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Project "create your own spark"
Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:19 am
by James F
I know this project has been mention in a number of threads in this forum, but i cant help but notice the way how no one pointed out that the instruction doesn't say the placement of three capacitors.
My guess is that they are used for the capacitor/condenser. but doesn't that only require 1 capacitor. If all 3 is used, what is the correct placement of the capacitors?
thnks for answering in advance
Re: Project "create your own spark"
Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:41 am
by Louise
James F wrote:I know this project has been mention in a number of threads in this forum, but i cant help but notice the way how no one pointed out that the instruction doesn't say the placement of three capacitors.
My guess is that they are used for the capacitor/condenser. but doesn't that only require 1 capacitor. If all 3 is used, what is the correct placement of the capacitors?
thnks for answering in advance
You only use one capacitor at a time. One of the goals of the project is to see how the value of the capacitor impacts the results. It calls for three different values, but you test them one at a time. This is why the diagram and instructions only talk about one capacitor but the materials list has three.
Louise
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:13 am
by James F
oh and another question. if i finish one layer of the secondary coil winding from left to right, for the second layer, do i go back to left and go from left to right again or do i just start at right and go right to left?
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:23 am
by Louise
James F wrote:oh and another question. if i finish one layer of the secondary coil winding from left to right, for the second layer, do i go back to left and go from left to right again or do i just start at right and go right to left?
From the science buddies experiment- Induction- How many coils do I need?
"If you run out of space it is okay to overlap the turns of wire, as long as you keep the wire neat and tight. You can overlap layers of wire by winding an equal number of turns in one direction, securing it with scotch tape, and then winding an equal number of turns in the other direction. For example, when making a coil of 400 turns go 200 turns in one direction, cover the coil with a layer of scotch tape, and then go 200 more turns back in the other direction."
Basically, when you have a complicated project like the spark gap, the best way to get info is to look at a very small part. What you are working on now is essentially the same as in the simpler induction experiment.
Louise