Lance

I dont know, I kind of like the way ozone smells.

http://sci-spot.com/Chemistry/iodine.htm <---linkage

I finished Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion a few weeks ago. Great books.

I burned ears into him with my neon sign transformer then I abandoned him in my lab.

Thanks!

I just want to start by saying that despite all the warnings for beginners tesla coiling is a great hobby. Don’t let people discourage you will warnings about horrible deaths and going into debt. Next I would like to say how incredibly dangerous tesla coiling is and the huge expense of building one. Before building one do as much research as possible and plan everything out. If you don’t plan everything out you WILL end up with parts that don’t work (such as capacitors, transformers, heart, lungs, ECT.) Also I will NOT be held responsible if you do die a horrible death. There is another tesla coil thread here. Be sure to go to http://web.tampabay.rr.com/swilson9/teslamap.html and download tesla map. You should also think about where you plan on building/testing your tesla coil. It’s hard to do it outside because of the brightness of the sun and the complaining or your neighbors. It’s hard to do this inside because of a decent ground and the malfunctioning of your computer. I do it in the lab in my basement and I use the cold water pipe for my ground. Just a though. A tesla coil is an air core resonant transformer. They are using for generating huge voltages.

In fact it has very little resistance at all. There was a guy who performed on stage with a tesla coil and he would attract the streamers to his body. One day the streamers contacted a mains outlet and mains electricity flowed through the ionized streamers and into the guy attracting them. Needless to say the guy died.

ummm... Its the last item on the last link...

What?! Lakes and pools are at the same level as the surrounding land so that doesn’t make much of a difference. Also, generally during a thunderstorm it’s raining too... which would make the ground even more conductive AND grounded... I think this is a petty argument anyway. It may not be safe to be near water during a thunderstorm but that doesn’t mean it’s any less safe not to be around water.

If you say "I'm too stupid to read the above notice" then they bring you to the sesame street web site. Good stuff.

Yes, that would make a difference. Sharper objects have a lower break-out voltage than round objects. That’s why the toroid of tesla coils are round. They build up a higher voltage before breaking out so the arcs are longer. However, I'm not really sure how to apply this particular problem. That would make a golf club more susceptible than a tree.

Sorry! I meant low... not slow.

OK, like I said there are just too many variables to say what would/not being safe. We don’t have enough information. That’s why I asked for a pretty picture. We are arguing about completely separate scenarios, both of which are not impossible. On individual scenarios we also have completely different reason why it would/not be safe.

Of course you would get a current through you! That’s what Fred showed you! The current wouldn’t be any wear near enough to electrocute you though. Fred showed this perfectly. Remember there was a current flowing through Fred with the aluminum but it was only 0.4V. The voltage that passed through Fred would be similar to what would pass through you. 0.4V!!!! Electricity does take all paths but not at the same power. Also remember: Electrocute = Death Shock= feeling of current flowing through you Also take into consideration that when my coil is turned on neon lights with no contact will light up. This is a perfect example of electricity taking all paths but different power. The electricity is flowing through the air but the current is so low that it’s not visible.

When lightning strikes, the air heats up and that path lowers its resistance an incredible amount. The resistance of the remaining paths is massive compared to the one path. So of course lightning will travel all paths but because of the huge resistances involved that doesn’t mean it will be visible or even measurable. Theoretically you would be correct, but in practice it doesn’t always work out. Edit: Nobody else has anything to say about Fred? Sheesh.... I thought it was funny...

That’s the real question. But there are other complications. I have been told that because the ocean is so deep it acts as an insulator. But a buoy would be chained to the bottom of the ocean (so the buoy would be grounded). Therefore if the buoy was struck you would be OK. If you were In-between the buoy and the surface of the ocean where the lightning struck then you probably would feel a bit of something. Lightning will travel over the surface of the ocean till it either dissipates or finds a grounded buoy. There are just too many complications to say general rules like, "you will be shocked" or, "you will not be shocked".

Do you relize this is the exact same argument as in the faraday thread? Why would you get shocked? The water is grounded.

Don't be sorry, Arguing is more entaining than doing nothing all day. Yes, thats exacly what I'm saying. If you huged a lightning rod and lightning struck it you would be ok. I think in some houses, some devices(like security systems) use the cold water pipe as a ground. This does not mean its unsafe to take a cold shower. I use the cold water pipe as the ground for my coil also.

Ok, maybe I need to clarify this a little. I'm not talking about above-ground pools, I’m only talking about below-ground pools where the water level is the same as ground level (If not lower). Let me ask you this. If lightning struck a buoy 5 feet away from me (in an ocean) do you think I would be electrocuted?

That's what I thought too... But when I was trying to make tons of Potassium Hydroxide I left it on overnight one of the electrodes completely reacted... I'm not sure why platinum but I have read that it’s completely inert in electrolysis and I know they use them in those little glass electrolysis machine things.

If you plan on doing this for any amount of time you really need some platinum wire. The surface area of the electrode also makes a BIG difference.