aleksandar, ed. Colorado Springs Notes, 1899 - 1900. Beograd, Yugoslavia : The Nikola Tesla Museum. Jump up ^ O'Neill, John J. ( 1944 ). Prodigal Genius : The life of Nikola Tesla. Ives Washburn, Inc. p. 193. ^ Jump up to : Golka, Robert K. ( February 1981 ). `` Project Tesla - In Search of an Answer to Our Energy Needs ''. Radio - Electronics. New York : Gernsback Publications, Inc. 52 ( 2 ) : 47 -- 49. Retrieved September 4, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Lawren, Bill ( March 1988 ). `` Rediscovering Tesla ''. Omni Magazine. 10 ( 6 ) : 64 -- 66, 68, 116 -- 117. Retrieved September 4, 2015. Jump up ^ For example, using Tesla coils Leyh and Kennan only achieved 1.5 % power throughput at a distance of 30 meters, only 5 times the transmitter diameter. Leyh, G.E. ; Kennan, M.D. ( September 28, 2008 ). Efficient wireless transmission of power using resonators with coupled electric fields ( PDF ). NAPS 2008 40th North American Power Symposium, Calgary, September 28 -- 30, 2008. Inst. of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. pp. 1 -- 4. doi : 10.1109 / NAPS. 2008.5307364. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4244 - 4283 - 6. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2014. Jump up ^ Belohlavek, Peter ; Wagner, John W ( 2008 ). Innovation : The Lessons of Nikola Tesla. Blue Eagle Group. pp. 78 -- 79. ISBN 9876510096. ^ Jump up to : US Patent no. 763,772, Guglielmo Marconi, Apparatus for wireless telegraphy, filed : November 10, 1900, granted : June 28, 1904. Corresponding British patent no. 7777, Guglielmo Marconi, Improvements in apparatus for wireless telegraphy, filed : April 26, 1900, granted : April 13, 1901 ^ Jump up to : Rockman, Howard B. ( 2004 ). Intellectual Property Law for Engineers and Scientists. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 196 -- 199. ISBN 0471697397. Jump up ^ Eccles, William H. ( 1933 ). Wireless. T. Butterworth, Ltd. p. 80. quoted in Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner ( 2006 ) History of Wireless, p. 268. Eccles was a contemporary of Tesla. ^ Jump up to : Sarkar et al ( 2006 ) History of Wireless, p. 352 - 353, 355 - 357, archive Archived 2016 - 05 - 17 at the Portuguese Web Archive ^ Jump up to : Aitken, Hugh 2014 Syntony and Spark : The origins of radio, p. 70 -- 73 Jump up ^ Crookes, William ( February 1, 1892 ). `` Some Possibilities of Electricity ''. The Fortnightly Review. London : Chapman and Hall. 51 : 174 -- 176. Retrieved August 19, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Aitken, Hugh 2014 Syntony and Spark : The origins of radio, p. 254 - 255, 259 ^ Jump up to : Klooster, John W. ( 2007 ). Icons of Invention. ABC - CLIO. pp. 160 -- 161. ISBN 0313347433. ^ Jump up to : Cheney, Margaret ( 2011 ) Tesla : Man Out Of Time, p. 96 -- 97 ^ Jump up to : Regal, Brian ( 2005 ). Radio : The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 21 -- 23. ISBN 0313331677. ^ Jump up to : The `` four circuit '' radio system, which Marconi claimed in his 1900 patent, meant a transmitter and receiver which each contained a resonant transformer and thus were divided into primary and secondary circuits. All four circuits were tuned to the same frequency, one side by capacitors, and the other side by the capacitance of the antenna ; `` the use of two high frequency circuits in the transmitter and two in the receiver, all four so adjusted to be resonant at the same frequency or multiples of it. '' `` No. 369 ( 1943 ) Marconi Wireless Co. of America v. United States ''. United States Supreme Court decision. Findlaw.com website. June 21, 1943. Retrieved March 14, 2017. This was identical to the system Tesla demonstrated in 1893. The advantage of this system was that due to the