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Re: Arc length vs pwr



Hi all,  I have been lurking here for some time time now and I have found
the discussion fascinating.  The posts about arc length vs power peaked my
interest, so here's my two cents.

I found (in several volumes) Charles Steinmetz's lectures at the local
used bookstore.  In volume I, he gives the power consumed by an arc as

p = c * l * sqrt(i) 

(c is an empirical constant, l is length, i is current)

The reasoning is that the current is proportional to the cross-section of
the arc, while losses due to convection, radiation, etc. are proportional
to the surface area of the arc.

using the formula 

input power = v^2 * 2 * PI * 60 * c

and some rearranging, the formula is now

l = (a * p^.75) / sqrt(Cs)

p = power, Cs is capacitance (pf)

IF YOU ASSUME CONSTANT CAPACITANCE, the formula matches with an R of
.99980250 with the data posted by Jack Couture

POWER               INCHES                CALC'd
500                 11                    11.55
1000                20                    19.43
2000                32                    32.68
5000                64                    64.97
10000               110                   109.26

using .10926411 for (a/sqrt(Cs))

In light of this I am wondering whether Couture's data was from
a single coil or coils which were run at various power levels -- instead
of many different coils at many different power levels.

Factoring in the capacitance means that coils with small secondary
capacitance would have a somewhat bigger arc length at the same power.

Just my two cents, feel free to disagree, standard disclaimers,

Chris Bailey - cbailey-at-ideanet.doe.state.in.us