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The insulated plate or conducting body should presentĪs large a surface as practicle to the rays or streams of matter, I having ascertained that the amount of energy conveyed to it per unit of time is under otherwise identical conditions To the rays or streams of radiant matter (Tesla makes a note about the construction of the condenser). "In applying my discovery I provide a condenser, preferably of consederableelectrostatic capacity, and connect one of its termansl to an insulated metal plate or other conducting body exposed In a powerful discharge, which may be utilized for the operation or control of mechanical or electrical devices or rendered useful in many other ways. This energy after a suitable time interval, during which the rays are allowed to act, may manifest itself Specified an indefinite accumulation of electrical energy in the condenser takes place. Made by independant means to receive or to carry away electricity, a current flows into the condenser so long as the insulated body is exposed to the rays, and under the conditions hereinafter "When rays or radiations of the above kind are permitted to fall upon an insulated conducting body connected to one of the terminals of a condenser, while the other terminal of the same is Velocity minute particles of matter which are strongly electrified, and therefore capable of charging an electrical conductor, or even if not so may at any rate discharge an electrified conductorĮither by carrying off bodily its charge or otherwise". "My own experiments and observations, however, lead me to conclusions more in accord with the theory heretofore advanced by me that sourced of such radiant energy throw off with great
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"It is well known that certain radiations - such as those of ultra-violet light, cathodic, Roentgen rays, or the like - possess the property of charging and discharging conductors ofĮlectricity, the discharge being particularly noticeable when the conductor upon which the rays impinge is negatively electrified. US685,958 - Method of Utilizing Radiant Energy - November 5, 1901: "Whenever the circuit is closed owing to the rotation of the terminal t', the stored energy is discharged" Tesla's X-Ray tube, part of his method for utilizing "radiant energy," which operated from the top of a Tesla coil, providing a means to charge the "elevated insulated body of capacitance" C,
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Tesla also refers to the ground as "a vast reservoir of electricity of negative charge". The patent refers to "the sun, as well as other sources of radiant energy, like cosmic rays," that the device works at night is explained in terms of the night-time availability of cosmic rays. Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing (1884 -1886).
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