resonant transformers both the receiver and transmitter had much narrower bandwidth than previous circuits. Jump up ^ Tesla, Nikola ( May 1919 ). `` The True Wireless '' ( PDF ). Electrical Experimenter. New York : Experimenter Publishing Co. 7 ( 1 ) : 28 -- 30, 61. Retrieved February 20, 2017. archived on tfcbooks Jump up ^ Marconi describes his discovery of this principle, and admits his circuit used the `` Tesla coil '', in Marconi, Guglielmo ( May 24, 1901 ). `` Syntonic Wireless Telegraphy ''. The Electrician. The Electrician Publishing Co. Retrieved April 8, 2017. Jump up ^ US Patent no. 714,756, John Stone Stone Method of electric signaling, filed : February 8, 1900, granted : December 2, 1902 Jump up ^ US Patent no. 609,154 Oliver Joseph Lodge, Electric Telegraphy, filed : February 1, 1898, granted : August 16, 1898 Jump up ^ `` No. 369 ( 1943 ) Marconi Wireless Co. of America v. United States ''. United States Supreme Court decision. Findlaw.com website. June 21, 1943. Retrieved March 14, 2017. Jump up ^ White, Thomas H. ( November 1, 2012 ). `` Nikola Tesla : The Guy Who DIDN 'T `` Invent Radio '' ``. United States Early Radio History. T.H. White 's personal website. Retrieved November 7, 2016. Jump up ^ Gerekos, 2012, The Tesla Coil, p. 1 Jump up ^ Manders, Horace ( August 1, 1902 ). `` Some phenomena of high frequency currents ''. Journal of Physical Therapeutics. London : John Bale, Sons, and Danielsson, Ltd. 3 ( 1 ) : 220 -- 221. Retrieved December 2, 2014. Jump up ^ McGinley, Patton H. `` Tesla 's contributions to electrotherapy '' in Childress, David Hatcher, Ed. ( 2000 ). The Tesla Papers. Adventures Unlimited Press. pp. 162 -- 167. ISBN 0932813860. ^ Jump up to : Tesla, Nikola ( November 17, 1898 ). `` High frequency oscillators for electro - therapeutic and other purposes ''. The Electrical Engineer. 26 ( 550 ) : 477 -- 481. Retrieved June 10, 2015. Also read at the 8th annual meeting of The American Electro - Therapeutic Association, Buffalo, New York, Sept. 13 - 15, 1898 ^ Jump up to : Rhees, David J. ( July 1999 ). `` Electricity - `` The greatest of all doctors '' : An introduction to `` High Frequency Oscillators for Electro - therapeutic and Other Purposes '' '' ( PDF ). Proceedings of the IEEE. Inst. of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. 87 ( 7 ) : 1277 -- 1281. Retrieved September 20, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Carlson 2013 Tesla : Inventor of the Electrical Age, p. 217 ^ Jump up to : Kovács, Richard ( 1945 ). Electrotherapy and Light Therapy, 5th Ed. Philadelphia : Lea and Febiger. pp. 187 -- 188, 197 -- 200. ^ Jump up to : Cheney ( 2011 ) Tesla : Man Out of Time, p. 103 Jump up ^ Gilliams, E. Leslie ( December 1912 ). `` Tesla 's Plan Of Electrically Treating School Children ''. Popular Electricity. New York : The Popular Electricity Publishing Co. : 813 -- 814. Retrieved April 30, 2016. Jump up ^ Tesla, N. `` High frequency currents for medical purposes '' in Electrical Engineer, 1891, cited in Saberton, Claude ( 1920 ) Diathermy in Medical and Surgical Practice, published by Paul B. Hoeber, New York, p. 131 Jump up ^ Morton, W.J. ( January 17, 1893 ). `` A brief glance at electricity in medicine ''. Transactions of the American Inst. of Electrical Engineers. New York : AIEE : 576 -- 578. Retrieved September 21, 2015. Jump up ^ Batten, George B. ( October 15, 1926 ). `` President 's Address '' ( PDF ). Proc. of the Royal Society of Medicine - Electro - therapeutics section. London. 20 ( 1 ) : 33 -- 34. Retrieved September 22, 2015. Jump up ^ Williams, Chisolm ( 1903 ). High Frequency Currents in the Treatment of Some Diseases. London : Rebman, Ltd. pp. 8 -- 9. ^ Jump up to : Ho, Mae - Wan ; Popp, Fritz Albert ; Warnke, Ulrich ( 1994 ). Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication. World Scientific. pp. 10 -- 11. ISBN 9810216653. Jump up ^ D'Arsonval, A. ( August 1893 ). `` Physiological action of currents of great frequency ''. Modern Medicine and Bacteriological World. Modern Medicine Publishing Co. 2 ( 8 ) : 200 -- 203. Retrieved November 22, 2015., translated by J.H. Kellogg Jump up ^ Martin, James M. ( 1912 ). Practical electro - therapeutics and X-ray therapy. C.V. Mosby Co., p. 189 fig. 98 Jump up ^ Morus, Iwan Rhys ( 2011 ). Shocking Bodies : Life, Death & Electricity in Victorian England. The History Press. pp. 8 -- 11. ISBN 0752463810. ^ Jump up to : Strong, Frederick Finch ( 1908 ) High - Frequency Currents, p. 220 - 223 ^ Jump up to : De la Peña, Carolyn Thomas ( 2005 ). The Body Electric : How Strange Machines Built the Modern American. NYU Press. pp. 98 -- 100. ISBN 081471983X. Jump up ^ Morton, William J. ( December 27, 1902 ). `` Recent advances in electrotherapeutics ''. The Medical News. New York : Lea Brothers and Co. 81 ( 26 ) : 1201 -- 1202. Retrieved September 5, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Behary, Jeff ( 1997 ). `` Violet Ray Misconceptions ''. The Electrotherapy Museum. Jeff Behary 's website. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2015. Jump up ^ The small high voltage coils in these home violet ray wands resembled induction coils more than Tesla coils ; they had iron core transformers and mechanical interrupters and produced lower voltages, 30 - 80 kV, than Tesla coils Jump up ^ Behary, Jeff ( Sun, 1 July 2007 06 : 56 : 03 - 0600 ( MDT ) ). `` RE : Oudin coil ''. Tesla Coil Mailing List ( Mailing list ). Retrieved 16 November 2015. Check date values in : date = ( help ) ^ Jump up to : `` Electrice '' ( 1914 ). `` Doing and Daring for the Public 's Pleasure ''. Popular Electricity. Chicago : Popular Electricity Publishing Co. 6 ( 9 ) : 1044 -- 1046. Retrieved October 3, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Many of these stunts are demonstrated and explained in Transtrom, Henry L. ( 1913 ). Electricity at high pressures and frequencies. Joseph G. Branch Publishing Co. pp. 189 -- 207. Jump up ^ `` Madamoiselle Electra '' ( October 1911 ). `` How I Give the Public Electric Thrills ''. Popular Electricity. Chicago : Popular Electricity Publishing Co. 4 ( 6 ) : 507 -- 510. Retrieved September 25, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Gangi, Tony ( 2010 ). Carny Sideshows. Kensington Publishing. p. 206. ISBN 0806535989. ^ Jump up to : Nickell, Joe ( 2005 ). Secrets of the Sideshows. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 248 -- 249. ISBN 0813137373. Jump up ^ H.F.S. ( May 1911 ). `` Electricity in Vaudville ''. Popular Electricity and the World 's Advance. New York : Popular Electricity Publishing Co. 4 ( 1 ) : 170 -- 171. Retrieved 28 September 2017. Jump up ^ A lyrical description of such a performer appears in science fiction writer Ray Bradbury 's 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes. Avon Books. ISBN 0062242172... Bradbury has said that this was based on a real performer, Mr. Electrico, part of a seedy traveling carnival, whom he met as a boy in 1932 in Waukegan, Illinois. Bradbury, Ray ( December 2001 ) In his words blog, Ray Bradbury personal website and Weller, Sam ( Spring 2010 ) `` Ray Bradbury interview, The Art of Fiction No. 203 '', The Paris Review, No. 192, published by Antonio Weiss, New York. Jump up ^ Danielle Stamp AKA ' Miss Electra ' Ripley 's Believe It Or Not ! Curioddities. Scholastic, Inc. 2011. pp. 60 -- 61. ISBN 0545316545. Jump up ^ Richards, Austin ( 2015 ). `` Dr. Megavolt ''. Personal Website. High Voltage Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Skal, David J. ( 1998 ). Screams of Reason : Mad Science and Modern Culture. W.W. Norton and Co. pp. 89 -- 90. ISBN 039304582X. Jump up ^ Van Riper, A. Bowdoin ( 2011 ). