I want to experiment, what do I need?

[justcurious]

Greetings,

Ever since my mother (working nuclear physicist) sent me some links related to the Electric Universe, the thunderbolts project has captured my imagination.
Recently I have been watching and listening to the Youtubes intently, all of them! I even started reviewing the excellent MIT 802 (electromagnetism) online youtube courses in order to refresh my memory, as I completed my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering over 15 years ago and never worked in the field. I am half-way through, focusing on the qualitative nature of electricity (I am not doing mathematics exercises.. yet). I also enjoyed the mini-courses and overviews of plasma science on this website, I did have a very hard time finding comprehensible sources of info on the net, thanks for the great "starter" guide. It did answer many of the simple questions that were bothering me (ie why ions in space don't combine -> kinetic/thermal energy dummy!).

I noticed that many of the great discoveries in the past couple of hundred years are usually pretty simple to recreate, and that so many great discoveries in the field of electricity were in fact accidental (with the help of lots of experimenting and keen observation).

Well, I feel that I have the toolbox necessary (basic maths and knowledge of electricity) to embark on a fascinating journey of exploration and discovery.

I would like to start experimenting with electricity myself, and be able reproduce interesting experiments with plasma and also with water (ie famous water bridge experiment, Kelvin electric water dripping experiment). Then eventually, once I have sufficient knowledge, move on to the types of experiments and observation that I can contribute back to this marvellous project. But I don't know where to start. What I need, where I can buy it, what tools I may need, safety measures, how much money, etc. I live in Canada so perhaps US or Canadian based suppliers might be ideal. Right now all I have is a commercial plasma ball and some neodymium magnets, copper wires, resistors and LEDs (LOL). Would be nice to be able to make my own vacuum chambers and plasmas of different types.

Thank you all for this wonderful website, overflowing with fabulous information, conversations and ideas. Hopefully one day I can contribute something back.

Sincerely,

Sam Falaki
Montreal, Canada

[Sparky]

Sam, sounds to me that you need to be in an academic environment. Are you near a university that has a plasma physics department?

[justcurious]

I was just thinking of that last night.
There seems to be a plasma physics department at the University of Montreal http://plasma.phys.umontreal.ca
I'll try and get in touch with them, maybe they know some local suppliers.
I'm not sure if enrolling would be a good idea, maybe they can let me take one or two courses withut necessarily embarking on a master's degree. I don't have ambitions of getting a degree or publishing articles, and my impression was that if I enroll in a master's degree or get into an academic environment, I will get boxed into a "inch wide and mile deep" (borrrowed the expressin from Talbot). Shouldn't I be able to figure this stuff out on my own?
Are the labs really that difficult to setup? If Birkeland could do it over a hundred years ago with very old technology and materials, I figured I should be able to do it.
I'll check with the physics department at the local university, hopefully they are friendly, but if I get sbnobbed, I'll come back here begging where universities get their supplies from etc, because I have no clue (yet) where to start, but I;ll get there one way or another. I'm getting obsessed with this electric universe thing

[Vasa]

That is excellent. Is your mother of the opinion that the EU ideas have merit?

Please keep us informed of your progress and research.

There is a thread on the planetary science section where a poster has been experimenting with EDM on a CRT screen to mimic discharges on planetary surfaces. I have yet to complete the thread but maybe you can grab some ideas from it.

[justcurious]

Thanks. I checked out the thread but my TV is of a newer tube type (thinner than the standard old school tubes). i don't get that familiar electrostatic feel When rubbing my hand over it.
Mum is open to the EU idea or else she wouldn't have sent me the EU links.
Wouldn't qualify her as a "convert" but certainly finds interest and when I ask her anything the answer is always "maybe" which I take as "go figure it out then". For example, was dark matter and energy invented so that it can fit theoretical models... "maybe".

Changing topics slightly... when I look at the website of the plasma department at university of montreal, looks like a publications machine to me. Just comparing the titles of the papers for example with those of Perrat:

Perrat - The Evidence For Electrical Currents in Cosmic Plasma, A. L. Peratt, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 18, p.26 (1990) (548KB).

University of Montreal - Levasseur O., Stafford L., Gherardi N., Naudé N., Blanchard V., Blanchet P. and Riedl B. Formation of superhydrophobic wood surfaces using atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge in Helium-Hexamethyldisiloxane gas mixtures. Plasma Processes and Polymers

McGill University plasma group is part of the chemistry department... and not much seems to be going on there.

