The Many Inventions of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla - Tesla Science Center

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian engineer, born 1856, who is credited with the invention of a long-distance radio, alternating current, magnifying transmitter, and the man Tesla automobiles are named after. However, unlike his contemporaries, he was unable to achieve financial success from his inventions. After graduating from the Technical University of Graz and the University of Prague, where he studied physics, Tesla immigrated to the United States. In 1884, Tesla reached New York and was hired by Thomas Edison. Tesla worked as an engineer, impressing Edison with his ingenuity. However, he decided to quit shortly after he was hired.

After quitting, Tesla did not find much luck at first, but he found investors to back his research on alternating current. Many in the scientific community caught wind of his work and he was invited to speak to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. There he met George Westinghouse, another electrical engineer and alternating current experimenter. Westinghouse offered Tesla a job where he was able to work on many of his inventions.

Alternating Current

Alternating current is a type of electrical current which reverses itself and changes direction continuously. While Tesla worked under Edison, he was asked to improve upon Edison’s direct current idea, which had the electrical current move in only one direction. But by this time, Tesla had quit and perfected his alternating current design under Westinghouse. While Tesla tried to patent his idea, those patents were later given to Westinghouse and Tesla was unable to profit off of alternating current.

Tesla Turbine

Tesla found a way to improve on the turbine engines of the time. The common turbines relied on blades, and they wasted fuel. He developed a piston engine to power automobiles. By merging different disks to create a centrifugal pump, Tesla’s turbine was more fuel efficient.

Tesla Coil

The Tesla Coil is an electrical circuit that was created to explore concepts of high-frequency and high-voltage. Using ordinary parts of the time like a power supply, a large capacitor where current builds up, the coil which acts as the transformer, and spark-gap acts as electrodes, Tesla was able to create something new. The Tesla Coil was patented and was to be used in more efficient electrical lighting systems.

Magnifying Transmitter

The Magnifying Transmitter was built upon the Tesla Coil. The transmitter was a means for everyone to be able to use wireless power for free. The currents were sent from different circuits on top of a tower. He was able to connect a wire to the tower and run it around his lab and power different devices wirelessly. The proposed transmitter could send electrical currents a kilometer away at most.

Radio

In 1895, Tesla’s lab burned down and a lot of his work was lost. An incomplete invention was a radio which could transmit a signal up to fifty miles away. A British scientist was able to create a radio similar to Tesla’s unfinished design and patent it before Tesla was able to. If Tesla had completed this invention, his radio would have been stronger than the British scientist’s radio.

Tesla also used radio transmission to control a toy boat. He was able to light the boat up, steer it, and control the engine. While it seems like a radio powered toy boat isn’t much of a feat, today’s drones are based on this technology. Some wondered if this technology could be used in warfare, but Tesla saw it as a means to automate labor.

Tesla’s Last Years

Tesla lived in the New York hotel for his last decades, still working on different inventions. However, his physical and mental health started fading. He spent his final day with the New York pigeons, feeding them and communicating with them. Many of the scientist’s inventions were lost in the fire and his research was confiscated by the government after he passed. Nikola Tesla was a brilliant engineer and physicist who was unable to find long term success in his inventions.

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~ Edited by Christian Mueth

References:

1. https://teslasciencecenter.org/nikola-tesla-inventions/
2. https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/nikola-tesla
3. https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ins/lab_tescoil.html

This article was originally published at the Teach-Technology Organization, Inc. online technology blog. I volunteer as a tech blog writer at this organization, which is dedicated to bridging the gap between seniors and technology. You can read this article (and many more) at the Teach Technology site.