8 ms·

10x doesn't look enormous?

• fnordpiglet 2y ago
  350kv is definitely not enormous. Marx generators can make 100MV potentials and high energy particle accelerators can make fields in the gigavolt and teravolt ranges. The headline is just a bit ludicrous. (IANAP)
  • sroussey 2y ago
    terrestrial gamma-ray flashes in the upper atmosphere can have energies of up to 20 million electronvolts
• labcomputer 2y ago
  The quote is wrong. It should say that the glass formulation limits the voltage for a given acceleration distance. In other words, the glass formulation limits the field strength, not the potential. If you want 10x more voltage, you can just make the CRT 10x longer. Think about how deep a normal TV is. Now multiply that by 10. An instrument of that size comfortably fits in a normal lab room. And that’s only for static fields. If you’re willing to play tricks with dynamic fields you can use smaller potentials.
  • generuso 2y ago
    CRT tubes usually have stern safety labels warning to not exceed specified voltage, not because there will be an electric breakdown, but because this will generate vastly more X-rays. So the quotation "glass formulation limits the voltage" is probably correct, but it is supposed to mean: "glass formulation determines how opaque to X-rays the tube is, and what acceleration voltage can be safely used while remaining in compliance with the health regulations". I think this is what it is supposed to be. Lead based glass is so common in CRTs precisely because of this reason.
• ipdashc 2y ago
  I think that was for "mundane" CRT tubes for old TVs and stuff. X-ray tubes for machines like baggage scanners can reach 150 kV or so, and it's nothing particularly special. Google seems to show papers for 400 kV tubes. 350 kV sounds high but not ludicrously so, so I'm probably missing something.