page_title: History of the Tesla coil
section_title: Tesla's demonstrations
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Tesla coil / Tesla's demonstrations
caption_attribution_description: English: Nikola Tesla demonstrating wireless transmission of power and high frequency energy at Columbia College, New York, in 1891. The two metal sheets were connected to his Tesla coil oscillator, which applied a high voltage oscillating at radio frequency. The electric field ionized the gas in the long, partially evacuated Geissler tubes he is holding (similar to modern neon lights), causing them to emit light without wires. Interlingua: Tesla demonstrante transmissiones sin filos durante su lection super alte frequentias e potential de 1891. Post ulterior recercas, Tesla presentava le fundamentos del radio in 1893. Esperanto: Nikola Tesla montras siajn eksperimentojn en Columbia College, Novjorko, en 1891. Post daŭraj esploroj li montris fundamentojn de radio en 1893. Italiano: Una dimostrazione di Tesla. ಕನ್ನಡ: ನಿಕೊಲಾ ಟೆಸ್ಲಾ ೧೮೯೧ರಲ್ಲಿ ತಮ್ಮ ರೇಡಿಯೊ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವುದು. Norsk nynorsk: Nikola Tesla demonstrer trådlaus bølgjeoverføring i 1891. Русский: Никола Тесла демонстрирует передачу высокочастотной энергии на лекции в Колумбийском колледже Нью-Йорка, 1891 г. Basa Sunda: Tesla keur mintonkeun pangiriman informasi nirkabel dina kuliah ngeunaan frékuénsi luhur dina taun 1891. Saenggeus ngalakukeun risét anu sinambung, Tesla ngajelaskeun dasar-dasar ngeunaan radio dina taun 1893.
context_page_description: Nikola Tesla patented the Tesla coil circuit on 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".
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Tesla demonstrating wireless lighting at his 1891 lecture at Columbia College.[28][29] 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.
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