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Re: Coil ideas for experiments
Hi,
My physics department has a "small" home-made CO2 laser. It uses a 7200V,
1500VA
plate transformer as a power source. I'm pretty certain that it wasn't tuned
properly, but I had to hold paper for a couple seconds before it would burn. I
would estimate it's output at about 2W, though no measurement was made due
to the
higher-than-ordinary power (the biggest meter I know of in the department is
20mW). One would get far better results merely by adding the laser's power
source
to the TC's power source.
Using a laser to ionize the air brings MANY safety concerns to mind. A laser
powerful enough to ionize the air will also vaporize skin. Also a laser
doesn't
lose much power over long distances. Furthermore, the beam cannot be seen,
ESPECIALLY since all truely powerful lasers operate at non-visual light
frequencies
(CO2 is 10.6um, visible light is 400-700nm).
It's an interesting thought experiment, but I would *GREATLY* discourge one
from
actually attempting to use a laser to ionize the air to increase spark length.
My two cents,
Mark
Tesla List wrote:
> Original Poster: "Luc" <ludev-at-videotron.ca>
>
> Hi Mark
>
> Nitrogen laser are powerful easy to built and radiate in the UV region
of the
> spectrum (perfect for ionization )
> http://www.repairfaq-dot-org/sam/lasercn2.htm#cn2saf
>
> Luc Benard (Montreal)
>
> Tesla List wrote:
>
> > Original Poster: "Mark Broker" <broker-at-uwplatt.edu>
> >
> > Nick,
> >
> > You'd need a pretty large laser in order to sufficiently ionize the air
> to have
> > any effect. The typical 1/4mW laser pointer won't work (nor will
several of
> > them). I'll try to ask the optics professor tomorrow, but he'll
probably say
> > that a pretty huge laser would be needed.
> >
> > It is a pretty sweet idea, however.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > Tesla List wrote:
> >
> > > Original Poster: ANTarchimedes-at-aol-dot-com
> > >
> > > Yes, I've thought about giant plasma spheres myself (perfect for
> halloween...
> > > provide decorations and keep little kids out of your lawn at the same
> > > time...). However, I'd still like to know if my laser idea might work.
> > >
> > > Nick Moor
> > >
> > > P.S. Do any of you think that this list needs a directory with IM
> names and
> > > ICQ numbers?