TCBA founder, Harry Goldman and the TCBA logo

TCBA - Tesla Coil Builders Association

Devoted to the construction, operation and theoretical analysis of the Tesla coil

TCBA Volume 4 - Issue 1

Page 12 of 18

Twenty plates, a dielectric of 7.8 with each plate having an area of 100 square inches separated by 1/8" glass (.125), one would develop a capacitance of approximately .026 microfarads. If you can get your hands on some Titanium, you can expect a much larger capacity due to the dielectric constant involved.

As you can see from the table, castor oil arid window glass rate very high in availability and usefulness. As previously mentioned in TCBA NEWS, plates separated by glass and immersed in transformer oil, castor oil, or mineral oil are quite effective and have ample breakdown protection. (Caution, transformer oil may be hazardous to your health, a gallon of castor oil may be too!)

Table

DIELECTRIC CONSTANTV/0.001"
AIR1.020
ALSIMAG 1965.7240
BAKELITE5.0300
CASTOR OIL4.7
CELLULOSE ACE3.6400
FIBER6.0160
FORMICA4.8450
GLASS, WINDOW7.8225
GLASS, PYREX4.8335
MICA5.44000
MYCALEX7.4250
PAPER, ROYAL3.0200
PLEXIGLAS2.8990
POLYETHYLENE2.31200
POLYSTYRENE2.6600
PORCELAIN5.670
QUARTZ, FUSED3.81000
STEATITE5.8200
TEFLON2.11500
TITANIUM140
TRANSFORMER OIL2.2

FINDING THE CAPACITANCE OF A SPHERE

C (picofarads) = d (diameter) x 1.4

FINDING THE CAPACITANCE OF A DISK

C (picofarads) = d (diameter) x 0.889

FINDING THE CAPACITANCE OF A CYLINDER

C (picofarads) = d x 2

Capacitor Computer Program

by E. Benson Scott, II, M.D.

LIST

10 HOME

20 PRINT “DETERMINE CAPACITY”

30 PRINT ”@1MHZ V/0.001 INCH”

50 PRINT

55 PRINT “AIR 1.0 20”

56 PRINT “ALSIMAG 196 5.7 240”

57 PRINT “BAKELITE 5.0 300”

58 PRINT “CASTER OIL 4.7”

59 PRINT “CELLULOSE ACE 3.6 400”

60 PRINT “FIBER 6.0 160”

61 PRINT “FORMICA 4.8 450”

62 PRINT “GLASS, WINDOW 7.8 225”

65 PRINT “GLASS, PYREX 4.8 335”

67 PRINT “MICA 5.4 4000”

68 PRINT “MYCALEX 7.4 250”

69 PRINT “PAPER, ROYAL 3.0 200”

70 PRINT “PLEXIGLAS 2.8 990”

71 PRINT “POLYETHYLENE 2.3 1200”

73 PRINT “POLYSTYRENE 2.6 600”

74 PRINT “PORCELAIN 5.6 70”

76 PRINT “QUARTZ, FUSED 3.8 1000”

78 PRINT “STEATITE, 5.8 200”

79 PRINT “TEFLON 2.1 1500”

80 PRINT “TITANIUM 140”

85 PRINT “TRANSFORMER OIL 2.2”

200 PRINT

201 INPUT “DIELECTRTIC CONSTANT ”;K

203 IF K < 0 THEN GOTO 10

204 IF K > 150 THEN GOTO 10

219 PRINT

300 INPUT “AREA OF PLATE IN INCHES (0 IF UNKNOWN) ”;A

305 PRINT

310 IF A = 0 THEN GOSUB 3000

400 INPUT “SEPARATION OF PLATES IN INCHES ”;D

450 PRINT

500 INPUT “NUMBER OF PLATES ”;N

510 IF N < 2 THEN GOSUB 4000

600 PRINT

700 C = .224 *(K * A / D) * (N - 1)

800 PRINT C;” PICAFARADS”

830 C = C / 1000000

850 PRINT C;” MICROFARADS”

900 END

3000 INPUT “LENGTH ”;L

3002 INPUT “WIDTH ”;W

3003 PRINT

3005 A = L * W