Its the "Rotating Magnetic Field" That Tesla is famous for NOT "AC"
Ultimately, most people misunderstand Tesla's fame surrounding alternating current.
In an obscure article, and in HIS OWN WORDS, Tesla believed his discovery of the *rotating magnetic field* (that allowed his brushless motor to work) was his most important contribution to society. In the same article, Tesla goes on to talk about a Mr. Ferrari who codiscovered how to make a brushless motor around the same time, and goes over the controversy surrounding this predicament. The same happened with polyphase AC transmission--there was a guy in Sweden who beat Tesla to the punch line.
To conclude, Tesla DID NOT invent AC, if you believe that then you are absolutely nuts. What he did do, by way of his brushless AC motor and generator patents, was to popularize, in AMERICA, the use of AC in electric power transmission. The reason why AC is the better choice for this task is simple: You can easily change the VA relation by using transformers to change the value of volts and amps. That is, by stepping up voltage and stepping down current OR stepping down voltage and stepping up current--power remains the same. Thus, you can reduce transmission line losses by using extremely high voltages at the sending end and low voltages at the receiving end, which minimizes the I^2R losses that DC transmission lines have a hard time avoiding because there wasn't a simple way to change the VA relation of DC currents at that time. Thus, the voltage you applied at the sending end of transmission line was the same voltage at the receiving end (neglecting losses). This is why the I^2R losses were so great with the DC system, and also why it was unwieldy at that time (in regards to changing the VA characteristic)
These are the two most important contributions that Tesla made in American society. Some may say that his contributions to radio were more important, but ultimately Tesla's most successful are brushless polyphase motors and the power transmission structure that they use.
Ultimately, most people misunderstand Tesla's fame surrounding alternating current.
In an obscure article, and in HIS OWN WORDS, Tesla believed his discovery of the *rotating magnetic field* (that allowed his brushless motor to work) was his most important contribution to society. In the same article, Tesla goes on to talk about a Mr. Ferrari who codiscovered how to make a brushless motor around the same time, and goes over the controversy surrounding this predicament. The same happened with polyphase AC transmission--there was a guy in Sweden who beat Tesla to the punch line.
To conclude, Tesla DID NOT invent AC, if you believe that then you are absolutely nuts. What he did do, by way of his brushless AC motor and generator patents, was to popularize, in AMERICA, the use of AC in electric power transmission. The reason why AC is the better choice for this task is simple: You can easily change the VA relation by using transformers to change the value of volts and amps. That is, by stepping up voltage and stepping down current OR stepping down voltage and stepping up current--power remains the same. Thus, you can reduce transmission line losses by using extremely high voltages at the sending end and low voltages at the receiving end, which minimizes the I^2R losses that DC transmission lines have a hard time avoiding because there wasn't a simple way to change the VA relation of DC currents at that time. Thus, the voltage you applied at the sending end of transmission line was the same voltage at the receiving end (neglecting losses). This is why the I^2R losses were so great with the DC system, and also why it was unwieldy at that time (in regards to changing the VA characteristic)
These are the two most important contributions that Tesla made in American society. Some may say that his contributions to radio were more important, but ultimately Tesla's most successful are brushless polyphase motors and the power transmission structure that they use.
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