<P> An arc forms at the interrupter contacts at' break' which consumes energy stored in the coil, slowing the rate of change of primary current, reducing the output voltage . To prevent this a capacitor (C) of 0.5 to 15 μF is connected across the contacts to increase the speed of switching on' break', producing much higher voltages . It also prevents damage to the contacts by the arc . The capacitor and primary winding together form a tuned circuit, so on break an oscillating decaying sinusoidal current flows in the primary . This induces a sinusoidal voltage in the secondary . As a result: the high voltage output pulse at each break actually consists of a rapidly alternating series of positive and negative pulses (left) which decay rapidly to zero . </P> <P> To prevent the high voltages generated in the coil from breaking down the thin insulation and arcing between the secondary wires, the secondary coil uses special construction so as to avoid having wires carrying large voltage differences lying next to each other . In one widely used technique, the secondary coil is wound in many thin flat pancake - shaped sections (called "pies"), connected in series . The primary coil is first wound on the iron core and insulated from the secondary with a thick paper or rubber coating . Then each secondary subcoil is connected to the coil next to it and slid onto the iron core, insulated from adjoining coils with waxed cardboard disks . The voltage developed in each subcoil isn't large enough to jump between the wires in the subcoil . Large voltages are only developed across many subcoils in series, which are too widely separated to arc over . To give the entire coil a final insulating coating, it is immersed in melted paraffin wax or rosin; the air evacuated to ensure there are no air bubbles left inside and the paraffin allowed to solidify, so the entire coil is encased in wax . </P> <P> To prevent eddy currents, which cause energy losses, the iron core is made of a bundle of parallel iron wires, individually coated with shellac to insulate them electrically . The eddy currents, which flow in loops in the core perpendicular to the magnetic axis, are blocked by the layers of insulation . The ends of the insulated primary coil often protruded several inches from either end of the secondary coil, to prevent arcs from the secondary to the primary or the core . </P> <P> Although modern induction coils used for educational purposes all use the vibrating arm' hammer' type interrupter described above, these were inadequate for powering the large induction coils used in spark - gap radio transmitters and x-ray machines around the turn of the 20th century . In powerful coils the high primary current created arcs at the interrupter contacts which quickly destroyed the contacts . Also, since each "break" produces a pulse of voltage from the coil, the more breaks per second the greater the power output . Hammer interrupters were not capable of interruption rates over 200 breaks per second and the ones used on powerful coils were limited to 20--40 breaks per second . </P>

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