Condenser discharges through a general gas circuit

Abstract

Any change in the electrical conditions of a circuit, whether internal, such as a change of load, starting and switching operations, short circuits, or external, such as due to lightning, involves a readjustment of the stored electromagnetic and electrostatic energy of the circuit, that is a so-called transient. Such transient is of the general character of a condenser discharge through an inductive circuit. The phenomenon of the condenser discharge through an inductive circuit therefore is of the greatest importance to the engineer, as the foremost cause of high-voltage and high-frequency troubles in electric circuits. With the development of radio communication — whether wireless or wired — the condenser discharge through an inductive circuit has assumed a great additional importance since, with the exception of a few of the highest power transoceanic stations, which use power-driven high-frequency alternators, the source of power in all radio communication is the condenser discharge through the inductive circuit, whether as a damped wave or as an undamped wave. In undamped wave radio communication, the condenser discharge circuit is coupled with a source of electric power — a battery — in such a manner, that, without interfering with the character of the oscillation, sufficient energy is fed into the circuit to maintain the oscillation, similarly as in the clock, the pendulum is coupled with a source of mechanical power — weight or spring — so as to maintain its oscillation undamped.