Copy of Electricity – Video 4 – Second Timers Quiz

EDISON AND TESLA:   There are 2 kinds of currents that were known at the time of Edison and Tesla– alternating and direct current.  Alternating current flows back and forth. Direct current flows one direction.

EDISON AND TESLA: The little box that on your computer power cord converts the direct current in outlets in walls into the alternating current that your computer can use.

EDISON AND TESLA:   Edison was pushing for alternating current and Tesla was pushing for direct current in the  ”War of Currents”.

EDISON AND TESLA:   Tesla eventually got hooked up with a fellow named Westinghouse. (The company started by him, Westinghouse, is a company to this day.) One reason why Edison wanted the direct current was because he had a lot of patents on Direct Current devices and he wanted his patents to hold up.  Tesla’s alternating current won the battle and the United States adopted Alternating Current.  Westinghouse and Tesla built the generators for the first power station with Niagara Falls. It powered Washington DC.

TESLA: Nicola Tesla, when 37, moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. In his lab there, he made a coil device–now called a Tesla coil.  It could generate 135-foot lightning bolts!

TESLA: Residents reported sparks between their feet and the ground as they walked outside when he fired it up. Light bulbs within a mile of the lab glowed and horses bolted after receiving electric shocks through their metal shoes when they came near the lab.

TESLA: Tesla’s  Tesla coil reportedly even caused butterflies to glow with St. Elmos fire around their wings.

TESLA: St. Elmos fire is a whitish-blue halo–a weird electrical phenomena involving plasma.

TESLA: The biggest mistake of Tesla’s life came after this when, at 44,  he attempted to build a huge tower on Long Island, New York called Wardenclyffe with money from the banking giant George Westinghouse. 

TESLA: Wardenclyffe had an astonishing 100-foot deep foundation and rose 187 feet with a 68’ dome on top! It was meant to beam power wirelessly over miles, but it became a 15-year ordeal leaving him bankrupt at 61. Yet, despite this colossal failure, Tesla was a pioneer in many areas including x-ray technology, remote controls, and all kinds of innovations with AC motors.