Top 10 Greatest Inventions by Nikola Tesla Nikolai Tesla was a man with big ideas; he
has over 300 patents to his name. The problem was that Tesla was way ahead of
his time and a lot of his more elaborate ideas theoretically worked, but never actually panned
out. With that being said, the man was still a
brilliant inventor who gave the world some amazing inventions and was a pioneer in many
fields. These are the 10 best Tesla inventions that
were designed, constructed and tested. 10. The Tesla Coil The Tesla coil was invented in 1891 and it
uses two coils; a primary and a secondary. Each coil has its own capacitor, which is
something that stores energy, like a battery. The coils are connected to a spark gap, which
is just open air where the spark can generate. The result is that the Tesla coil can shoot
lightning bolts, send electric currents through the body and create electron winds. Tesla had developed it because he was obsessed
with powering cities wirelessly. Today, the Tesla Coil is mostly used for entertainment
and can be seen in places like science centers. Some elements of it are also used in radios. Why the Tesla Coil is important is because
it helped engineers understand the nature of electricity better and how to use it. 9. The Magnifying Transmitter In the late 1890s Tesla had become obsessed
with transferring power without wires and he thought that it was possible to do it at
higher altitudes. After securing some funding, Tesla set up
a lab in Colorado Springs in May 1899. There, he built the largest and most powerful
Tesla coil called the Magnifying Transmitter. The Magnifying Transmitter had three coils
and was fifty-two feet in diameter. It generated millions of volts of electricity
and shot lightning bolts that were 130 feet long. They were the biggest man-made lightning at
the time. The problem was that Tesla was a bit too ambitious
and ahead of his time. Wireless electricity wouldn't be developed
until the mid-2010s, and as of 2015, it is not yet common in households. While this specific project did not pan out,
the vision and the scope are still quite impressive. The Magnifying Transmitter was the predecessor
to Tesla's Wardenclyffe tower that was supposed to provide free electricity and communications
to the world. Tesla started working on the project in 1901,
but after financial backers pulled out the project fell apart and in 1915 the site went
into foreclosure. The project also ruined Tesla. He had to file for bankruptcy and had a nervous
breakdown. 8. The Tesla Turbine In the early 20th century the world saw the
rise of the piston engine in automobiles. In an attempt to compete against the piston
engine, Tesla developed his own turbine. It was bladeless and used smooth discs that
spun in a chamber. How it worked was that fuel was combusted
before entering the main chamber that contained the discs. The combustion would make the disks rotate,
which ran the engine. When Tesla tested the engine in 1909, it got
60 percent fuel efficiency, which is impressive considering that currently we only get 42
percent fuel to energy conversion rates. Yet, because of the nature of business, people
saw more value in the piston engine because of fuel sales and it became the norm that
is still in use today. 7. Shadowgraphs In 1895, German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
discovered a mysterious energy that he called X-rays. These X-rays had a strange ability. When he placed photographic film between his
hand and a lead screen, it created an image of the bones in his hand on the film. A short time later, Röntgen went public with
his research and the picture of Röntgen wife’s hand, which was taken December 22, 1895, became
famous. In the picture you can see the bones in her
hand and the wedding ring on her finger. There is some evidence that Tesla knew a little
bit about X-rays before Röntgen made his research public. Tesla’s own research was stopped when a
fire destroyed his lab in 1895, shortly before Röntgen discovered them. When Röntgen published his findings, it helped
inspire Tesla to create his own X-ray using a vacuum tube, which produced pictures that
he called “shadowgraphs.” Tesla is considered the first person in America
to take an X-ray picture. He made a shadowgraph of a foot with a shoe
on it and sent it with a letter to Röntgen, congratulating him on the discovery. Röntgen, in turn, wrote to Tesla commending
him on taking a remarkably clear shadowgraph. Shadowgraphs played an important role in the
development of X-ray machines. After the discovery, people were developing
new X-ray tools, but the image was never that clear. Tesla realized that bulbs with higher voltages
and bulbs with thick walls make for clearer images. Tesla was also one of the first to write that
x rays may be harmful to the body. 6. Radio Who exactly invented radio is a point of contention. What happened was that in 1895, Tesla was
getting ready to transmit a radio signal 50 miles. Before he could do that, his lab burned down
and it delayed the testing. Meanwhile, in England an Italian man named
Guglielmo Marconi was working on wireless telegraphy. Marconi was granted a patent in England in
1896 for his device. His system was much different than the one
Tesla built. Marconi’s only used two circuits and couldn’t
transmit over long distances, such as the Atlantic. Tesla’s invention would use multiple circuits,
which would make it much stronger. Tesla submitted his patent in 1897 in the
United States and it was granted in 1900. When Marconi submitted his radio patent in
1900 to the U.S. Patent Office, it was turned down because it was too similar to Tesla’s. Undeterred, Marconi opened his own company
called the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd, and it had powerful backers, including
English aristocrats, Andrew Carnegie and Tesla’s rival, Thomas Edison. On December 12, 1901, while using a number
of Tesla's patents, including a Tesla oscillator, Marconi was able to transmit a signal across
the Atlantic. In 1904, without giving a clear reason, the
patent office reversed their decision and said that Marconi’s patent was valid, making
