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Getting Started (was Re: Arcs off the fingers... )



Hi Robert,
                My first hint of a Tesla Coil came when I was about 8 and 
read about a 1/2 wave horizontal model in a book on spark coils. It 
was many years before I got around to building one. Much time and 
wire was wasted at that stage in learning about tuning rules. I had no 
idea then that sparks could reach many feet or come out white hot. 
The description in the book was of "purplish sparks about 3 -  4" 
long). The book came from a library and I have no idea who wrote it.

Regards,
Malcolm

> Original Poster: KRAMPF-at-aol-dot-com 
> 
> Hi Ralph,
> 
> Since I don't think you have seen one of my presentations, I assume that you 
> are basing your feelings on some program you have seen.  I agree that
doing a 
> demonstration like this just for the sake of wowing a crowd is not science 
> education.  On the other hand, there is a long history of using dramatic 
> demonstrations to present science.  Faraday, Franklin and even Tesla 
> presented science for the public with a combination of astonishing 
> demonstrations and scientific information.  In 45 minutes, you can't hope to 
> teach an entire course in the subject, but you can get across some of the 
> basic concepts in a way that will stick in their memory.  
> 
> Programs similar to mine played a large part in my love of science.  It
would 
> be interesting to know how many people on the list got their first exposure 
> to a tesla coil from a demonstration at school or a science museum.  Has 
> anyone even done a survey of list members to find out how they got into the 
> hobby?  
> 
> Robert Krampf
> Science Education Company
> http://www.krampf-dot-com
> Get my Free Experiment of the Week by sending an e-mail to krampf-at-krampf-dot-com
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