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A Project on
“TESLA COIL”
Submi ed To

Department of Physics
Panchagarh Somnath Singh Jagdev (Degree)
Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal

Submitted By
Chinmaya prasad Swain

B. Sc. Physics Hons, Roll No: 2102010710090040

P.S.S.J (Degree) Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal, Odisha - 759128

Guided By
Subhajit Tripathy
Lecturer in Physics
P.S.S.J (Degree) Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal, Odisha – 759128
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P.S.S.J (Degree) Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal

Certificate
This is to certify that the project work entitled " OPTICAL FIBER" submitted to
the Department of Physics, P.S.S.J (Degree) Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal in
partial fulfilment of requirements for the Course Bachelor of Science in Physics,
is a work done by Miss/Mr. Chinmaya prasad swain under my supervision and
guidance and this work has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any
degree.

Place: (Signature)
Date: Subhajit Tripathy
Lecturer in Physics
P.S.S.J (Degree) Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal
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Acknowledgement
I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to all the people who have helped
and inspired me during my project Work. This project would not have been
possible without the support from all.
First of all, I would like to thank my project guide Subhajit Tripathy, for his endless
guidance and instruction during the project.
My deepest gratitude goes to my family for their love and support all the way till
now. I also thank my friends here for their constant encouragement and the joyous
time we spent together. All the references I used during the project work including
the definitions, texts, formulae etc. are mentioned separately in the reference
section. I personally thank all the authors and the contributors.

Student’s Name
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P.S.S.J (Degree) Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal

Department of Physics
Declaration

I, Chinmaya prasad Swain, do hereby declare that my project “Tesla coil” is my

original work. It is not submitted by any other institution or published any time
before the purpose what so ever. This declaration has compiled for fulfilling
requirement for the award of B.Sc. Physics Hons of P.S.S.J (Degree)
Mahavidyalaya, Banarpal.

Date: Lingaraj Bagh

Place: Banarpal 3rd Year B.Sc. Physics
RollNo:2102010710090040
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CONTENTS
 PREFACE
 INTRODUCTION
WORKING PRINCIPLE
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
APPARATUS
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
METHOD
 RESULT & DISCUSSIONS
RESULT
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
APPLICATIONS
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
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PREFACE

In 1891, inventor Nikola Tesla created the first system to wirelessly transmit electricity
known as the Tesla coil. Tesla was dreaming of spreading wireless electricity across the world
through the invention. The Tesla coil functions through the principle of electromagnetic
induction in which a conductor is placed in a changing magnetic field and produces voltage
across the conductor.

The invention by Tesla is one of the most important inventions in the history of physics,
which later pushed away due to its disadvantages, though having various advantages.

Miniature forms of these Tesla Coils are made as projects for study with the help of
locally available materials such as coil, wire, battery, etc.

Let’s check about the various methods of making it, its principle and some of its uses.
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INTRODUCTION

A mini-Tesla coil is a miniature version of the Tesla coil which is an electrical resonant
transformer circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891.1t is used to produce high-voltage, low-
current, high frequency alternating-current electricity. Nikola Tesla put forward a possible way of
transmission of electricity wirelessly through air.
Tesla Coils or resonant transformers of high frequency and high potential have been used in
many commercial applications. Although not all commercial applications for Tesla coils are still in use
for some historical and modern-day applications including:

 Spark Gap Radio Transmittors

 Induction and dielectric heating
 Induction Coils
 Medical X-Ray devices
 Quack medical devices
 Ozone generators
 Particle accelerators
 Electrical stage shows and entertainment

The first system that could wirelessly transmit electricity, the Tesla coil was a truly revolutionary
invention. Early radio antennas and telegraphy used the invention, but variations of the coil can also do
things that are just plain cool — like shoot lightning bolts, send electric currents through the body and
create electron winds.
The concept behind the coil is actually fairly simple and makes use of electromagnetic force and
resonance.
The power source is hooked up to the primary coil. The primary coil's capacitor acts like a sponge
and soaks up the charge. The primary coil itself must be able to withstand the massive charge and huge
surges of current, so the coil is usually made out of copper, a good conductor of electricity. Eventually,
the capacitor builds up so much charge that it breaks down the air resistance in the spark gap. Then,
similar to squeezing out a soaked sponge, the current flows out of the capacitor down the primary coil
and creates a magnetic field.

The massive amount of energy makes the magnetic field collapse quickly, and generates an electric
current in the secondary coil. The voltage zipping through the air between the two coils creates sparks in
the spark gap. The energy sloshes back and forth between the two coils several hundred times per
second, and builds up in the secondary coil and capacitor. Eventually, the charge in the secondary
capacitor gets so high that it breaks free in a spectacular burst of electric current.
The resulting high-frequency voltage can illuminate fluorescent bulbs several feet away with no
electrical wire connection.

Early radio antennas and telegraphs used the technology and although the Tesla coil is not widely
used today, the revolutionary invention introduced and demonstrated the wireless application of
electricity. By building your own Tesla coil, you will be able to produce an oscillating radio
frequency to generate a high enough voltage to illuminate a light bulb all by itself.
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Figure 1: A mini–Tesla Coil lighting a CFL lamp

WORKING PRINCILPLE
 Faraday's Law of Magnetic Induction:
"The induced electromotive force in any closed circuit is equal to the negative
of the time rate of change of the magnetic flux enclosed by the circuit."
Which means that, when a conductor is placed under a varying magnetic field,
a small current will be induced inside the conduct0L For a Tesla coil, this
conductor will be called as the secondary coil and the varying magnetic field
will be produced by the primary coil by passing an oscillating current through
the primary coil.
 Magnetic Flux :
It is the number of magnetic field lines passing through a closed surface such as the conducting
coil. The power of the Tesla coil lies in a process called electromagnetic induction, i.e., a changing
magnetic field creates an electric potential that compels current to flow. Conversely, flowing electric
current generates a magnetic field. When electricity flows through a wound up coil of wire, it
generates a magnetic field that fills the area around the coil in a particular pattern, shown with lines
below:

Figure 2 : Magnetic Field around the coil

When huge amount of energy is transmitted through the coil, the magnetic field is exploited
resulting in the release of electric power.
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Figure 3: Transmission of Electricity through the coil

Electrical current is the flow of electrons, while the difference in electric potential (voltage)
between two places is what pushes that current. Current is like water, and voltage is like a hill. A large
voltage is a steep hill, down which a stream of electrons will flow. A small voltage is like a near-flat
plain with almost no water flow.

The electric potential ("hill") generated in a coil of wire by a magnetic field through its center
increases with the number of turns of wire. A changing magnetic field within a coil of 50 turns will
generate ten times the voltage of a coil of just five turns. (However, less current can actually flow
through the higher potential, to conserve energy.)

With the release of electric power, current is produced and a lamp brought near can be
lighten up.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS

APPARATUS

Resistor

A resistor is a component that opposes a flowing current. Every conductor has a specific
resistance, if one applies a voltage or potential difference V at the terminals of the resistor, then the
current I passing through is given by Ohm's Law.
Here, a resistor of resistance 27k is used .27k is a high resistance which is equal to 27000 ohms
which results in less current hence producing less heat which will be safe for the circuit.

A 22k resistor can also be used instead of a 27k one.

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• Transistor
The transistor helps to make the frequency of AC equal to resonant frequency to the coil by a
feedback mechanism. You need not have to manually 'tune' the primary and secondary coil it is the
transistor that 'auto tunes' the mini tesla.

A high current high frequency transistor like 2N2222 is used to supply current through the primary
coil.

Figure 5 : A 2N2222A Transistor

• Copper Wire

Enamelled copper wire or magnetic wire is coated with a thin layer of insulation. It is used in
transformers, motors, speakers, almost all the electrical appliances. Some require tight coils of the wire.
An aluminium wire must have 1.6 times the cross-sectional area as a copper wire to achieve
comparable DC resistance.

Due to this, a copper wire is used to improve the energy efficiency in appliances.

Here copper wire is wounded upon an insulator to conduct voltage and electricity.

Finer wire is used for lower current.

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Figure 6: A Copper Coil

• Connecting Wires
Connecting wires allows an electrical current to travel from one point on a circuit to another
because electricity needs a medium through which it can move. Most of the connecting wires are
made up of copper or aluminum , bounded with plastic.

Figure 7: Connecting wires

• Battery
An electric battery is a device consisting one or more electrochemical cells that convert
stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Each cell contains a positive terminal and a negative
terminal. Electrolytes inside allow the ions to move between the terminals, which allows the current
to flow oyt of the battery to perform work.

Here a 9V battery is used.

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Figure 8: A 9V Batter

• Switch
ON/OFF switch is used to turn on or off the power supply in the circuit as and when required.

