Michael Roth Capstone

NAME: Michael Roth

MENTOR: Mr. VK, as he has experience with both physics and Tesla Coils.

ABSTRACT:
For my capstone, I decided to attempt to construct a Tesla Coil in an attempt to learn more about electricity and magnetism, as well as to test my abilities as a builder and an engineer. In the process, I ran into a few issues. These mostly revolved around waiting for certain items to be delivered, or solving issues that arose when I did not have the required tools for what I wanted to do. I was, however, able to overcome these difficulties, and am glad to have had them as it worked to test my problem-solving skills.

PROOF OF EXISTENCE:
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The above photo shows the parts to my Tesla Coil, though deconstructed. I had to take it apart in order to help a classmate with a device that I had yet he did not, and needed. Because I didn't take a picture of it when it was constructed, I have posted this picture. When it is reconstructed, it should work as intended.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

DevCoder, “How to build a Tesla Coil.” Instructables. Autodesk, n.d. Web.

This is a guide for construction a Tesla coil. This is the first website which I used to examine the steps required for building a Tesla coil. It goes through one method of construction of the coil clearly, and is a good starting point for seeing what must be done. This site did not explain to me how a Tesla coil worked, or what modifications to make in order to modify the build, but it did explain its methods well.


Halpern, Alvin, and Erich Erlbach. SCHAUM'S OUTLINE OF THEORY AND PROBLEMS of BEGINNING PHYSICS II Waves, Electromagnetism, Optics, and Modern Physics. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998. Print.

This is the second of two books outlining and explaining many physics topics. This book has a very in depth section on transformers and induction, as well as capacitance and many other important things. It offered a clear, yet complex, description and explanation for many of the things which are necessary for my project’s completion and understanding.


Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics. 9th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. Print.

This is a intermediate physics textbook which explains many physics topics. This book provided a decent amount of information regarding induction and capacitance, and was helpful in my beginning to understand the concepts required for the completion of my project.


Lehrman, Robert L. Barron's E-Z Physics. Barron's Education Series, Inc., 2009. Print.

This is a beginner’s guide to many physics topics. This book was the first book from which I learned about electricity and magnetism, and also provided the least detailed description of the topics which I covered, but was very helpful with introducing me to the concepts required for the completion of my project.


Olson, Lynn. “The Art of Speaker Design.” Nutshell High Fidelity, n.p., 2002. Web.

This page discussed the design of multiple kinds of speakers, which was helpful in teaching me how speakers work. It also briefly described plasma speakers, which related directly to my capstone.


“Plasma arc speakers – the most amazing speakers on earth.” Noise Addicts. n.p., n.d. Web.

This was one of the first places where I saw a plasma speaker and, while it didn’t actually teach me anything, it was helpful to the process of designing my entire project.


“Plasma Speaker Kit.” Eastern Voltage Research, LLC. n.d. Web.

This page provided me with a video of a plasma speaker working, and also has manuals for the creation of plasma speakers from kits purchasable on their website. While they don’t directly apply to my work, they can provide some sort of guidance for what must be done.


Plasmana, “The Plasma Speaker.” Instructables. Autodesk, n.d. Web.

This is a guide for the construction of a plasma speaker. It was very helpful to see one method of making it, though my method will involve the modification of a Tesla coil, rather than the method used in the guide.


Wilson, Kevin, “Tesla Coil Theory of Operation.” Tesla Coil Design, Construction and Operation Guide. n.p., n.d. Web.

This page of the website gives, among other things, a somewhat cursory overview of how a Tesla coil works. In conjunction with resources regarding the theory behind induction, capacitance, and other things in the field of electricity and magnetism, the page provides an acceptable overview of the theory behind a Tesla coil.


Xellers, “How To Build A Spark Gap Tesla Coil (SGTC) Step 3: Build the Primary Capacitor.” Instructables. Autodesk, n.d. Web.

This page of the guide discusses equations for matching capacitors to primary circuit. This particular step of the guide gave me the equation I needed in order to match a capacitor to my build, and was therefore extremely helpful with the construction of the coil.


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