[PBS Digital Studios intro]
[IOTBS intro]
I'm here with Dianna from Physics Girl and we're here in Austin, Texas at
ArcAttack Studios
"Howdy" and this is king beat
I just took a spin through the car wash to spruce up
for our shoot today
notice how the water beads up and rolls off my sweet frame
King Beat I don't think you're waterproof
[GLITCHING] I just took a spin...
[GLITCHING]
Don't worry he does that all the time
I'm sure that we can fix this
So what is ArcAttack
This is ArcAttack
[MUSIC]
Arcattack makes music using singing Tesla coils the notes that you hear
are coming right out of the air
they're actually made by the electricity
[MUSIC]
but before we explain how these coils make music we have to explain what a
Tesla coil is
[APPLAUSE]
In the late 19th century Nikola Tesla divides the machine that he
claimed to one day transmit electricity around the world without wires instead
using the air and even Earth itself
ultimately the Tesla coil failed to revolutionize how we power our lives but
they're still really cool a Tesla coil is basically a big transformer
when they're not hanging with Shia Labeouf, a transformer's job is to amplify voltages
and Tesla coils do this using a trick called resonance a Tesla coil is a
transformer
this one's a little special because it uses a tuned secondary coil so the top
load and the secondary coil form a tuned circuit so that means that every time we
put energy into ahead its resonant frequency the voltage of the top load
gets higher and higher, until eventually it gets so high that it becomes a lightning bolt
so putting in energy at the resonant frequency means you're matching the frequency that
you're pumping energy in with the frequency that this is oscillating
yeah exactly
and every time you're putting energy into the system is still is retaining
some of the energy from the last cycle so that's why it keeps building up
it's because it's storing it
Imagine you're pushing a kid on a swing set by
pushing at exactly the right moment
even small forces can add up keep pushing at the right moment and you
could send the kid
flying over the top
Well so we don't usually think of the air as a conductor
but this is making just so much voltage that it makes that happen
yeah the atmosphere will actually break down and become a conductor when you see
the purple spark you're seeing the nitrogen in the air ionized so that
means that we're just trading electrons between atoms
ok so that's how Tesla coil works but how do you make music with one
so we've all listen to a speaker where the the membrane of the speaker is
vibrating air at a specific frequency so that's actually pushing the molecules of
air back and forth that reaches our ears and we hear that frequency with a Tesla
coil as your ionizing the air
it's getting really really hot and the air is expanding so you're getting these
shock waves at the right frequency to make a note
let's say you wanted to make like an eighth note 440 Hertz
we're actually making 440 pops per second
exactly
So how do you get lightning to strike 440 times per second
I'll use a computer controller we're here with John from arcattack John how
do you turn music into lightning
so as a composer of architect I write the music and then I converted into a
format called MIDI, and MIDI is essentially a musical programming language and once
I get the midi file all composed, I put it onto one of these guys a little SD card
and we plug it into this box down here this box takes the MIDI and transmits it
to the Tesla Coils over a fiber optics cable like this guy right here and once
it gets to the Tesla Coil it interprets that MIDI data
and tells it to play a certain note, say we want to play the note A which is 440 Hertz we
turn the smart on and off 440 times a second
the end result is just about the most electrifyingly, entertaining thing I've
ever seen
but you know what they say, you never really understand an instrument until
you play it
the idea of this suit is that I am becoming a human Faraday cage
faraday cages are pretty complicated but an easy way to put it is it keeps the
voltage potential of your body all the same
right so if your head is at a million volts and your feet are also at a
million volts then your whole body is has zero volts of potential and you need
a voltage potential in order to be electrocuted
I'm ready
[MUSIC]
In the Faraday suit any exposed skin can leave me burned or electrocuted
I'm also wearing a hat so my hair the catch on fire
I wanted to shoot lightning from my fingers but with hundreds of thousands
of volts in my hand a fist is a much safer shape
[MUSIC]
So singing Tesla coils aren't the only thing that ArcAttack does
Why don't you follow me over to Dianna's channel we've got another video about
how electromagnets can be used to blow up cans
Goggle up
[LOUD NOISE]
Oh and if you want to know what is like to be inside those Tesla coils we shot a
360 video and it is pretty awesome, links to all that down and description and uh
Stay Curious
Brought to you by Chet Hesterson's Robot Chassis Wax, keep that chsssis looking
classy with Chet Hersterson's Robot Chassis Wax
what are you talking, like
It's for the sponsors
I get 50 bucks every time I say that, it was in my contract
we want to say a big thanks to Darren from beyond slow motion for all the
awesome slo-mo footage go check out his YouTube channel
it is awesome stuff