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I suspect that what you actually observed was a plasma discharge inside the glass bulb. Most modern day light bulbs are "backfilled" with a small amount of inert gas (argon) to reduce evaporation of the tungsten filament. Also, your coil is sma emough so that it would not develop a high enough output voltage to generate dangerous "hard" X-rays even if you were to use a truly evacuated tube at the top. However, long exposure to ozone and various nitrogen oxides that are formed within the corona discharge can cause chest pain and headaches. Best wishes and play safely, Bert
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: --Previous Message--
: --Previous Message--
: Is tesla coil able to produce X-rays due to harmonics frequencies ? I know
: that they produce strong E-field , ultaviolet rays , but I'm aware of
: X-rays , alfa , beta or gama rays !!! In varios safety pages on net are
: nothing said about that ....
:
: A Tesla Coil will not directly produce X-rays, alpha rays, or gamma rays.
: Free electrons (or beta particles) are produced as a natural consequence
: of ionization of the air during corona and spark discharges. However, the
: average lifetime of a free electron in air is only about 11 nanoseconds -
: they are quickly captured by oxygen and water vapor molecules to form
: negative ions.
:
: High voltage discharges in air or other gases at STP will not produce
: X-rays except under some very special conditions. These conditions can
: occur during the propagation of lightning or during high power Marx
: Generator discharges. However, these conditions do not occur within Tesla
: Coil discharges.
:
: However, if a highly evacuated glass tube (such as an electron tube or
: X-ray tube) is placed at the top of a high power Tesla coil, high energy
: X-radiation CAN be produced as free electrons (inside the tube) are
: accelerated to high velocities by the high electrical field and they then
: collide with the glass envelope. As the energetic electrons collide with
: the glass envelope, they may also cause the envelope to fluoresce with a
: yellow-green or bright blue color. As the electrons a slowed by the glass,
: they can generate dangerous levels of X-radiation, especially from larger
: (100 kV+) Tesla Coils. Some electrons travelling at a sufficiently high
: velocity could (in theory) pass through the envelope to become beta rays
: (free electons) similar to the way electron beam accelerators operate.
: Electrons created within Tesla Coil spark discharges in air are rapidly
: slowed down and captured by colliding with air molecules, so X-rays are
: not produced within the corona or streamers.
:
: Play safely,
:
: Bert
:
:
: I put really small bulb 5W on TC and inside the bulb was white-blue
: fluoresce and next day I have pain in my head !!! Hopefully , it ended .
: This bulb was used in cristmas tree in decorations . My father said that
: bulb is without any gasses and is probably highly evacueded . Normal bulb
: is filled with argon gases in my country but these bulbs are rated over
: 30W and more .
: I hope i was not exposed
: Thanks for the answer
:
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