him the inventor of the radio. Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1911 and in
1915, Tesla sued Marconi’s corporation. The problem was, at that point in his life,
Tesla was too poor to take on a major corporation. The case wasn’t settled until a few months
after Tesla’s death in 1943 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tesla’s patent. However, the reason for that is, during that
time, Marconi was suing the United States government over patent infringements during
World War I. By reverting the rights back to Tesla, they
would avoid the lawsuit with Marconi. 5. Neon Lamps While fluorescent and neon lights were not
discovered by Tesla, he did make many contributions to the advancement of both. What is interesting is that no one working
with cathode rays, which are the electrons observed in vacuum tubes like neon lights,
really came up with a practical application for the technology. Tesla saw an opportunity, so he experimented
with running electrical particles through gases and he developed four different types
of lighting. For example, he converted black light into
visible light using a phosphorescent substance that he created. He also found a practical use for such a technology
when he created lamps and neon signs. For example, at the World's Columbian Exposition,
otherwise known as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, at his personal exhibit Tesla had neon
signs that were unique designs and written words. The idea became more popular and now neon
lights and signs light up major cities around the world. 4. The Adams Power Plant Transformer House For years, the Niagara Falls Commission was
looking for a company to build a hydroelectric plant that would harness the mighty power
of the falls. At first, they considered Thomas Edison’s
direct current plant, but after witnessing Tesla’s alternating current that was offered
by Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse was offered the contract in 1893. Westinghouse used designs from Tesla and the
biggest problem was getting and keeping funding for such an ambitious task that a lot of people
doubted would work. Yet, when the switch was flipped on November
16, 1896, the Adams Power Plant Transformer House worked and started powering the city
of Buffalo, New York. Ten more generators were built, and they helped
power New York City. The plant was considered revolutionary and
set the standard for modern hydroelectric power plants. 3. The Induction Motor An induction motor is a motor that uses alternating
current and it essentially has two parts - a stator and a rotor. The stator stays stationary and it uses electromagnets
to spin the rotor that is in the middle of it. Induction motors are noted for being durable,
easy to maintain and they are cheap to run. In the 1880s, there were two people who were
working separately on the induction motor; Tesla and Galileo Ferrari in Italy. They both presented their findings in 1888,
with Ferrari presenting his engine two months before Tesla presented his. However, Tesla’s patents held up under the
weight of the evidence. Both had developed the same technology and
came to the same independent conclusion, Tesla had just filed his patents first. The induction motor was incredibly influential
and it is still used in everyday products like vacuums, blow dryers and power tools. 2. Teleautomaton In 1898, at the Electrical Exhibition at Madison
Square Gardens, Tesla showed off an invention he called "teleautomaton" and it was a boat
that was controlled by radio waves. He didn’t even have a patent on it because
the patent office didn’t want to issue one on something that they didn’t think was
feasible. But at the exhibition he proved that it was
possible. He controlled the boat that had some batteries
on it. Through the radio waves, he controlled the
propeller and even the lights on the boat. This invention was a big first in three different
areas, the first is remote controls. Radio waves that control objects are seen
in everyday life, such as television remote controls and garage door openers. Secondly, the boat is also one of the earliest
robots; it was a mechanical object that could be controlled without a human physically touching
it. Finally, the combination of robotics and radio
control technology makes Tesla's boat the great grandfather of drones. 1. Alternating Current
Easily, the most important inventions from Nikolai Tesla involve his contributions to
alternating current (AC). It is important to note that he did not invent
or even discover AC, but his inventions made AC applicable for widespread use and it helped
electrify the world. The story of how Tesla’s AC current came
to be the dominant power system is impossible to tell without talking about Thomas Edison. In his early career, Tesla worked for Edison,
whose company had developed direct current (DC). DC is similar to a battery, it only sends
power out. The problem with DC is that about a mile away
from the power generator, the electricity gets weaker. That is when Tesla developed his advancements
in AC. AC not only sends power out, but it also sends
power back to the source. This made it much more feasible to send large
amounts of energy over a large area. Edison hated AC and thought that Tesla was
completely wrong on the topic. This led to a rift between Tesla and Edison,
which led to Tesla quitting. While Tesla was unemployed, he worked odd
jobs until he was able to raise money for the Tesla Electric Company. His work caught the attention of engineer
and businessman George Westinghouse, who bought most of Edison’s patents involving AC. A pivotal moment in the history of electricity
came down to lighting The Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Edison and Westinghouse both submitted quotes. Edison said he could light the whole fair
for $554,000, but Westinghouse said he could do it for $399,000, so Westinghouse won the
contract. After the fair, AC became more popular and
it is the dominant electrical system that we still use today. Robert Grimminck is a Canadian freelance writer. You can friend him on Facebook, follow him
on Twitter, or visit his website.
