Lightning Info

How many volts and amps are in a lightning strike?

• A typical lightning bolt contains 1 billion volts and contains between 10,000 to 200,000 amperes of current. The average flash would light a 100 watt lightbulb for 3 months.

• The amperage of a typical thunderstorm may vary from 10,000 to 200,000 amps. The power generated by one thunderstorm may be in the neighborhood of several hundred megawatts.

“If only we could harness this energy...”

How long does a lightning strike last?

• Only about 30 microseconds

Where is the most common place for a lightning strike to occur?

• When dealing with lightning it is hard to get a very specific area that is affected more than another by lightning storms, but here is a graph that shows the Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector.

Source........

Jacob's Ladder Questionnaire

Cale Steele...

What is the difference between voltage and amperage?1

Amperage, or current, is a measure of the amount of electrons moving in a circuit.

Voltage is a measure of how much force those electrons are under.

A good analogy that helps to illustrate the difference between voltage and amperage: Say you have a garden hose, the nozzle is closed. You've got pressure but no flow or voltage, but there is no current (amperage). Open the nozzle and the pressure in the hose causes the water to flow - turn on the light and the voltage causes the current to flow (amperage)

How is Ozone made from your device?2

From: Pamela Hughes (phughes@omnilinx.net

The arc is a plasma of hot ionized gas. Molecules like O2 are broken down to the atomic level and ionized. when these ions collide with the surrounding air, they cause chemical reactions... the O can combine with nitrogen and form small amounts of nitrogen oxides, and with O2 to form ozone (O3). However, the high temps in an arc also tend to destroy these molecules too so you'd probably only produce trace amounts if it weren't for the UV given off by the arc. Ultraviolet seems to be the main mechanism for producing O3 as it can ionize in the air far enough from the arc that it will be cool enough for ozone to exist (a spark gives off UV and ionizes the air around it) A glow discharge is better at generating ozone than an arc though, since it maximizes the UV and the pressures and temps are much lower (i.e., put a conductive coating on the outside of a glass tube and a wire down the center of it, then apply enough voltage to produce a glow discharge inside the tube as you pump oxygen at low pressure through the tube. Shortwave UV lamps will produce it too (they use these as sterilizers in dairy barns).

If it wasn’t called a Jacob’s Ladder, what would you call it?3

A Cale’s Ladder sounds like a good alternative name...

Explain basically how your NST works? How does it step the voltage up?4

A basic transformer consists of two sets of coils or windings. Each set of windings is simply an inductor. AC voltage is applied to one of the windings, called the primary winding. The other winding, called the secondary winding, is positioned in close proximity to the primary winding, but is electrically isolated from it.

The alternating current that flows through the primary winding establishes a time-varying magnetic flux, some of which links to the secondary winding and induces a voltage across it. The magnitude of this voltage is proportional to the ratio of the number of turns on the primary winding to the number of turns on the secondary winding. This is known as the “turns ratio.”
To maximize flux linkage with the secondary circuit, an iron core is often used to provide a low-reluctance path for the magnetic flux. The polarity of the windings describes the direction in which the coils were wound onto the core. Polarity determines whether the flux produced by one winding is additive or subtractive with respect to the flux produced by another winding. A basic two-winding transformer is shown in the Figure above.

What are those things on the telephone poles that look like buckets and how do they relate to your project?5

A distributing transformer is a transformer that provides the final voltage transformation in the electric power distribution system, stepping down the voltage used in the distribution lines to the level used by the customer. If mounted on a utility pole, they are called pole-mount transformers (or pole pig). If the distribution lines are located underground, distribution transformers are mounted on concrete pads and locked in steel cases. These are known as pad-mount transformers. Because of weight restrictions transformers for pole mounting are only built for primary voltages under 30 kV.

What is the voltage of a regular power socket?6

The standard amount of voltage for an American wall socket is 120 V.

The standard amount of amperage for an American wall socket is typically either 15 A or 20 A. You can be sure by checking the breaker value in the electric panel that controls the outlet. If it were a 20 A breaker then the total amps for all outlets on the breaker would be 20A.

What is the difference between a parallel and series circuit (please give an example)7

A series circuit has one route for electrons to travel through. If you had two light bulbs on a series circuit you couldn't turn one off without turning off the other.
However a parallel circuit has has more than one route, so you could turn one light on while the other is off.

Why do power companies use alternating current instead of direct current? What is the difference?8

Batteries, fuel cells and solar cells all produce something called direct current (DC). The positive and negative terminals of a battery are always, respectively, positive ­and negative. Current always flows in the same direction between those two terminals.

