Coil Conundrum
The purpose of our experiment was to determine whether type of metal or surface area had an effect on the distance away from a Tesla coil for it to produce a charge. We did this by measuring the distance that the metal was from the Tesla coil each time a charge was emitted. The experiment was conducted in the dark so that the electrical discharges were easily seen. To analyze our data we used a two-factor Design of Experiment to find which, if any, of the factors were significant. We accepted our hypothesis, which stated that copper with the smallest surface area would produce the longest visible arc. For our parsimonious equation we decided that all of the factors were significant, although they were all low values. Because all of the effects were numerically close, we decided each factor was significant with metal having the largest effect.
Research Done By:
Emily Rice
Warren Mott High School
Arthur Schober
Lake Shore High School
Warren Consolidated Schools