Transcript File

Nikola Tesla
Telsa’s Life
● Nikola Telsa was born in Serbia in 1856
● In 1875 he attended university in Austria
however he dropped out after three years
● Telsa worked in a telegraph company and as an
electrical engineer before emigrating to the
united states in 1884 to work for Thomas
Edison
● He soon struck out on his own and set up
laboratories and companies to develop a range
of electrical devices
● Telsa is best known for his contributions to the
design of the modern alternation current (AC)
electricity supply system
● In 1943 Tesla died, aged 86, in a New York
Hotel due to coronary thrombosis
● Today, Telsa is considered one of the most
influential scientists of our time and even has
an electrical car company, Tesla Motors,
named after him
Inventions
● Alternating current; used thinner wires,
higher voltage and could be used over
longer distances than D.C. Safer than D.C.
Started “current war” with Edison.
● Wireless communication; allows for signals
to be sent over long distances. Tesla first
demonstrated with a remote control,
which led to the invention of the t.v.
remote control.
● Resonant frequency of the earth.
Discovered through his wireless
experiments, which produced radio waves
capable of penetrating the earth.
● Hydroelectricity. Build a hydroelectric
plant on Niagra Falls to harness the energy
of the flow of water.
The War of the Currents
– Tesla vs Edison
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tesla began working for the Continental Edison Company in
1882
He transferred to America to work with Edison himself in
1844
Both had very different styles of approach when it came to
new inventions.
Edison promised Tesla $50,000 if he could improve his
prototypical dynamos used in his direct current (DC)
electricity system.
Tesla devoted months of work to this project and made
significant progress. When he was done, Edison insisted the
whole idea had been a joke. Tesla then left the company to
set up his own, the Tesla Electric Light Company.
Tesla believed that his model of an alternating current (AC)
was much more practical for large scale applications, for
example in power grids for large cities. It allowed power to
be sent further and through thinner wires than Edison’s DC
model.
Edison fought hugely against this new concept, claiming it
was unsafe. He showed this by electrocuting a number of
local pets in public using an AC current.
Tesla won the war of the currents in the end, but it should
be noted that most current household appliances convert
AC back to DC. This is to prevent massive surges of energy
entering these appliances
The Importance of
Tesla
•
100 years ahead of his time; mind boggling experiments
•
He persisted despite Edison’s slander
•
He changed how we see and use energy.
•
Alternating current particularly important; it allows us to
plug anything into the wall and access the current .
Relationship discovered between magnetic fields and
alternating current make things like alternators and
transformers possible.