Editing Tesla coil (section)

{{Short description|Electrical resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox electronic component
| name              = Tesla coil
| image             = Lightning simulator questacon02.jpg
| alt               = <!-- See Wikipedia:Alternative text for images -->
| caption           = Tesla coil at [[Questacon]], the National Science and Technology center in [[Canberra]], [[Australia]]
| type              = [[Transformer types#Resonant transformer|Resonant transformer]]
| working_principle = [[Resonance]]<br>[[Electromagnetic induction]]
| invented          = [[Nikola Tesla]] (1891)
}}
A '''Tesla coil''' is an electrical [[resonant transformer|resonant transformer circuit]] designed by inventor [[Nikola Tesla]] in 1891.<ref name="PBS"/> It is used to produce high-[[voltage]], low-[[electric current|current]], high-[[frequency]] [[alternating current|alternating-current]] electricity.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia
  | last = Eldridge
  | first = Stephen
  | title = Tesla coil
  | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Britannica online
  | publisher = Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
  | date = 7 January 2024
  | url = https://www.britannica.com/technology/Tesla-coil
  | format = 
  | doi = 
  | accessdate = 10 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="Dommermuth-Costa"/> Tesla experimented with a number of different configurations consisting of two, or sometimes three, coupled [[tuned circuit|resonant electric circuits]].

Tesla used these circuits to conduct innovative experiments in electrical [[lighting]], [[phosphorescence]], [[X-ray generation]], [[high frequency|high-frequency]] [[alternating current]] phenomena, [[electrotherapy]], and the [[wireless power transfer#Tesla|transmission of electrical energy without wires]]. Tesla coil circuits were used commercially in [[spark-gap transmitter|spark-gap radio transmitters]] for [[wireless telegraphy]] until the 1920s,<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="Tilbury1"/> and in medical equipment such as [[electrotherapy]] and [[violet ray]] devices. Today, their main usage is for entertainment and educational displays, although small coils are still used as leak detectors for high-vacuum systems.<ref name="Plesch"/><ref name=":0"/>

Originally, Tesla coils used fixed spark gaps or rotary spark gaps to provide intermittent excitation of the resonant circuit; more recently, electronic devices are used to provide the switching action required.