The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-02-02

to be Rewritten Capacity Varies with
Absolute Height Above Sea Level, Re.
lative Height From Earth and Dis
lance From the SUN.
Nikola Tesla announced yesterday
another new discovery in electricity.
This time it Is a new law and by reason
of it, Mr.. Tesla asserts, a large part of
technical literature will have to be re-
written. Ever since anything has been
known about electricity scientific men
nave taken for granted that the capac-
1ty of an electrical conductor is con-
slant. When Tesla was experimenting
IN Colorado he found out that this ca
4 pacity Is not constant, but variable
Then he determined to find out the law
governing this phenomenon. He did So,
and all this he explained to the Sun
yesterday Here is what he said:
Since many years scientific men en-
gagged in the study of physics and cleo
trical research have taken it for grant
! ed that certain quantities, entering con-
tinuously in their estimates and calcu-
lations, are fixed and unalterable The
exact determine ton of these quantities
being of particular importance in cleo
Il trical vibrations, which are engrossing
more and more the attention of expert
mentors all over the world, it seems to
me important to acquaint others with
some OF my observations, which have
finally led me to the results now at
tracing universal attention. These
Observations, with which l have long
been familiar, show that some of the
quantities referred to are variable and
that, owing to this, large portion of
the technical literature is defective. I
shall endeavor to convey the knowl-
edge of the facts have discovered in
plain language, devoid as much as pos
sible of technicalities.
1T is well known that an electric cir
cult COMFORTS itself like spring with
a weight attached to it. Such spring
vibrates at definite rate, which Is de-
termined by two quantities, the pliabili-
ty of the spring and the mass of the
weight Similarly an electric circuit
vibrates, and Its vibrations, too, is de-
pendent ON two quantities, designated
az electrostatic capacity and induc-
lance. The capacity of the electric cir
cult corresponds toNthe pliability of the
espring and the inductance to the mass
of the weight,
Exactly as mechanics and engineers
have taken it for granted that the pill
ability of the spring remains the same,
no matter how it be placed or used, so
Electricians and physicists have as
sumed that the electrostatic capacity of
a conducting body, say of metallic
sphere which is frequently used in ex-
lperiments, remains fixed and unalter-
able quantity, and many scientific re-
suits of the greatest Importance are de-
pendent on this assumption. Now, 7
have discovered that this capacity is
not fixed and unalterable at all. On the
contrary, 1t Is susceptible to great
changes, so that under certain condi-
tions 1t may amount to many times its
theoretical value, or may eventually be
smaller. Inasmuch as every electrical /
conductor, besides possessing an in
ductance, has also certain amount of /
capacity, owing to the varia tons of the !
latter, the inductanoe, too, is seemingly /
modified by the same causes that tend |
to modify the capacity These facts I
discovered some time before I gave
technical description of my system of /
energy transmission and biography /
without wires which, believe, became |
first known through my Belgian and
British patents.
I'm this system, l then explained,
that In estimating the wave-length Of
the electrical vibration in the trans
opd rocai1rir0 oiro,,i+c J,,a va
gard must be had to the velocity with
which the vibration is propagated
each of the circuits, this valoc-
ity being given by the product of the
and the number of vibra-
lions per second. The rate of vibra-
ton being, however, as before stated,
dependent on the capacity and induc-
lance In each case, I obtained discor-
dant values. Continuing the investiga-
ton Of this astonishing phenomenon,
that the capacity varied with
The elevation of the conducting surface
above the ground. and I soon ascer-
tanned the law of this variation. The
capacity increased as the conducting
surface was elevated, in open space,
rom one-half to three-quarters of one
Der cent per each foot of elevation. In
buildings, however, or near large struc-
,ures, this increase often amounted to |
fifty per cent. per foot Of elevation, and
his alone will show to what an extent {
many of the scientific experiments re-
corded in technical literature are erro- {
leous In determining the length of 7
he coils or conductors, such as ] en- +
,loy In my system of wireless tele- S
,raphy, for instance, the rule which I E
lave given liz, In view of the above, i'm e
,ortant to observe II
Far more interesting, however, for 7
men of science is the fact I discovered t
ater, that the capacity undergoes an /
Lnnual variation with a maximum in i
ummer and minimum in winter. In g
Colorado, where / continued with i'm r
,roved methods the Investigations be- !,
un in New York and where l found +
he rate of increase slightly greater, I Il
furthermore observed that there was a h
iurnaI variation with a maximum
uring the day and minimum during q
he night. Further, I found that sun q
ght causes a slight increase in the ca +
acity The moon also produces an eff n
ect, but J. do not attribute it to it's g
ght Ii
"The importance Of these observa- f
Ions will be better appreciated when it II
stated that owing to these changes C
{ quantity supposed to be constant II
n electric circuit does not vlprate al a. t