The power that comes from a power plant, on the other hand, is called alternating current (AC). The direction of the current reverses, or alternates, 60 times per second (in the U.S.) or 50 times per second (in Europe, for example). The power that is available at a wall socket in the United States is 120-volt, 60-cycle AC power.

The big advantage that alternating current provides for the power grid is the fact that it is relatively easy to change the voltage of the power, using a device called a transformer. Power companies save a great deal of money this way, using very high voltages to transmit power over long distances.

What experts will you use?9

Southern Signs Industries
632 Beal Pkwy NW # B
Fort Walton Bch, FL 32548-3513
(850) 863-3436

A science forum for extensive responses.right place!

(1)Voltage/Amperage
(2)Ozone
(3)No Link Used*
(4)Neon Sign Transformer
(5)Distribution Transformer
(6)Voltage/Amperage Amounts
(7)Series & Parallel Circuit
(8)Alternating & Direct Current
(9)Experts
(9)

March 21 - Jacob's Ladder Project Update

 

Progress... has been made on Mason and I's Jacob's Ladder Project.

Today we hooked up our 12,000 Volt Neon Sign Transformer with No-GFI ( Ground Force Indicator ) to a stripped wall socket wire. We connected the black wire to the hot side, and the white wire to the neutral side... The green wire is for the ground, but a ground is not necessary in making a Jacob's Ladder. I fastened a paper-clip, using a pair of pliers, to the tip of a drum stick. When plugged in we used the drum-stick-paper-clip devise to check to see if the Neon Sign Transformer was working. When the metal conductor ( paper clip ) was close enough to the electrodes we saw small arch's and heard  an electric noise. We concluded that the Transformer was working properly, but we forgot to connect the electrodes together to make the arch larger. 

Circuit Symbols

Circuit Symbols

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/science/worksheets/circuitsym.htm

Cell
Battery
Lamp
Buzzer	OR
Motor	OR
Push Switch
Open Switch
Closed Switch
Resistor
Variable Resistor
Wires
Where wires join

Supplies Needed...

The things Mason and I are going to need to find by the end of this weekend to successfully start assembling our Jacob's Ladder project on Monday the 21st are......................

1. Neon Sign Transformer ( Non-Ground Fault Interrupter ) 
2. Pair of Electrodes ( Metal Wire Hanger )
3. Non-Conductive base ( Thick Piece of Wood )
4. High Voltage Wire ( 12-Gauge Hook-Up Wire )
5. Wall Socket Chord ( Stripped )
6. Hammer ( and Nails! )
7. Sandpaper ( If Using Coat Hanger Method )
8. Vice Grip ( Tool to Stretch Wire Hanger )
9. Flip Camera ( For Recording )
10. Attachments ( To Attach any Loose ends )

Will edit if any other supplies are needed...

With these supplies, information, and guidelines posted HERE, we should be able to build a successful

Jacob's Ladder! 

A Jacob's Ladder... In action!

Jacob's Ladder Project

How to build a Jacob's Ladder! 

My helpful source!

A complete Jacob's Ladder!

We are getting our Neon Sign Transformer (Non-GFI) from a local shop in Fort Walton Beach. Besides they transformer, we will need...

How to:

1. High voltage power source. Other examples of high voltage power supplies might be: a furnace ignition transformer, or a flyback transformer from an old TV. You can pretty much use anything you can get your hands on as long as it generates more than five thousand volts (5 kV). 
2. A pair of electrodes. Thin copper tubing works superbly for this, as it is very conductive and easy to bend. You can go the cheap route and use a wire hanger, but be aware that most coat hangers have some type of paint or plastic coating that will have to be removed. (Use a sander to make sure the coating is gone.)
3. A non-conductive base must be used to mount the electrodes. A non flammable base is also a good thing to have if you are worried about setting something on fire. (Note that at excessive voltages, wood no longer stays an insulator, and starts to conduct electricity. If this does happen, you can count on that wood to ignite.)
4. Some high-voltage wire is also recommended. If none is available, it is possible to use some 12 gauge hook-up wire. The thicker the gauge and the insulation the better.

5. If you are using a coat hanger, first untwist the top, and straighten the whole thing out. This can be very difficult, as trying to bend it usually ends with it twisting out of your grip. To solve this problem, stick it in a vice grip! This makes the whole process much easier.

