Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Study Of The Striated Spark By The Method Of Instantaneous Photography, Laurence L. Cruise

Master's Theses

In 1867 Toepler found the existence of a pulse spreading from the region around the spark immediately after it had passed. Since the density of the air in the pulse differs from that of the surrounding gas, the pulse is optically different from the rest of the field and so can be made visible by the “Shadowgraph Method.” Topeler’s work was the first of its kind where an instantaneous view, say of the order of several millionths of a second, of the electric spark was obtained. IN 1926 Dr. Zinszer, while studying the life history of the electric spark by …