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Anybody understand what kind of power supply is being used to produce these captured lightning sculptures. They say its over two million volts but I find this hard to believe. I also don't understand why they need to be struck to produce this. Its beautiful the way it continues to spark even after the pulse has passed through the block of material.
IIRC they use an electron gun (in vaccuum) to shoot electrons in to the plastic to the point that they become embedded in high enough quantities that a massive charge builds up inside the plastic. I don't think 2million volts is applied to the electron injector, but rather the voltage between the charges inside the plastic is 2MV.
The reason it has to be struck to cause the effect is that the physical trauma causes a disruption in the system which avalanches. Think of the plastic block as an array of charged caps, and striking one is like shorting a cap.
Registered Member #30
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706
It's done with a "Dynamitron" electron beam accelerator, as Bert says in his videos.
The Dynamitron is designed for industrial irradiation, and it produces 5MeV electrons that can easily travel through a few feet of air. They also travel through acrylic, but only for a short distance before becoming lodged inside the plastic block. When the block comes out of the accelerator it is literally stuffed full of excess electrons.
Registered Member #350
Joined: Mon Mar 27 2006, 05:14PM
Location:
Posts: 106
Is it somehow possible to create something like that at home? Do you really need 5MV. Maybe 1 MV is enough for small pieces of acrylic. A small beam current of e.g. 1µA should be sufficient, you just have to irradiate the acrylic block for a while. But I guess you would still need shielding around the setup to protect against x-rays. It would be great if there was a simpler way to do this that doesn't require an electron accelerator. What if you simply take a piece of acrylic and put positiv charge on one side and negative charge on the other? Could that work too or does the charge have to be inside the material?
Registered Member #15
Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068
DrZoidberg wrote ...
Is it somehow possible to create something like that at home? Do you really need 5MV. Maybe 1 MV is enough for small pieces of acrylic. A small beam current of e.g. 1µA should be sufficient, you just have to irradiate the acrylic block for a while. But I guess you would still need shielding around the setup to protect against x-rays. It would be great if there was a simpler way to do this that doesn't require an electron accelerator. What if you simply take a piece of acrylic and put positiv charge on one side and negative charge on the other? Could that work too or does the charge have to be inside the material?
Bert is one of the leading experts in high voltage in the United States. He has elaborate equipment for his coin shrinking endeavors and much much more. I'm sure if it could be done at home, Bert would have a way to do it. From speaking with Bert years back, he pays quite a pretty penny to rent time for the electron accelerator.
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Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
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What exactly would happen if you put some uv curing polymer in a box with a HV electrode and a magnetic stirrer, letting it stir for a while and then curing it with an UV lamp?
Can the polymer store sufficient static charge to get destructive discharges when hit by a ground pin? If not, why not?
Registered Member #350
Joined: Mon Mar 27 2006, 05:14PM
Location:
Posts: 106
Pinky's Brain wrote ...
What exactly would happen if you put some uv curing polymer in a box with a HV electrode and a magnetic stirrer, letting it stir for a while and then curing it with an UV lamp?
Can the polymer store sufficient static charge to get destructive discharges when hit by a ground pin? If not, why not?
If you have a 2MV HV electrode. But I think the ions inroduced into the polymer would quickly move to the surface.
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Lichtenberg Figures
