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Nikola Teslas Influential Inventions.

Cayce Englar
August 1
st
, 2014
Salt Lake City Community College

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Nikola Teslas Influential Inventions.
Nikola Tesla was a very intelligent man especially during his time and is considered a
very important and influential inventor. He was an electrical and mechanical engineer as well as
a futurist. Tesla was born on 10 July, 1856 and died on 7 January, 1943. His inventions provide
some of the fundamental technologies of the 20th century, and the foundation for mankinds
future achievements. Tesla has many inventions but there are some more notable than others for
the influence they have had on modern technology.

Inventions
Tesla received about 300 patents around the globe and had 700 inventions; some of his
inventions did not even go under patent protection. Tesla has many important achievements,
probably the most important was discovering the rotating magnetic field. During his lifetime,
Tesla developed the alternating current (AC) electrical supply system, the AC motor, coil, and
remote control. He is also the inventor of radio. These are considered some of the most important
inventions from Nikola Tesla. We still use all of that technology in todays modern world, and its
existence has influenced the design and creation of new and more advanced technologies. Nikola
Tesla has surely made a great impact on the world with his inventions.

AC Current. Nikola Tesla did not invent the Alternating Current electrical system however he
did suggest that it was the best method for using electricity to power an engine or for
transmitting electricity to cities. Tesla was working for Edison in New York when Edison asked
if he could improve the quality of his engines. Tesla worked for months and came up with a
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solution. Edison did not like the idea of Alternating Current so they were at debate over which
was the better electrical system. Ultimately this is what lead them to no longer work together
because Tesla resigned and went to work for George Westinghouse who like the idea of AC
current. Alternating Current is when an electrical current periodically changes directions while
direct current flows continuously in one direction. Alternating current changes direction 50 or 60
times per second and can be stepped up to high voltage levels. This reduces power loss over long
distances making it better than direct current which is why it is so important. Alternating current
was used to transmit electricity to nearby cities from the first hydro-electric power plant built by
Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse in 1895. These Power Plants started the electrification of
the world and Alternating Current is still used today to get electricity to homes all over the world.

AC Motors (1888). Nikola Tesla thought of the rotating magnetic field in 1882. The rotating
magnetic field is an important fundamental principle in physics and its discovery is critical to the
invention of the Alternating Current Motor. The alternating current motor is operated by
electricity and harnesses the power of electromagnetism. The motor creates mechanical output
through the rotation of what is called the rotor. The rotor is made of a magnet, contrary to the
rotor is the stator. The stator in induction motors is made of an electromagnet material that is in a
shape called a squirrel cage. The rotor goes inside this stationary cage structure because an AC
current is passed through the stator creating a rotating magnetic field effecting the rotor. The
magneto-mechanical attraction creates a force which will drive the rotor to follow the rotating
magnetic field. AC motors have had a huge impact on our society and technology. Many modern
inventions use AC motors, it is basically an electrical engine. For example, cars, fans,
electronics, even refrigerators, AC motors are used in large amount of things.
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Radio and Robotics. On December 8, 1898 he patented a radio controlled robot-boat. Tesla
used this boat which was controlled by radio waves in the Electrical Exhibition in 1898, Madison
Square Garden. Tesla's robot-boat was constructed with an antenna, which transmitted the radio
waves coming from the command post where Tesla was standing. Those radio waves were
received by a radio sensitive device called coherer, which transmitted the radio waves into
mechanical movements of the propellers on the boat. Tesla changed the boat's direction, with
manually operated controls on the command post. Since this was the first application of radio
waves, it made front page news, in America, at that time. Tesla had many ideas based on this
demonstration but was never able to prove them. He suggested that power and communication
could be transmitted over large distances. He built a tower at Wardenclyffe in New York to
conduct research and try to implement his ideas. It is those ideas that have influenced future
inventors and possible lead to the development of current technologies. Radio is used to
broadcast information around the globe, this is important for news or natural disaster, as well as
allowing individual people to have contact. Most of us, think of Guglielmo Marconi as the father
of radio, and Tesla is unknown for his work in radio. Marconi claimed all the first patents for
radio, something originally developed by Tesla. Nikola Tesla tried to prove that he was the
creator of radio but it wasn't until 1943, where Marconi's patents were deemed invalid. Just as
important as radio is, Teslas remote control and robot demonstration is critical to many of
todays technologies where radio is used and it has influenced the field of robotics.

Conclusion. Nikola Tesla can be considered one of the greatest, physicist, electrical engineer,
and inventor that has ever lived. He has so many inventions and patents that it becomes difficult
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to fathom how great the impact on humanity that he has made. Tesla has provided us with
electric motors, he has lit up our homes using his alternating current electrical system. He was
the first to demonstrate the use of radio waves, and radio became a great advance in
communication technologies. Teslas inventions are not only magnificent but also heavily
influential to the progress of technology, we still use many of his inventions to date.


















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References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current
http://web.mit.edu/most/www/ser/Tesla1/etradict2.htm
http://altered-states.net/barry/tesla/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla#Patents
http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/Nikola_Tesla.htm
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1619.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nikola-tesla2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_radio
http://www.teslasociety.com/exhibition.htm