Plasma Toroid
A few days ago I found out about a plasma effect that turned out to be easy to duplicate (since I had most of the parts needed). Basically the globe is a low pressure xenon globe (with some oxygen contamination ie green). The circuit driving the loop of wire is a ~10MHz oscillator running at about 19V and 3 amps.
The oscillator sets up a field that is not enough to ionize the xenon. I used a HV vacuum leak coil to ionize the globe. The mystery is why it forms a stable toroid.
In this video the loop is at the bottom of the globe. The ionized ring is hot, rises to the top of the globe and at some point loses enough energy (because it's getting farther form the coil) and flames out. A new toroid then forms and rises like a smoke ring and decays.
Why the toroid forms in the first place is not something I can explain. I also like the little noises it makes as the toroid forms.
Plasma Toroid
A few days ago I found out about a plasma effect that turned out to be easy to duplicate (since I had most of the parts needed). Basically the globe is a low pressure xenon globe (with some oxygen contamination ie green). The circuit driving the loop of wire is a ~10MHz oscillator running at about 19V and 3 amps.
The oscillator sets up a field that is not enough to ionize the xenon. I used a HV vacuum leak coil to ionize the globe. The mystery is why it forms a stable toroid.
In this video the loop is at the bottom of the globe. The ionized ring is hot, rises to the top of the globe and at some point loses enough energy (because it's getting farther form the coil) and flames out. A new toroid then forms and rises like a smoke ring and decays.
Why the toroid forms in the first place is not something I can explain. I also like the little noises it makes as the toroid forms.