Alternating Current
How electricity was given to the world
Discovery
- Commonly shortened to "AC"
- Nikola Tesla is credited as the inventor
- Tesla imagined the first concept of the "AC Motor" while he was in college
- Tesla made the first prototype for an AC System in 1884
- Tesla patented the system in 1887
- George Westinghouse bought the patents in 1888 for over $200,000
- Westinghouse hired Tesla
- Tesla perfected the AC System for home use by 1895
Above: A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers Image is available for use in the Public Domain
Below: "Tesla Colorado", Photo by Dickenson V. Alley Image is available for use in the Public Domain
Giving Electricity to the World
- In 1995 the DC supporters were silenced when AC systems were used to harness the power from Niagara Falls
- After this event the AC System was recognized as the new standard for the entire planet, making DC systems obsolete
- AC being accepted allowed electricity to be moved over far distances efficiently and safely
- This would give industries all over the world easy access to electricity, allowing growth at amazing speeds
- The AC system is still the standard today
- Without it's use the 2nd Industrial Revolution might not of gone so far
1882 Thomas Edison from the Heritage Auction Gallery, Image available for use in the public domain of the United States
1890s Nikola Tesla Photographed by Napoleon Sarony, available for use in the public domain of the United States
Between 1900 and 1914 George Westinghouse by Joseph G. Gessford, available for use in the public domain of the United States
Edison and Tesla
- Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla worked together
- Edison supported the use of Direct Current systems
- Tesla supported the use of Alternating Current systems
- Tesla was fired, but the two feuded for years
- Edison would go so far as to electrocute animals with AC to prove it's dangers
- To prove it's safety, Tesla did demonstrations where he passed 500,000 volts through his own body to power a lamp, walking away completely unharmed