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Computers

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Wireless Electricity

Imagine the following scenario unfolding. Nick has had a long day at work on Friday and is ready to go home. The whole twenty minute drive home all he can think about is how excited he is to take his family on a weekend trip to the beach. As he pulls into his driveway, he notices that the front light isn’t on like usual, but the fact is quickly lost in his mind as a thousand other thoughts are clamoring for his attention. Just as he steps through the threshold of the door, his phone goes off. It’s his wife. Something’s come up, their daughter isn’t feeling well. She tells Nick that they are at the local hospital and is about to tell him to pick something important up at the pharmacy when …show more content…

Although the The Tesla coil can generate wireless electricity, the strong field damages radios, TV, and even pacemakers, hence their limited use. Today, the Tesla coils are mostly used for scientific experiments, x-ray generation, military experiments, lighting, and individual use (Spahiu). The next major breakthrough in wireless energy transfer came more 60 years later and in a completely different method than Tesla’s coils. In 1964 on CBS news, William C. Brown demonstrated a helicopter that was powered wirelessly by 2.45 GHz microwaves. The helicopter was comprised of a propeller attached to a rectena which directly converted the incident microwaves into DC power, keeping the helicopter aloft for 10 hours (William). In 1975, as technical director of a JPL/Raytheon program, Brown beamed power to a rectenna a mile away and converted it to DC power at an efficiency of 54% (William). Microwaves have proved themselves as a legitimate way to move energy wirelessly, and it is a technology still being developed today. The applications of microwaves I will discuss later. Laser beams have been used as a means for transmitting energy wirelessly since 1960. A laser beam system would work in a similar method as a microwave unit would. Laser beams are still being developed as a viable option for wireless electricity. Only recently has been the

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