Figure 9: An ON/OFF Snitch

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
The main component in this circuit is the secondary coil, which is made by winding a magnetic
wire around a cylindrical object (any non-conductive object).
A high current high frequency transistor like 2N2222 is used to supply current through the primary coil.
The whole set up is powered by a 9V battery as shown above. Whenever the transistor conducts, current is
flown through the primary coil. The LED diode and one end Of the secondary coil is also connected to base of
transistor to make the circuit oscillate, this way the transistor will send a oscillating current into primary coil.

Figure 10: Circuit diagram for the construction of Mini Tesla Coil

METHOD

l . Wind the copper wire (secondary coil) closely around the PVC pipe (or a cylindrical non conducting
object) as close as possible, without overlapping one another.

Figure I l: Coil wounded closely around the object

2. Attach a small ball wrapped in aluminium foil on the top end of the pipe.
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Figure 12: Ball wrapped in aluminium foil

3. Stick the cylinder on a proper base where the connections have to be made.

Figure 13: cylinder stuck on a base

4. Take a connecting wire (primary coil) and wind it around the cylinder so that both the ends of that wire
is at the base.

Figure 14: primary coil around cylinder

5. Connect the 27k resistor and lower end of the copper wire to the base terminal of the transistor.
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Figure 15: connected resistor and transistor

6. Connect one end of the primary coil to the collecting terminal of the transistor.
7. Take a small piece of another connecting wore and connect one end to the resistor and the other to the
other end of the primary coil.
8. Take a battery snap and connect the negative terminal (black) to the emitter terminal of the transistor.
9. Connect the positive terminal (red) of the snap to a switch.

Figure 16: Swich connected to the snap

10. Take another small piece of wire and connect one end to the switch and the other to the transistor.
I I . Connect the 9V battery to the battery snap.
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Figure 17: battery connected to the snap

12. Place a CFL lamp near the coil.

Figure 18: CFL lamp near the coil

13. You can place a LED bulb in the circuit to check whether the current is flowing, if necessary

Figure 19: LED in the circuit

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

RESULT

The CFL lamp brought near the Tesla Coil gets lighten up due to the transmission of electricity
through air.

Figure 20: Lamp glowing near the coil

The lamp becomes dimmer when moved away from the coil.

Figure 21: Dim lamp away from coil

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ADVANTAGES

 Non radiative energy transfer is safe for people and animals.

 Wastage of Power is less.
 Provides high efficiency over large distance.

 Does not interfere with radio-waves.

 With widespread use, it could eliminate costly batteries.
 Mini tesla coils can be used as household, i.e., can be used at the time of power cuts and for
emergencies.

DISADVANTAGES

The tesla coil in its wider use requires a higher version of it which Have
disadvantages.
 It's deeply inefficient. Power you can receive drops off exponentially as you move further away.
 It's impractical. The magnetic field generated by such a device would cause all sorts of noise in
any unshielded electronic device.
 It's impractical. The cost of such a system would be immense, and the cost for powering it would
be exponentially more than a direct power line.
 The Tesla coil operates at a high enough frequency that the current from the output does not
penetrate the skin. So, you won't be shocked by it. But for a large Tesla coil there is enough
current that it can burn the skin. It has both high voltage and high current.

Due to all these disadvantages and harmful effects of it, the idea of tesla coils is rarely used
nowadays. But the students still consider this as a good application of physics and often study
and research about it.

APPLICATIONS
Today, small Tesla coils are used as leak detectors in scientific high vacuum systems and igniters in arc
welders.
Tesla coils are displayed as attractions at science museums and electronics fairs, and are used to
demonstrate principles of high frequency electricity in science classes in schools and colleges
Low-power Tesla coils are also sometimes used as a high-voltage source for Kirlian photography.
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

A Tesla Coil is a simple coil that creates a high voltage electric field in the air when a small
input power (9V) is provided, this electric filed is strong enough to glow small light bulbs. This
principle was invented by the Nicola Tesla, who also holds the credit for inventing Induction Motors,
AC current, neon bulbs, Remote controls, etc.
The Tesla coil works with the principle of Electromagnetic Induction. According to which, when
a conductor is placed under a varying magnetic field, a small current will be induced inside the
conductor. For a Tesla coil this conductor will be called as the secondary coil and the varying magnetic
field will be produced by the primary coil by passing an oscillating current through the primary coil.
The current transmitted out can be thus light a CFL lamp placed close to it, which means, the concept
wireless electricity found by Tesla was true.

CONCLUSION

 Generates high voltage with high frequency.

 Transmits electrical power wirelessly up to a certain distance depending upon its ratings.

 Principle of Electromagnetic Induction is verified.