Ruhmkorff induction coil
Bobina de Ruhmkorff
- Date
- c. 1851 · confidence low
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Ruhmkorff, a German instrument maker based in Paris, perfected the induction coil by greatly lengthening the secondary winding (up to several kilometres of wire), enabling sparks of up to 40 cm and very high voltages from a low-voltage battery.
No exact date is documented; Ruhmkorff developed and sold his improved coil through the 1850s, winning a medal at the 1855 Paris Universal Exposition.
What it led to
- Early experimental X-ray tubes
- Spark-gap transmitters for wireless telegraphy (Marconi, Lodge)
- Hertz's demonstration of electromagnetic waves