I'll guess I'll start with cat fur and glass, and perhaps a vander graff machine.

Will try and reproduce the T. T. brown experiment as a start, should be a feasible basement experiment.
I guess if working with electricity in a lab an oscilloscope is a must have. Been having trouble finding suppliers of universities and highschools. If anyone can suggest some suppliers o kits and so on, that would be really nice.

[Sparky]

Sam, about how old are you? You appear to be rushing something that takes years to learn. If you are young, I'd suggest to slow down, start reading and get all the basics before you start spending money on o-scopes and such. The experiments that you are suggesting have been done and videos are probably available. Doing an experiment, without having picked up the basics and current understanding may well be a waste of time and money.

There are some colleges here that are tuition free. How about there?

gl

http://www.amazing1.com/ for hvps..

[tayga]

... when I look at the website of the plasma department at university of montreal, looks like a publications machine to me.

That's an astute observation that describes many university departments the world over.

Obtaining foundation knowledge of your subject is relatively inexpensive and obtaining it outside of the academic system, if possible, would allow you to avoid indoctrination and build your own understanding. This would, in turn, give you a real advantage in terms of your capacity for original thought.

You would then run into the not insignificant problem of funding. Research is expensive. So...

If you entered a course of study at a university armed with the awareness that an undergraduate degree is simply an exercise in programming your thinking, you could retain your ability to think and progress to postgraduate study where you could get serious about funded research.

However, once you start accepting money to do research you lose your autonomy and have to research what your paymaster wants you to research. The way to deal with this is to work in an area closest to your personal interest and use your funded equipment to do you own work 'out of hours'. In my opinion, this is your best bet. Be warned, though, that obtaining a science PhD might require all of your time. This means that doing your own thing as well would take absolute dedication.

[justcurious]

Sam, about how old are you? You appear to be rushing something that takes years to learn. If you are young, I'd suggest to slow down, start reading and get all the basics before you start spending money on o-scopes and such. The experiments that you are suggesting have been done and videos are probably available. Doing an experiment, without having picked up the basics and current understanding may well be a waste of time and money.

There are some colleges here that are tuition free. How about there?

gl

http://www.amazing1.com/ for hvps..

Thanks for the tip.
I'm 43 years old, 2 jobs a wife and three young children LOL.
You are right, and I realized that I'm a bit over-enthusiastic and optimistic and need to learn more prior to buying oscilloscopes.
I find that the MIT free online courses on youtube are excellent, that's where I am brushing up on my electromagnetism and vector math and multivariable calculus.
That site you suggested seems awesome.

[tayga]

I'm 43 years old, 2 jobs a wife and three young children LOL.

That'll teach me to prejudge. Well, my advice was aimed at a teenager. It might not suit in your case.

I did my degree part time. Started when I was 37, graduated when I was 40 and then did a PhD.

It's a tough task financially, though. You'd probably be better off doing the online course, as you suggest

[Sparky]

Oh, and don't forget to get a few of these:

[Goldminer]

Oh, and don't forget to get a few of these:

i-SPEED FS has been designed by Olympus predominantly for the Ballistics market and was developed as a result of direct customer feedback. Incorporating all of the features of the i-SPEED 3 camera which have made it such a success the i-SPEED FS also benefits from a recording rate of upto 1 million frames per second and an electronic global shutter of 200 nanoseconds.

My comment: in the duration of 200 nanoseconds, a light pulse has traveled 200 feet. The light pulse would be a blur. To stop the light pulse in its tracks, a femtosecond shutter is needed.

[justcurious]

Thank goldminer, that is a great suggestion.
I'll have to check if they have any in stock at BestBuy LOL.
Seriously though, I think it could in very handy.

[Sparky]

To stop the light pulse in its tracks, a femtosecond shutter is needed.

[Goldminer]

To stop the light pulse in its tracks, a femtosecond shutter is needed.

Figuratively speaking, Spark. I meant "in order to avoid a blurred picture."

[justcurious]

I read that these cameras sell for $150k and up
I had already started making plans to film water flowing, electrical arc'ing, and a host of other things... guess I'll have to settle for watching other people's videos.