RE: Longitudinal Waves

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "David Thomson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dave-at-volantis-dot-org>

Hi Malcolm,

>I see in the website paper a suggestion that the dampened waves in a
ringing tuned circuit is due to energy dispersion by longitudinal radiation.

Actually, the damped waves are due to opposing forces within the wave
itself.  When a pulse is generated there are two forces acting on the
medium.

When an electrostatic force is given, say to an atom, the strong positive
and negative forces strike the negative and positive poles of the atom with
a bell clapper type effect.  The electrostatic forces spread over the poles
of the atom and develop charged rings that travel latitudinally with respect
to the atom.  These charged rings pass through each other and then their
attractive forces cause each ring to reverse direction and head the opposite
direction.  The rings pass through each other again and reverse once more.
This is the damped oscillation we see on an oscilloscope.

For the second force, when the initial clap of the poles occurs from the
electrostatic charge, the equator of the atom bulges.  This happens by
knocking an electron out of one valence ring up to the next valence ring.
The electron then seeks stability and returns to its natural orbit.  As the
electron moves from inner to outer orbits it imparts the longitudinal
component of the pulsed wave.  It is the combination of the attraction
component of the rings and the expanding longitudinal component that makes
the rings spread out and give us a wave.

With light waves, the transverse component of the wave damps out after about
10 to 30 seconds.  This is because the attractive forces quickly neutralize
each other.  But the longitudinal force of the wave continues to the edge of
the Universe or until the energy of the wave is absorbed by the fields of
other atoms.  We know this is true because energy can be neither created nor
destroyed.  Once the energy is imparted longitudinally to the wave, there is
no way it will find friction within itself.  This is also why the
longitudinal component of the wave represents the true energy of the wave
and the transverse component of the wave represents a temporary energy.

Now keep in mind, we are talking specifically about a single pulse, not a
series of pulses that combine to make a sine wave.  If we look just at the
first second of each pulse in a sine wave, we will never see the wave
without its transverse component.  It is the transverse component of the
wave that gives a Tesla coil its resonant rise in voltage.  The higher the
frequency of the wave, however, gives the wave more longitudinal action for
each second of operation.

The transverse component of the wave gives the coil its voltage.  But this
energy is quickly dissipated within the pulse because the attractive forces
within the pulse work fast to neutralize each other.  Hence a pulsed wave is
said to be damped with regard to its transverse component.  The longitudinal
component, if it can be contained in a closed system, will not dissipate
within itself, and will rapidly accumulate until it is absorbed by other
atoms.  So longitudinal waves are a more efficient component of a pulse to
use as a means for transferring energy.

If you thoroughly study what I've just said here, you will suddenly realize
the true nature of Tesla's work and why he was so adamantly opposed to
technology based on Hertzian waves.  You will also find new ways of seeing
Tesla coils and how to design them for unique effects.

Dave