6. When it is more or less straight, you need to clean the coating off of the wire hanger. Here is where the sandpaper becomes useful! Sand the whole thing down with some medium grit paper and wipe it down with some acetone or MEK. Then cut them in half. If you didn't measure the wire hanger before cutting it with result in uneven electrodes. (For special effects, it's perfect!)
7. Drill a pair of holes in either side of your base, and stick the ends of the electrodes in. In order for the electrodes to be close enough, you need to bend them again. Once you get the bottoms close enough, bend them up and flare them out. How far you can flare them depends on your power supply and size of electrodes. 
8. Finally! You should be ready to turn your Jacob's Ladder on... LET THE SPARKS FLY!

Step 6

Finished Jacob's Ladder

12-Gauge hook-up wire

Laser Info!

1) Join the Laser forum.

• Done!!

2)List U.S. laws on laser "pointers".

• According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, more powerful lasers may not be sold or promoted as laser pointers. Also, any laser with class higher than IIIa (more than 5 milliwatts) requires a key-switch interlock and other safety features.
• All laser products offered in commerce in the US must be registered with the FDA, regardless of output power.
• In Utah it is a class C misdemeanor to point a laser pointer at a law enforcement officer and is an infraction to point a laser pointer at a moving vehicle.
• In Arizona it is a Class 1 misdemeanor if a person "aims a laser pointer at a police officer if the person intentionally or knowingly directs the beam of light from an operating laser pointer at another person and the person knows or reasonably should know that the other person is a police officer." (Arizona Revised Statutes §13-1213)
• Real-world situations: On April 30, 2010, Clint Jason Brenner, 36, of Prescott, AZ was found guilty of two counts of endangerment, each a class 6 felony, and it was also found that each was a dangerous offense, for pointing a handheld laser pointer at a Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter responding to a late-night burglary in December 2009. He was give a sentence of two years in prison for each count, to run concurrently
• On November 2, 2009, Dana Christian Welch of Southern California was sentenced to 2.5 years in a federal prison after being found guilty of shining a hand held laser light into the eyes of two different pilots landing Boeing jets at John Wayne Airport.

3) List the main dangers of lasers.

• The output of laser pointers available to the general public is limited (and varies by country) in order to prevent accidental damage to the retina of human eyes. Doctors have reported several cases of permanent eye injury from higher-power hand-held devices sold as laser pointers.
• In the U.K., doctors recommended against laser pointers more powerful than 1 mW.
•  In the U.S., regulatory authorities allow lasers up to 5 mW.
• Swiss doctors reported a case of a boy who bought a 150 mW laser, sold as a "laser pointer," which left him temporarily blind in one eye, and with 20/50 vision in the other eye, after he shone it in a mirror. The boy's vision eventually returned to near-normal.
•  Doctors said that any laser powerful enough to burn a hole in paper, light matches or pop balloons are dangerous and could cause immediate blindness. Laser pointers as powerful as 2,000 mW can be bought on the Internet which are indistinguishable from a low-power device.
• Recent studies show that the risk to the human eye from accidental exposure to light from commercially available class IIIa laser pointers having powers up to 5 mW seems rather small; however, prolonged viewing, such as deliberate staring into the beam for 10 or more seconds, can cause damage.

Class 1

CLASS 1 LASER PRODUCT

A class 1 laser is safe under all conditions of normal use. This means the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) cannot be exceeded.

[edit]Class 1M

LASER RADIATION
DO NOT VIEW DIRECTLY WITH OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS
CLASS 1M LASER PRODUCT

A Class 1M laser is safe for all conditions of use except when passed through magnifying optics such as microscopes and telescopes. Class 1M lasers produce large-diameter beams, or beams that are divergent. The MPE for a Class 1M laser cannot normally be exceeded unless focusing or imaging optics are used to narrow the beam. If the beam is refocused, the hazard of Class 1M lasers may be increased and the product class may be changed. A laser can be classified as Class 1M if the total output power is below class 3B but the power that can pass through the pupil of the eye is within Class 1.

[edit]Class 2

LASER RADIATION
DO NOT STARE INTO BEAM
CLASS 2 LASER PRODUCT

A Class 2 laser is safe because the blink reflex will limit the exposure to no more than 0.25 seconds. It only applies to visible-light lasers (400–700 nm). Class-2 lasers are limited to 1 mW continuous wave, or more if the emission time is less than 0.25 seconds or if the light is not spatially coherent. Intentional suppression of the blink reflex could lead to eye injury. Many laser pointers are class 2.

