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Tesla
pointed out the inefficiency of
Edison’s direct current electrical
powerhouses
that have been build up and down the Atlantic seaboard. The
secret, he felt, lay in the use of
alternating current, because to him all
energies were cyclic. Why not build
generators that would send
electrical energy along distribution lines
first one way, than another, in multiple waves using the
polyphase principle?
 Edison’s
lamps were weak and inefficient
when supplied by direct current. This system had a severe
disadvantage in that it could not be
transported more than two miles due to
its inability to step up to high
voltage levels necessary for long
distance transmission. Consequently, a
direct current power station was
required at two mile intervals.
Direct
current flows continuously in one
direction; alternating current changes
direction 50 or 60 times per second and
can be stepped up to vary high voltage
levels, minimizing power loss across
great distances. The future belongs to
alternating current.
Nikola
Tesla developed polyphase alternating
current system of generators, motors
and transformers and held 40 basic U.S.
patents on the system, which George
Westinghouse bought, determined to
supply America with the Tesla system.
Edison did not want to lose his DC
empire, and a bitter war ensued. This
was the war of the currents between AC
and DC. Tesla -Westinghouse ultimately
emerged the victor because AC was a
superior technology. It was a war won
for the progress
of both America and the world.
Tesla
introduced his motors and electrical
systems in a classic paper, “A New
System of Alternating Current Motors
and Transformers” which he
delivered before the American Institute
of Electrical Engineers in 1888. One of
the most impressed was the
industrialist and inventor George
Westinghouse. One day he visited
Tesla’s laboratory a nd
was amazed at what he saw. Tesla had
constructed a model polyphase system
consisting of an alternating current
dynamo, step-up and step-down
transformers and A.C. motor at the
other end. The perfect partnership
between Tesla and Westinghouse for the
nationwide use of electricity in
America had begun.
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Biog.:
AC
