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Re: Tesla Coil Operation - was "Harmonics"



John,

I agree with everything you say.  Philosophically, I think we differ on
the concept of "space."  I don't think of space or vacuum as being
empty, just less cluttered with particles. I'm not so sure that
electromagnetic waves aren't traveling through a medium, even in space.  

If I have the history right, Helmholtz was Hertz's teacher and mentor. 
Helmholtz was studying resonance in air.  There are vast differences
between the methods of production of electromagnetic resonance and sound
resonance, but too many similarities in the behavior of the waves
themselves. 

It was Helmholtz who produced and proved the idea of "sympathetic
vibrations" or causing a tuned cavity to resonate in sympathy with an
audio source tuned to the same frequency.  He also experimented with the
constructive and destructive interference of sound waves and harmonics. 

Hertz already had an understanding of resonance and interference when he
went to work proving the same behavior existed in the electromagnetic
waves that Maxwell predicted.  

What mechanical model would you use to explain Tesla coil operation (if
you had to use a mechanical model)?

bob misiura