Transmitting low-wattage, high-voltage electricity through air.

Hi:

Can a direct current with a potential-difference of

6,200,000,000,000,000,000 volts but an extremely weak maximum strength of only 1 electron per second move through air like the electric currents of lightning and stun guns can?

If so, is it possible to transmit this high-voltage, low-wattage [1 watt if the math is worked out] DC electricity in a wireless manner through air molecules?

Thanks,

Radium

Reply to
Radium
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No. A potential difference of that size cannot be maintained in air. The dielectric strength of air is about 3,000,000 V/m, above which the air will break down. This is the fundamental reason why high-tension power lines are not run at a zillion volts. This is also the fundamental problem with your scheme, as others tried to broadly hint.

Reply to
PD

Doesn't the air need to breakdown before electricity can pass through it?

AFAIK, electricity cannot move through non-ionized air. How else can the electrons pass through air?

Obviously, if you want current to move through wires [but not air], you'd definitely keep the voltage below the point of breakdown.

Reply to
Radium

And then you can sustain no higher potential difference than what is constrained by 3,000,000 V/m. That is, that's the top end. Once the air is broken down, that's your potential difference.

Note also that once the air breaks down, you can no longer control the path of the current between points A and B.

Moreover, you cannot control the current between A and B, because the very same breakdown of the air *adds* charge that can be moved between A and B. You will no longer have 1 electron per second. A column of air 1 m wide by 100 m long contains about 1200 kg of air, or about

2.5E28 molecules. Breakdown is the liberation of electrons from the atoms in the column of air. Since you have some difficulty with scientific notation, that's 25,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms that can lend electrons in that column.

PD

Reply to
PD

So 3,000,000 V/m is the highest voltage than can exist in the air?

What is the highest voltage at which this current can be efficiently controlled?

Reply to
Radium

Well, not exactly a straight answer, but it may do;-) One of the highest commercialy available transmission voltages is 400 kV (400,000 volts).A power station (or unit) running at 300 MW has an output of

10 kA (10,000 A) at 21 kV.This, at 400 kV is still good 400 A.At that figures with some difficulty that power can be transmitted with 99% efficiency over 500 km, in fact a power of up to 1200 MW with a six-cable power line.Now, this voltage, which is many orders of magnitude lower than yours, causes a phenomenon named corona discharge, thus ionization of air molecules in vicinity of the (bare) conductors, thus making necessary a twin conductor, that is two wires in parallel, bonded together every hundred meters, you probably have seen them.There were attempts to transmit at 750 kV, but I don't know if it catched on (we are talking about AC, not DC;on DC there are different rules).So, even if you were to produce such a high potential on earth (2.5 * 10^28 volts) it is very unprobable that you could coerce your electrode of transmitting just one electron ;-)
Reply to
Tzortzakakis Dimitrios

You are thoroughly lost. What do you think EM radio is?

Reply to
The Great Attractor

Which would WASTE a LOT more power, and get a LOT LESS done.

Just stop, and get back to reality. There are thousands of scientists in this realm. Your ideas are CRAP. If you want scientific recognition, you need to learn the science that IS being used first, then you will know what is or is not feasible.

Single electrons floating around in the air with designated destinations are NOT feasible.

Reply to
The Great Attractor

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