Open AccessAn experimental investigation of the influence of the condenser on the working of a ruhmkorff coil, together with a practical outcome thereof
Author(s) -
William Hamilton Wilson
Publication year - 1912
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1912.0060
Subject(s) - condenser (optics) , electromagnetic coil , magnetic field , mechanics , falling (accident) , electrical engineering , physics , engineering , medicine , optics , light source , environmental health , quantum mechanics
The opinion most generally held regarding the action of the condenser in a Ruhmkorff coil seems to have been that the condenser is charged by the falling magnetic field immediately after interruption, and discharges back through the primary winding, setting up oscillations which cause the magnetism to fall very rapidly. The subject has been dealt with mathematically by Prof. Colley and others.* Lord Rayleigh has shown that very long secondary sparks can be obtained without the use of a condenser, by interrupting the primary current with great rapidity, such as by the severing of a wire with a rifle bullet. Walter used a cathode ray deflected by the magnetic field to show that the primary current is oscillating, with a frequency depending upon the condenser capacity, and that the best results are obtained by adjusting the condenser capacity to a certain critical value.†