[edit]Class 2M

LASER RADIATION
DO NOT STARE INTO BEAM OR VIEW
DIRECTLY WITH OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS
CLASS 2M LASER PRODUCT

A Class 2M laser is safe because of the blink reflex if not viewed through optical instruments. As with class 1M, this applies to laser beams with a large diameter or large divergence, for which the amount of light passing through the pupil cannot exceed the limits for class 2.

[edit]Class 3R

LASER RADIATION
AVOID DIRECT EYE EXPOSURE
CLASS 3R LASER PRODUCT

A Class 3R laser is considered safe if handled carefully, with restricted beam viewing. With a class 3R laser, the MPE can be exceeded, but with a low risk of injury. Visible continuous lasers in Class 3R are limited to 5 mW. For other wavelengths and for pulsed lasers, other limits apply.

[edit]Class 3B

LASER RADIATION
AVOID EXPOSURE TO BEAM
CLASS 3B LASER PRODUCT

A Class 3B laser is hazardous if the eye is exposed directly, but diffuse reflections such as from paper or other matte surfaces are not harmful. Continuous lasers in the wavelength range from 315 nm to far infrared are limited to 0.5 W. For pulsed lasers between 400 and 700 nm, the limit is 30 mW. Other limits apply to other wavelengths and to ultrashort pulsed lasers. Protective eyewear is typically required where direct viewing of a class 3B laser beam may occur. Class-3B lasers must be equipped with a key switch and a safety interlock.

[edit]Class 4

LASER RADIATION
AVOID EYE OR SKIN EXPOSURE TO
DIRECT OR SCATTERED RADIATION
CLASS 4 LASER PRODUCT

Class 4 lasers include all lasers with beam power greater than class 3B. By definition, a class-4 laser can burn the skin, in addition to potentially devastating and permanent eye damage as a result of direct or diffuse beam viewing. These lasers may ignite combustible materials, and thus may represent a fire risk. Class 4 lasers must be equipped with a key switch and a safety interlock. Most entertainment, industrial, scientific, military, and medical lasers are in this category.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Old system

Green laser – class IIIb compared to class IIIa

The safety classes in the "old system" of classification were established in the United States through consensus standards (ANSI Z136.1) and Federal and state regulations. The international classification described in consensus standards such as IEC 825 (later IEC 60825) was based on the same concepts but presented with designations slightly different from the US classification.

This classification system is only slightly altered from the original system developed in the early 1970s. It is still used by US laser product safety regulations. The laser powers mentioned are typical values. Classification is also dependent on the wavelength and on whether the laser is pulsed or continuous. For laser classes 1 to 4, see the section on the revised system above.

[edit]Class I

Inherently safe; no possibility of eye damage. This can be either because of a low output power (in which case eye damage is impossible even after hours of exposure), or due to an enclosure preventing user access to the laser beam during normal operation, such as in CD players or laser printers.

[edit]Class II

The blink reflex of the human eye (aversion response) will prevent eye damage, unless the person deliberately stares into the beam for an extended period. Output power may be up to 1 mW. This class includes only lasers that emit visible light. Some laser pointers are in this category.

[edit]Class IIa

A region in the low-power end of Class II where the laser requires in excess of 1000 seconds of continuous viewing to produce a burn to the retina. Commercial laser scanners are in this subclass.

[edit]Class IIIa

Lasers in this class are mostly dangerous in combination with optical instruments which change the beam diameter or power density, though even without optical instrument enhancement direct contatct with the eye for over two minutes may cause serious damage to the retina. Output power does not exceed 5 mW. Beam power density may not exceed 2.5 mW/square cm. Many laser sights for firearms and laser pointers are in this category.

[edit]Class IIIb

Lasers in this class may cause damage if the beam enters the eye directly. This generally applies to lasers powered from 5–500 mW. Lasers in this category can cause permanent eye damage with exposures of 1/100th of a second or less depending on the strength of the laser. A diffuse reflection is generally not hazardous but specular reflections can be just as dangerous as direct exposures. Protective eyewear is recommended when direct beam viewing of Class IIIb lasers may occur. Lasers at the high power end of this class may also present a fire hazard and can lightly burn skin. A few "laser pointers" at 300 mW visible green output are now available in this category.

[edit]Class IV

Lasers in this class have output powers of more than 500 mW in the beam and may cause severe, permanent damage to eye or skin without being magnified by optics of eye or instrumentation. Diffuse reflections of the laser beam can be hazardous to skin or eye within the Nominal Hazard Zone. Most entertainment, industrial, scientific, military, and medical lasers are in this category.^{[citation needed]}