Top 10 Greatest Inventions by Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a man with big ideas. By the time of his death, he had 300 patents to his name. The problem with Tesla is that he was way ahead of his time, and while many of his ideas worked in theory, they never practically panned out. With that said, Tesla was an amazing inventor who gave the world some amazing inventions and was a pioneer in many fields. Rather than look at some of Tesla's more theoretical inventions, in this video we're looking at 10 of the best Tesla inventions that were designed, constructed and tested. Top 10 Greatest Inventions by Nikola Tesla 10. The Tesla Coil The Tesla coil was invented in 1891, and it uses two coils, a primary and a secondary. Each coil has its own capacitor, which is something that stores energy, like a battery. The coils are connected to a spark gap, which is just open air where the spark can generate. The result is that the Tesla coil can shoot lightning bolts, send electric current through the body and create electron winds. Tesla had developed it because he was obsessed with powering cities wirelessly. Today, the Tesla coil is mostly used for entertainment and can be seen in places like science centers. Some elements are, however, used in radios. Why the Tesla coil is important is because it helped engineers understand the nature of electricity better and how to use it. 9. The Magnifying Transmitter In the late 1890s, Tesla had become obsessed with transferring power without wires, and he thought that it was possible to do so at higher altitudes. After securing some funding, Tesla set up a lab in Colorado Springs in May 1899. There he built the largest and most powerful Tesla coil, called the Magnifying Transmitter. The Magnifying Transmitter had three coils, and it was 52 feet in diameter. It generated millions of volts of electricity and shot lightning bolts that were 130 feet long. They were the biggest man-made lightning at the time. The problem was that Tesla was a bit too ambitious and ahead of his time. Wireless electricity wouldn't be developed until the mid-2010s, and as of 2015, it's not yet common in households. While this specific project did not pan out, the vision and scope are still quite impressive. The Magnifying Transmitter was the predecessor to Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower that was supposed to provide free electricity and communications to the world. Tesla started working on the project in 1901, but after financial backers pulled out of the project, it fell apart and in 1915, the site went into foreclosure. The project also ruined Tesla, he had to file for bankruptcy, and had a nervous breakdown. 8. The Tesla Turbine In the early 20th century, the world saw the rise of the piston engine in automobiles. In an attempt to compete against the piston engine, Tesla developed his own turbine. It was bladeless and used smooth discs that spun in a chamber. How it worked was that fuel was combusted before entering the main chamber that contained the discs. The combustion would make the discs rotate, which ran the engine. When Tesla tested the engine in 1909, it got to 60% fuel efficiency, which is impressive considering that currently we only get 42% fuel-to-energy conversion rates. Yet, because of the nature of business, people saw more value in the piston engine because of fuel sales, and it became the norm that is still in use today. 7. Shadow Graphs In 1895, German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered a mysterious energy that he called X-rays. These X-rays had a strange ability. When he placed photographic film between his hand and a LED screen, it created an image of the bones in his hand on the film. A short time later, Röntgen went public with his research, and the picture of Röntgen's wife's hand, which was taken on December 22, 1895, became famous. In the picture, you can see the bones in her hand and the wedding ring on her finger. There is some evidence that Tesla knew a little bit about X-rays before Röntgen made his research public. Tesla's own research was stopped when a fire destroyed his lab in 1895, shortly before Röntgen discovered them. When Röntgen published his findings, it helped inspire Tesla to create his own X-ray using a vacuum tube which produced pictures that he called shadow graphs. Tesla is considered the first person in America to take an X-ray picture. He made a shadow graph of a foot with a shoe on it and sent it with a letter to Röntgen, congratulating him on his discovery. Röntgen, in turn, wrote to Tesla, commending him on taking a remarkably clear shadow graph. Shadow graphs played an important role in the development of X-ray machines. After the discovery, people were developing new X-ray tools, but the image was never that clear. Tesla realized that bulbs with higher voltages and bulbs with thick walls made for clearer images. Tesla was also one of the first to write that X-rays may be harmful for the body. 6. Radio Who exactly invented radio is a point of contention. What happened was that in 1895, Tesla was getting ready to transmit a radio signal 50 miles. Before he could do that, though, his lab burned down and it delayed the testing. Meanwhile, in England, an Italian man named Guglielmo Marconi was working on wireless telegraphy. Marconi was granted a patent in England in 1896 for his device. His system was much different than the one Tesla built. Marconi's only used two circuits and couldn't transmit over long distances, such as the Atlantic. Tesla's invention would use multiple circuits, which would make it much stronger. Tesla submitted his patent in 1897 in the United States and it was granted in 1900. When Marconi submitted his radio patent in 1900 to the U.S. Patent Office, it was turned down because it was too similar to Tesla's. Undeterred, Marconi opened his own company called the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company Limited, and it had powerful backers, including English aristocrats Andrew Carnegie and Tesla's rival, Thomas Edison. On December 12, 1901, while using a number of Tesla's patents, including a Tesla oscillator, Marconi was able to transmit a signal across the Atlantic. In 1904, without giving a clear reason, the Patent Office reversed their decision and said that Marconi's patent was valid, making him the inventor of the radio. Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1911 and 1915. Tesla sued Marconi's corporation. The problem was, at that point in his life, Tesla was too poor to take on a major corporation. The case wasn't settled until a few months after Tesla's death in 1943, when the Supreme Court held up Tesla's patent. However, the reason for that is, during that time, Marconi was suing the United States government over patent infringement during World War I. By reverting the rights back to Tesla, they would avoid the lawsuit with Marconi. 5. Neon Lamps While fluorescent and neon lights were not discovered by Tesla, he did make many contributions to the advancement of both. What is interesting is that no one working with cathode rays, which are the electrons observed in vacuum tubes like neon lights, really came up with a practical application for the technology. Tesla saw an opportunity, so he experimented with running electrical particles through gases, and he developed four different types of lighting. For example, he converted black light into visible light using a phosphorescent substance that he created. He also found a practical use for such a technology when he created lamps and neon signs. For example, at the World's Columbian Exposition, otherwise known as the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, at his personal exhibit, Tesla had neon signs that were unique designs and written words. The idea became more popular, and now neon lights and signs light up major cities around the world. 4. The Adams Power Plant Transformer House For years, the Niagara Falls Commission was looking for a company to build a hydroelectric plant that would harness the mighty power of the falls. At first, they considered Thomas Edison's Direct Current plant, but after witnessing Tesla's alternating current that was offered by Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse was offered the contract in 1893. Westinghouse used designs from Tesla, and the biggest problem was getting and keeping funding for such an ambitious task that a lot of people doubted would work. Yet, when the switch was flipped on November 16, 1896, the Adams Power Plant Transformer House worked and started powering the city of Buffalo, New York. Ten more generators were built, and they helped power New York City. The plant was considered revolutionary and set the standard for modern hydroelectric power plants. 3. The Induction Motor An induction motor is a motor that uses alternating current, and it essentially has two parts, a stator and a rotor. The stator stays stationary, and it uses electromagnets to spin the rotor that it has in the middle of it. Induction motors are noted for being durable, easy to maintain, and they are cheap to run. In the 1880s, there were two people working separately on the induction motor, Tesla and Galileo Ferrari in Italy. They both presented their findings in 1888, with Ferrari presenting his engine two months before Tesla presented his. However, Tesla's patents held up under the weight of the evidence. Both had developed the same technology and came to the same independent conclusion. Tesla had just filed his patents first. The induction motor was incredibly influential, and it is still used today in everyday products like vacuums, blow dryers, and power tools. 2. Teller Automation In 1898, at the electrical exhibition at Madison Square Gardens, Tesla showed off an invention he called Teller Automation, and it was a boat that was controlled by radio waves. He didn't even have a patent on it, because the patent office didn't want to issue one on something they didn't think was feasible. But at the exhibition, he proved that it was possible. He controlled the boat that had some batteries on it. Through the radio waves, he controlled the propeller and even the lights on the boat. The invention was a big first in three different areas. The first is remote controls. Radio waves that control objects are seen in everyday life, such as television remote controls and garage door openers. Secondly, the boat is also one of the earliest robots. It was a mechanical object that could be controlled without a human physically touching it. Finally, the combination of robotics and radio technology makes Tesla's boat the great-great-grandfather of drones. 1. Alternating Current Easily the most important invention from Nikola Tesla involved his contributions to alternating current, AC. It is important to note that he did not invent or even discover AC, but his inventions made AC applicable for widespread use, and it helped electrify the world. The story of how Tesla's AC system came to be the dominant power system is impossible to tell without talking about Thomas Edison. In his early career, Tesla worked for Edison, whose company had discovered direct current, DC. DC is similar to a battery. It only sends power out. The problem with DC is that about a mile away from the power generator, the electricity gets weaker. That is when Tesla developed his advancement in AC. AC not only sends power out, but it also sends power back to the source. This made it much more feasible to send large amounts of energy over a large area. Edison hated AC and thought that Tesla was completely wrong on the topic. This led to a rift between Tesla and Edison, which led to Tesla quitting. While Tesla was unemployed, he worked odd jobs until he was able to raise money for the Tesla Electric Company. His work caught the attention of engineer and businessman George Westinghouse, who bought most of Edison's patents involving AC. A pivotal moment in the history of electricity came down to lighting the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Edison and Westinghouse both submitted quotes. Edison said that he could light the whole fair for $554,000, but Westinghouse said he could do it for $399,000, so Westinghouse won the contract. After the fair, AC became more popular and it is the dominant electrical system that we still use today.