Re: Simple Spark Gap Designs

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

Original poster: Gregory Hunter <ghunter31014-at-yahoo-dot-com> 

 > So why not, say, make one really big leyden
 > capacitor out of something like
 > a 5 Gal. plastic water bottle? Would that not be
 > easier and more effective?
 >
 > Greg
 >

Well, you can use a single large container. However,
capacitance is determined by the surface area of the
insulator, not the volume. With increasing size, the
volume of a cylinder grows much faster than it's
surface area. Therefore, a large number of small
bottles presents more surface area than a single large
container. Also, small bottles can be conveniently
added or removed to adjust capacity. Lastly, beer
bottles are engineered to be very thin to save cost
and weight, yet strong enough to withstand the
pressure of carbonation. This is the ideal recipe for
capacitor dielectric.

Cheers,


=====
Gregory R. Hunter

http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg


	
		
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