Hey I’m Jake and welcome to a new show called
Jake Plays With Electricity.
This will probably also be the last episode of Jake Plays With Electricity not because
I am going be electrocuted although that would make good content
today what we're doing everything is pretty much safe
I think.
But we are going to be playing with a plasma orb. Like one of these!
You’ve probably seen these before, they were one of my favorite toys when I was a wee boy
because what they do is very interesting.
If you don’t have one at home, a physical one good news here's a
website for you. You can interact with it a little bit, but it's not the same
with a real one we're gonna be doing some fun experiments
So if you do need a real life plasma orb good news!
These that I have right here are from the Curiosity Box. The Curiosity Box If you don't know, it's a.. Hannah
Hit me! Oh goodness. You got some arms, you got some strong arms, Hannah.
This Curiosity Box X.
These come in Curiosity Box X
It's a thing that Michael, Kevin and I spend a lot of time on.
It's a quarterly subscription that we make everything in it besides the book and the game
there's always a book and a game, are designed by us.
So I would highly recommend checking it out, there's a link at the top of the description,
You can get a plasma orb that we made in it. And also it's good for your brain
it's a great way to support Vsauce, but more importantly it's a great way to support
everyone's brain.
Because we donate a portion of the proceeds from this Box to Alzheimer’s research and have so
far we've donated over 100k.
that's right $100k!
Anyway, back to the Plasma Orb or as we call it Inq's Plasma Orb.
Ok it's turned on. What’s happening in here?
Well the short answer is that inside this enclosure, electrons are being sent out through
the atoms of the gas inside.
This causes the atoms to release photons of light.
Now, when we touch the orb with a flange or a finger our body is providing a lower resistance discharge
path for the electrons which means more current flows and the filament becomes brighter than
it was when I wasn’t touching it.
And usually these are filled with neon gas but can also have helium, argon, krypton,
and xenon.
So we have three different colors. This one's purple, this one has a green color to it.
And then we also have one that is blue.
At the centre of a plasma ball is a rather large alternating voltage, typically a few kilovolts
oscillating at around 30 kHz.
And something cool you can do is get some speaker and place the tip of the speaker plug
against the orb.
You can actually listen to the frequency.
The low density of the gas in the orb makes the electrical discharge significantly more
than in our regular atmospheric environment.
These tendrils of plasma spread from the center, a version of a Tesla coil, in a bid to reach
earth.
So when you touch the globe its almost an enhanced path to earth which is why these
tendrils are attracted to your hand if you touch the orb.
For this next bit we need to turn off the lights.
The alternating voltage at the centre creates electromagnetic waves, and the tendrils of
plasma act as antennae, meaning that the extent of the electromagnetic field surrounding the
ball is significantly larger than the orb itself.
If we take a fluorescent light and place it near or on the orb the electrons inside are
accelerated, and those electrons create an electric current, which causes the bulb to
light up. And if we have it a little bit like it's not even touching anymore it's still illuminated.
Let's try a little bit of a bigger bulb.
See if this one works. Woah! There it goes!
That's pretty cool!
Again if we pull it away it dies.
Now just for fun let's try this giant one.
And look at that.
Woo we did it!
Ok, let’s turn the lights back on.
For this next one, find an old or broken calculator and rip out the screen.
I've already done the dirty work and ripped it out so here it is.
If we place it on the orb it should start to function again, we should see
Random lines and symbols appearing. Let's see what happens.
Oh yeah look at that!
Fun plasma fact, plasma is the fourth state of matter
After liquid, gas, solid and then plasma
Ooh actually, one other fun thing is this. Let me grab it real quick.
If you put aluminum foil on it, you can actually hear it similar to what you could do with
the speakers, and the jack - Ha Jack. Different jack. -
similar to what you could do withe speakers and getting the jack input
putting it up to this and hearing the frequency. You can't hear the sound of the frequency
but you can hear this. Which I think is pretty cool.
(sizzling)
Hear that it's sizzling almost.
On the aluminum foil. Pretty dang cool.
Good catch!
If you want to get the plasma orb you can get it in the latest curiosity box.
again link down there.
Michael, Kevin and I are very very proud of this
we spent a lot fo time on it like I said.
and people seem to really enjoy it so I hope you do too.
And in addition to that, I hope you enjoy being as beautiful
And smart and talented as we all know that you are
So keep it up... wash your face. Every night maybe?
I don't know is that what kids do?
Yeah, uh... what else should, what other word of wisdom can we say.
Floss. Floss your teeth.
Answer your texts within a few days.
And as always...
That wasn't a very good throw.
Thanks for watching