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists and Inventors in American Film and TV since 1930. Scarecrow Press. p. 150. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8108 - 8128 - 0. ^ Jump up to : William Luddington, `` Mr. Electricity : The Multi-Volted Career of Kenneth Strickfaden '' in Tibbetts, John C. ; Welsh, James M., Ed. ( 2010 ). American Classic Screen Profiles. Scarecrow Press. pp. 202 -- 208. ISBN 0810876779. ^ Jump up to : Hanson, Eugene M. ( September 1949 ). `` High - Voltage Magic ''. Popular Mechanics. Chicago, USA : The Popular Mechanics Co. 92 ( 3 ) : 140 -- 142. Retrieved October 1, 2015. Jump up ^ Collins, Archie Frederick ( January 27, 1906 ). `` High - Potential Discharges ''. Scientific American. New York : Munn and Co. 94 ( 4 ) : 92. Retrieved December 15, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Goldman ( 2005 ) Kenneth Strickfaden, Dr. Frankenstein 's Electrician, p. 62 - 68 ^ Jump up to : Gurstelle, William ( 2009 ). Adventures from the Technology Underground. Crown / Archetype. pp. 71 -- 73. ISBN 0307510654. ^ Jump up to : `` Griffith Observatory ''. Destinations. Triposo Travel Guide. 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2017. Jump up ^ Breit, G.M. ; Tuve, M.A. ; Dahl, O. ( January 1930 ). `` A laboratory method of producing high potentials ''. Physical Review. AIP. 35 : 51 -- 65. Jump up ^ Armagnac, Alden P. ( January 1929 ). `` A five - million - volt gun built to smash atoms ''. Popular Science. New York : Popular Science Publishing Co. 114 ( 1 ) : 23 -- 24. ISSN 0161 - 7370. Retrieved September 3, 2015. Jump up ^ Heilbron, J.L. ; Seidel, Robert W. ( 1989 ). Lawrence and His Laboratory : A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Vol. 1. Univ. of California Press. pp. 53 -- 54, 58 -- 59. ISBN 0520064267. Jump up ^ de Queiroz, Antonio Carlos M. `` Generalized Multiple LC Resonance Networks ''. International Symposium on Circuits and Systems. IEEE. 3 : 519 -- 522. Jump up ^ de Queiroz, Antonio Carlos M. `` Designing a Tesla Magnifier ''. Retrieved April 12, 2015. Jump up ^ This is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of horsepower Jump up ^ Gottlieb, Irving ( 1998 ). Practical Transformer Handbook. Newnes. p. 551. ISBN 0080514561. Jump up ^ The Electrum Project, Lightning On Demand, Brisbane CA Jump up ^ Interview with ArcAttack on Odd Instruments Jump up ^ Duckon 2007 - Steve Ward 's Singing Tesla Coil video Archived June 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Tesla Music Band ^ Jump up to : Atkinson, Chip ; Phillips, Ed ; Rzeszotarski, Mark S. ; Stephens, R.W. ( August 4, 1996 ). `` Tesla Coil Safety Information ''. Classic Tesla. Bart Anderson personal website. Retrieved September 13, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Kluge, Stefan ( 2009 ). `` Safety page ''. Stefan 's Tesla coil pages. Stefan Kluge 's personal website. Retrieved September 6, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Kovács ( 1945 ) Electrotherapy and Light Therapy, 5th Ed., p. 205 - 206 ^ Jump up to : Mieny, C.J. ( 2003 ). Principles of Surgical Patient Care ( 2nd ed. ). New Africa Books. p. 136. ISBN 9781869280055. ^ Jump up to : Kalsi, Aman ; Balani, Nikhail ( 2016 ). Physics for the Anaesthetic Viva. Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 45 -- 46. ISBN 1107498333. Jump up ^ Curtis, Thomas Stanley ( 1916 ). High Frequency Apparatus : Its Construction and Practical Application. USA : Everyday Mechanics Company. p. 6. Jump up ^ Marshall, Tom ( 7 May 2015 ). `` Science teacher arrested after allegedly using Tesla coil to ' brand ' pupils by searing skin ''. Evening Standard. London, UK : Evening Standard Ltd. Retrieved 23 September 2017. Jump up ^ Klipstein, Don ( 2005 ). `` Tesla Coil Hazards and Safety ''. Don 's Tesla Coil Page. Don Klipstein 's personal website. Retrieved September 15, 2017. Jump up ^ Jones, Graham A. ; Layer, David H. ; Osenkowsky, Thomas G. ( 2013 ). National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook, 10th Ed. Taylor and Francis. p. 357. ISBN 1136034099. ^ Jump up to : Tilbury, Mitch ( 2007 ) The Ultimate Tesla Coil Design and Construction Guide, p. 4 ^ Jump up to : Cooper, W. Fordham ( 2013 ). Electrical Safety Engineering, 3rd Ed. Butterworth - Heinemann. p. 57. ISBN 1483161498. Jump up ^ Nikoletseas, Sotiris ; Yang, Yuanyuan ; Georgiadis, Apostolos ( 2016 ). Wireless Power Transfer Algorithms, Technologies and Applications in Ad Hoc Communication Networks. Springer. pp. 166 -- 167. ISBN 3319468103. Jump up ^ Robberson, Elbert ( August 1954 ). `` How to build a Tesla coil ''. Popular Science. New York : The Popular Science Publishing Co. 165 ( 2 ) : 192. Jump up ^ Sarwate, V.V. ( 1993 ). Electromagnetic Fields and Waves. New Age International, Ltd. p. 305. ISBN 8122404685. Jump up ^ Saberton, Claude ( 1920 ). Diathermy in Medical and Surgical Practice. P.B. Hoeber Co. pp. 23 -- 24. ^ Jump up to : Beatty, William J. ( 2012 ). `` The skin effect protects us from Tesla coil zaps ? ''. Debunking Some Tesla Myths. Science Hobbyist webpage. Retrieved September 15, 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` It is apparent that the skin effect becomes significant for humans... at frequencies greater than 10 MHz. '' Barnes, Frank S. ; Greenebaum, Ben ( 2006 ). Biological and Medical Aspects of Electromagnetic Fields. CRC Press. pp. xix. ISBN 142000946X. ^ Jump up to : Elder, Joe Allen ; Cahill, Daniel F. ( 1984 ). Biological Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation. US Environmental Protection Agency. pp. 3.15 -- 3.16. ^ Jump up to : Saslow, Wayne M. ( 2002 ). Electricity, Magnetism, and Light. Academic Press. p. 620. ISBN 0 - 08 - 050521 - X. ^ Jump up to : Christie, R.V. ; Binger, Cal ( October 1927 ). `` An experimental study of diathermy : IV. Evidence for the penetration of high frequency currents through the living body ''. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 46 ( 5 ) : 715 -- 734. Retrieved 25 September 2017. Jump up ^ History of Wireless By Tapan K. Sarkar, et al. ISBN 0 - 471 - 78301 - 3 Jump up ^ A Multifrequency electro - magnetic field generator that is capable of generating electro - magnetic radial fields, horizontal fields and spiral flux fields that are projected at a distance from the device and collected at the far end of the device by an antenna. Further reading Operation and other information Armagnat, H., & Kenyon, O.A. ( 1908 ). The theory, design and construction of induction coils. New York : McGraw. Haller, G.F., & Cunningham, E.T. ( 1910 ). The Tesla high frequency coil, its construction and uses. New York : D. Van Nostrand Co. Iannini, R.E. ( 2003 ). Electronic gadgets for the evil genius : 21 build - it - yourself projects. TAB electronics. New York : McGraw - Hill. Pages 137 -- 202. Corum, Kenneth L. and James F. `` Tesla Coils and the Failure of Lumped - Element Circuit Theory '' Nicholson, Paul, `` Tesla Secondary Simulation Project '' ( Current state of the art in rigorously describing Tesla coil secondary behavior through theoretical analysis, simulation and testing of results in practice ) Bill Beaty `` Nikola Tesla Coil Information ''. Vujovic, Ljubo, `` Tesla Coil ''. Tesla Memorial Society of New York. Hickman, Bert, `` Tesla Coil Information Center '' Cooper, John. F., `` Magnifying Transmitter early - type circuit diagram ; Later - type circuit diagram ''. Tesla-Coil.com Electrical World `` The Development of High Frequency Currents for Practical Application ''., The Electrical World, Vol 32, No. 8. `` Boundless Space : A Bus Bar ''. The Electrical World, Vol 32, No. 19. Other publications A.L. Cullen, J. Dobson, `` The Corona Breakdown of Aerials in Air at Low Pressures ''. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol. 271, No. 1347 ( February 12, 1963 ), pp. 551 -- 564 Bieniosek, F.M., `` Triple Resonance Pulse Transformer Circuit ''. Review of Scientific Instruments, 61 ( 6 ). Corum, J.F., and K.L. Corum, `` RF Coils, Helical Resonators and Voltage Magnification by Coherent Spatial Modes ''. IEEE, 2001. de Queiroz, Antonio Carlos M., `` Synthesis of Multiple Resonance Networks ''. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. EE / COPE. Haller, George Francis, and Elmer Tiling Cunningham, `` The Tesla high frequency coil, its construction and uses ''. New York, D. Van Nostrand company, 1910. Hartley, R.V.L., `` Oscillations with Non-linear Reactances ''. Bell System Technical Journal, Alcatel - Lucent, 1936 ( 3 ), 424 - 440. Norrie, H.S., `` Induction Coils : How to make, use, and repair them ''. Norman H. Schneider, 1907, New York. 4th edition. Reed, J.L., `` Greater voltage gain for Tesla transformer accelerators '', Review of Scientific Instruments, 59, p. 2300, ( 1988 ). Reed, J.L., `` Tesla transformer damping '', Review of Scientific Instruments, 83, 076101 - 1 ( 2012 ). Reed, J.L., `` Conduction - coupled Tesla transformer, '' Review of Scientific Instruments, 86, 035113 ( 2015 ) Reed, J.L., `` Tuning the triple resonance Tesla pulse transformer, '' Google Docs, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7PZG_uOiTWwUHVTX05DR2NpeDQ/view?usp=sharing Curtis, Thomas Stanley, High Frequency Apparatus : Its Construction and Practical Application. Everyday Mechanics Co., 1916. numerous academic IEEE publications ( 1 ) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tesla coils. Tesla coil at Curlie ( based on DMOZ ) Nikola Tesla Career and inventions Patents Egg of Columbus Magnifying transmitter Polyphase system Rotating magnetic field Alternating - current commutatorless induction motor Tesla Experimental Station Teleforce Telegeodynamics Tesla coil Wireless power Resonant inductive coupling Radio control Tesla turbine Tesla 's oscillator Three - phase electric power Wardenclyffe Tower Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Writings The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla Colorado Springs Notes, 1899 -- 1900 `` Fragments of Olympian Gossip '' My Inventions : The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla Other War of Currents Westinghouse Electric World Wireless System In popular culture Related Nikola Tesla Museum Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe IEEE Nikola Tesla Award Tesla Satellite Award Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport Tower to the People Wizard : The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century Tesla : Man Out of Time The Tesla World Light GND : 4449670 - 9 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tesla_coil&oldid=815044757 '' Categories : Transformers ( electrical ) Electromagnetic coils Power supplies Inventions by Nikola Tesla Electrical breakdown Hidden categories : Webarchive template other archives Webarchive template wayback links CS1 Japanese - language sources ( ja ) CS1 maint : Explicit use of et al. 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Question: what is the purpose of a tesla coil
Answer: to produce high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current electricity