New RSD Academy video - Electricity Myths - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: rsduhamel
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2018, 06:25:41 am
content: My latest RSD Academy video, 'Electricity Myths', just went live. The original version is targeted at general audiences and is on my other channel (Robert DuHamel). It has a short lesson in electricity at the beginning.https://youtu.be/zaiTzfSggY4I made a second abridged version for RSD Academy without the lesson. Here it is:https://youtu.be/ahS7eige9O0

author: John Heath
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2018, 01:52:50 pm
content: Nice video. Copper has low resistance to electrons. Charged particles from our sun make it to earth with very little resistance. From this I conclude that the vacuum of space is a good conductor of electrons just like copper is a good conductor of electrons. With this in mind a battery placed in a vacuum should discharge as a vacuum is a good conductor of electrons. This does not happen? If I measure the resistance of a vacuum it should be a very low resistance but it measures a very high resistance? If electrons are free to move in a vacuum then why does my meter measure a high resistance ? How can I break the insulation between my meter probes and the vacuum to measure the vacuum's true resistance of 0 ohms? This assumes the resistance of a vacuum is 0 ohms.

author: hexreader
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2018, 02:25:42 pm
content: Wow!I lived 60 years and never had such a clear explanation of such difficult concepts.All respect to the you-tube presenter.

author: dmills
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2018, 03:39:54 pm
content: Not many free electrons in a vacuum, you need charge carriers to both be free to move and for there to be charge carriers in abundance in the first place.It is interesting to compare the drift velocity in copper (very short mean free path, but loads of electrons) with the drift velocity in a vacuum tube (Whole percent of light speed is easy but the carrier density is small).Regards, Dan.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 02:13:53 am
content: Quote from: John Heath on January 21, 2018, 01:52:50 pmI found this when wondering exactly the same:http://qdl.scs-inc.us/2ndParty/Pages/8819.htmlShort answer: a vacuum, gas, or plasma doesn't function like a crystal lattice and the battery won't discharge unless the terminal potential is high enough to cause a breakdown.

author: John Heath
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 04:24:20 am
content: Quote from: bson on January 22, 2018, 02:13:53 am"Function like a crystal lattice". This put a smile on my face. I like the work of Dr Menahem Simhony to. He was so close. Why does nature have to this be difficult. Possible a super fluid state of positronium but crystalized into the EPOLA when close to extreme charge of protons? If this could be the case then a second look at Mr Simhony's work will be in order. Wishful thinking on my part.With this new twist on the EPOLA theory let us revisit the battery problem. Yes the battery does not discharge in a vacuum. The battery terminals conducts electrons , the vacuum conducts electrons so what went wrong. . Maybe it is the vacuum crystalising into the EPOLA around the battery terminals. One way to know is to heat the battery terminals to red hot to melt Mr Simhony's EPOLA crystals off the terminals. Now the battery will discharge in a vacuum. This test has already been done. If you heat a cathode up it will liberate electrons into the vacuum. I am convinced Mr Simhony has it right. It just needs to be adjusted a bit such as I just did.

author: John Heath
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 02:49:53 pm
content: Quote from: dmills on January 21, 2018, 03:39:54 pmI think you put your finger on the problem. Not enough charge carriers. Its not the vacuum that is the problem it is not enough electrons liberated from the cathode that seems to be the issue. What did they do in the past when tubes were the main way to control electrons. For more electrons two methods were used. Add the tiny bit of mercury for a type of plasma carrier for high power audio output tubes. Another way was to skip the cathode and use the raw filament as an electron source such as a 5y3 rectifier tube. Hmm.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 03:04:42 pm
content: Talking of resistance doesn't make much sense for vacuum, in resistive conductors you don't build up a space charge.

author: John Heath
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 03:39:50 pm
content: Quote from: Marco on January 22, 2018, 03:04:42 pmA resistor 1 ohm with a voltage drop of 1 volt will have a current of 1 amp. If I change the voltage frame of reference to 100,000 volts and 100,001 volts on the resistor the current is still 1 amp. Was this your meaning?

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 04:55:39 pm
content: No, I mean that when you have a free electron in vacuum the space around it is negatively charged which repels other electrons causing all kinds of non-linear effects. The space around an electron in a conductor is pretty much neutral, not entirely but close enough. It's a little like pneumatics vs hydraulics.

author: Dubbie
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 22, 2018, 05:55:06 pm
content: These videos by Bob are really excellent. It’s a shame he doesn’t have thousands more subscribers. Compared to a lot of “explainer” videos on YouTube, his are streets ahead in quality.

author: John Heath
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2018, 01:05:55 am
content: Quote from: Dubbie on January 22, 2018, 05:55:06 pmYes for sure. I particularly like his history of electricity.All the names and dates off the top of his head. Not only is it complete but he has added some new names that are not that well known giving alternative views. Clearly he has stewed on this for years knitting it together to a nice video package.

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 03:56:51 am
content: Quote from: Dubbie on January 22, 2018, 05:55:06 pmBob and his production company (his wife is the director and his son is the guy behind the camera) put a lot of work into his videos. Not the run of the mill youtuber. He is trying really hard and it shows in the quality of his videos. Congrats to his wife and sonalong with Bob they are doing a good job. I wish him luck.