Nikola Tesla in his Colorado Springs Laboratory with his amplified emitter, 1899
Even among many great and innovative thinkers in the late 19th century, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla (Nikola Tesla), who discovered the rotating magnetic field, stood out for his tremendous contribution to science.
In his prolific life, Tesla applied for at least 278 patents. Here are some of his most notable inventions.
1. Tesla coil
Tesla coil is probably one of Tesla's most famous inventions and one of his most spectacular inventions. It is the product of his ambition to create a system that can transmit power wirelessly.
The system consists of two parts, primary and secondary coils, both of which have their own capacitors (storage electrical energy, such as batteries). The primary coil is connected to a power source, and receives a large amount of charge from it until the charge destroys the air resistance in the space between the two coils (called the spark gap). This creates a magnetic field that quickly collapses, creating an electric current in the secondary coil. The spark voltage compresses hundreds of times per second between the two coils, charging the capacitance of the secondary coil until it bursts into spectacular current bolts.
Tesla coils have limited practical uses, but it has changed our understanding of electricity, and many of the most important electrical innovations of the 20th century, including TVs and radios, have adopted similar technologies.
Tesla coils in Nikola Tesla's Colorado Springs Laboratory, December 1899.
2. Tesla turbine
Inspired by the huge success of piston engine in the car, Tesla decided to develop its own turbo engine. Also known as the boundary layer turbine and cohesive turbine, Tesla's turbine is unique in design. Unlike traditional turbines, Tesla's design is bladeless, but uses smooth discs that rotate in the cylinder chamber to generate movement.
Tesla's cutting-edge turbine engine never really became popular, although it has obvious advantages over traditional turbines. Its design is not only adaptable, but also cheaper than a blade turbine, and is also impressively efficient, delivering 3,600 rpm and producing 675 horsepower.
3. Radio
You may want to wait, didn’t Gullermo Marconi invent the radio? Well, Marconi's statement proves to be at least debatable. In fact, Tesla made promising progress in the transmission and reception of radio signals in the mid-1890s, until Marconi obtained the first patent for radio telegraph in 1896.
In early 895, Tesla was preparing to send a radio signal to New York West Point from the lab at 33 and 35 South Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, but the disaster happened before his breakthrough test was completed: a building fire destroyed Tesla's lab and took away all the work. A year later, Marconi obtained his first wireless telegraph patent in the UK.
Gullermo Marconi with his early wireless radio telegraph transmitters and receivers, 1897
4. Amplification transmitters
Like many of Tesla's work, the amplification transmitters are an extension of his Tesla coil technology. In 1899, he built a laboratory in Colorado Springs , where he had the space and resources to make the largest Tesla coils to date. He called this three-coil system an amplifier transmitter. It is 52 feet in diameter, produces millions of volts of electricity and produces 130 feet of lightning.
5. Induction Motor
Like many of Tesla's innovations, the invention of induction motors is questioned. In this case, Tesla brought Italian inventor Galileo Ferraris to his post, who more or less developed the same technology at the same time.Although Ferrari first proposed his motor concept, which uses electromagnetic induction to rotate its rotor, Tesla filed his patent before in Italy.
6. Acceptance
It can be said that Tesla’s greatest contribution to mankind is its influence on the development of alternating current (AC). Strictly speaking, maybe it shouldn't be on his list of inventions, but no doubt his technology played a major role in AC becoming the world's dominant electrical system.
Tesla's passion for AC has been strongly questioned by Thomas Edison (Thomas Edison), who worked for him in the 1880s and strongly supported DC. Edison believes that AC power is more dangerous than DC power , and with it comes a very public " current battle ". AC's biggest champion George Westinghouse uses Tesla's induction motors in his fully integrated AC system. Despite Edison's objection, Westinghouse's belief in AC was finally confirmed.
7. Hydropower
One of the most impressive products Tesla has collaborated with George Westinhouse is undoubtedly the Adams Power Station, the world's first hydropower plant. This innovative power has fulfilled a long-standing hope that the powerful power of Niagara Falls, one of North America's most spectacular natural wonders, could be exploited. The project is an indirect result of a competition organized by the International Niagara Falls Commission to find a plan that can do this successfully. The
competition attracted entries from all over the world, including an DC transmission proposal recognized by Edison. But Lord Kelvin, the leader of the committee, was impressed by the AC power displayed by Westinghouse at the 1893 chicago world fair, and he asked Westinghouse and Tesla to develop an AC power transmission solution.
The project proved to be challenging and expensive, but despite growing skepticism from investors, Tesla never doubted that it would eventually prove successful. Finally, on November 16, 1896, the station was activated and the power generated by the revolutionary Adams Power Plant transformer room began to pour into Buffalo, New York. Soon after, ten more generators were built, and the factory's energy was used to electrify New York City.
1905, Westinghouse Electric generator at Edward Dean Adams Power Plant in Niagara Falls.
8. Shadow map
Another area of Tesla research may be curbed by the fire that destroyed his New York laboratory in 1895, involving the emergence of X-ray technology. The famous German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen developed the first X-ray on November 8 of the same year. This breakthrough achievement won him the first Nobel Prize in 1901.
Inspired by Rontgen X-rays, Tesla rekindled its interest and developed a shadow map using vacuum tube . He took a photo of the shoe of one foot, produced in 1896, and is considered the first X-ray in the United States.
9. Neon
Neon is another example of technology that Tesla has advanced rather than invented. Frenchman Georges Claude ushered in the neon era by showing a pair of 38-foot-long neon tubes at the 1910 Paris Motor Show. But something similar to neon lighting was developed decades ago by German glass blower and physicist Heinrich Geißler, who produced neon-like effects by glass tube filled with gases such as argon.
Tesla has several of Geisler's tubes and observes them illuminating continuously as he adjusts the coil frequency. This accidental discovery greatly realized his interest in wireless energy. In 1893, he showed a series of discharge lamps at the Chicago World's Fair that were lit without powering the electrodes or wires.
10. Tesla Valve
Tesla's extraordinary legacy continued to bear fruit nearly 80 years after his death. Just in 2021, scientists revisited his patented "vavular catheter" in 1920, and they identified various new applications for Tesla's century-old design. While Tesla is obviously known for his work in current and circuitry, valves are an interesting example of his genius applying to different scientific fields.
The device has no moving parts and has a series of interconnected teardrop-shaped rings that provide a clear path for the forward flow of the liquid while limiting the speed of the reverse flow. It is believed that the redesigned Tesla valve version could provide an effective alternative to the traditional check valve , allowing flow to be controlled without the need for moving parts.
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