If you’ve ever seen a Frankenstein movie you have probably seen a Jabcobs Ladder or “climbing arc”. The familiar “Bzzzzzzzzzzz….snap!” sound is a staple of old horror movies.

So how do they work?  First two conductive metal rods are positioned in a rough “V” shape with a slight space between them at the base.  A sufficient [...]

Few natural phenomenon inspire the wonder and awe that thunder and lightning do. Since mankind’s earliest days lightning has been regarded as something supernatural, and it is only relatively recently that a greater understanding has evolved of the mechanisms that cause lightning. Lightning is the most visible manifestation of the continuous action of the global [...]

Nikola Tesla invented the the Tesla Coil near the end of the 19th century. A Tesla Coil is a pulsed air-core resonant transformer capable of creating enormous voltages and huge discharges. It achieves its high voltages through resonant rise as opposed to merely primary/secondary turns ratio as in conventional transformers. Tesla eventually evolved his design [...]