The Marx generator is a voltage multiplying device. It's purpose is similar to that of the Cockroft-Walton generator but the main difference is that the Marx generator periodically unleashes a high voltage pulse as opposed to the high-voltage, constant DC from the Cockroft-Walton generator.
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| Marx Generator |
The Marx generator is designed such that it charges in parallel along the consecutive rows of resistors and discharges in series through the diagonal spark gaps.
We removed the transformer inside the flyswatter which looked like this:
We built a mini version of the Marx generator on a breadboard and ran it through our transformer (whose voltage was rated at 1780 V on a DMM)
The generator ran pretty well! We got about 5 to 6 mm on the generator which meant we were on track considering there may be practical discrepancies.
We continued building until we reached 16 stages and measured the spark gap. Sure enough, we got our 1 cm spark gap.
To put things in perspective, the breakdown voltage in air at 1 cm are:
Theoretical
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Experimental
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30,000 V
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28,480 V
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As a bonus, our result had an error margin of 5.07%.
Bill of Materials
- Electric flyswatter - $7.00
- 40 x 1 MΩ, 0.5 W resistors - $8.00
- 1 x 6.25 MΩ resistor $0.20
- 20 x 1 nF, 3000 V capacitors $6.00
- Breadboards (2) - $20.00
- Alligator clips - $5.00
Total: $46.20
Criteria for Success
- Ensure we get a spark of 1 cm
- The experimental result is reasonably consistent with the theoretical output, nV, within 10% of theoretical value
- Sparks go across the entire stages of the Marx generator
Powerpoint link:
