Producing X-rays from a Cheap Light Bulb!

[WillstDuNichtWissen]

wich wouldn't be good ... (*break*) ... and would be bad xD

sonds funny, yeah but nice video :)

[Nattakorps]

because everyone finds rods of iron on their daily strolls

[TheJonRom]

@Nattakorps No, Cameras pick up rgb light and it turns into digital data...digital data cannot reproduce xrays

[Nattakorps]

@TheJonRom I think you may be mistaking what I was talking about. I was referring to Iron rods....

[TheJonRom]

@Nattakorps Sorry, that was directed at the person below you

[jonasgu97]

does it works with big lightbulbs?

[AScannerClearly]

@jonasgu97 It works with whatever bulbs have a high enough vacuum; I've found 11 Watt, 130 Volt bulbs of a particular kind are much larger and have sufficient vacuum to pull it off, but ever since upgrading to a DC source and vacuum tubes, hadn't done much experimenting with them.

[totoff92]

these are not X rays!! u cant produce X rays this way ; I had already tried and the gas pressure of such lamp is far too high to allow electrons to get accelerated enough ; the gas molecules will decrease them dramatically ; your geiger counter is only showing you radio waves emitted by your HV device

[AScannerClearly]

@totoff92 How many lamps did you try? The pressures vary, only 1 out of 5 lamps or so work, and maybe 1 out of 5 of the ones that work do as well as this one; they're not made to be abused like this so they take little care to standardize the vacuum. And if I were only detecting radio waves, then my counter should have sounded when I used the ordinary bulb; but the steel box blocks the radio waves while passing X-rays. Also have taken some blurry, dim radio-graphs on phosphor screens by this.

[Ilovelazers]

@AScannerClearly I think your are make X-rays, but very little. Your prboly emmiting Beta particals

[FortNikitaBullion]

Does watching videos of x-rays make the computer re-produce x-rays? I would imagine cameras can see beyond visible light. Anyone know?

[AerialTheShamen]

The phosphor on an intensifier screen may be also triggered by UV light. Place something that shields UV in between to verify whether it is x-ray.

When so-called violet wands really emit x-ray, I don't want to know how many dominas have toasted testicles with it. I doubt that an unmodified sextoy version does that, but trying out the tubes of a random antique 'violet ray' device might give a nasty surprise. (Some came with x-ray tube! Stupid domina + lost manual + wrong tube = testikiller!)

[analogdesigner]

I doubt that your making X-rays. The metal rod is acting as an antenna which helps amplify the EMI that you're generating. Most modern day Geiger counters are sensitive to EMI, so you must be careful in your conclusions. Jay

[AScannerClearly]

@analogdesigner I know of the EMF false alarm problem, that's why I had the Geiger Counter in a metal box to shield it from that, and first tested it with a different bulb to make sure the shield worked. Only bulbs with vacuum enough to produce that green glow (or blue with some glass formulations) make it click even when enclosed by steel.

[sideswipe147]

@usernameABCDXYZ LOL believe it or not it's a sex toy I KID YOU NOT!!! look up Violet wand... they sell them for that purpose

[nightvidcole]

You should use a cardboard box with aluminum foil taped inside , an opening for viewing, and a piece of window screen or wire mesh over the opening. That way you can have a complete Faraday cage to prevent arcing/ breakdown/overload of the Geiger counter without blocking so much of your X-rays.

[t3hPoundcake]

If you take a photographic plate and hold it up behind like a cathode ray from an old monitor, and put your hand between it will it develop the image?

[jeebersjumpincryst]

@t3hPoundcake 1. no. electrons wont go thru yr hand. 2. no. electrons (or hands) wont develop images. photographic developing chemicals/solution will, tho.

[Ruttie2]

Is the frequency high enough for x-ray photography?

(i obviously know it won't but still i gotta ask..)

[jeebersjumpincryst]

@Ruttie2 yes. if xrays are indeed being produced, as is claimed, and the power source is 50kV, then some of those xrays will be 50kVp - easily enough to penetrate small thicknesses parts such as fingers, toes, in a 'useful' way.

[DragonFlyback256]

IMO the most direct sign of x-rays emitted, even if so weak, is the green glow of glass itself.

[jeebersjumpincryst]

@DragonFlyback256 lol - thats nonsense! but if its just yr opinion, thats ok :)

[DragonFlyback256]

@jeebersjumpincryst

Would you explain?

[HorizonDelta]

Your video is nice ! Watch Tesla tech video "Tesla cold electricity" by HorizonDelta

[x01000101x]

You can attempt to scrap the flyback transformer from a crt and use it in conjunction with a driver as a way to get a cheap high voltage mostly put together high voltage (kw range) power source.

[thecatofwisdom]

where did you get that 50,000 volt spark thing?

[robot797]

i love the green glow

builds one to see green glow

dies of canser :P

[ki4hou]

no need to shield yourself from that, not nearly powerful enough to cause probs. the rod has capacitance in that setup to answer ur question

[boomkaE]

You can make x rays from vacuum tube,too.They are more powerful.I certainly did SOMETHING with my vacuum tube.As HV source I used continuous spark generator for lighting up BBQ(two AA batteries).It turns on my computer when it is on standby without heating coil.When the coil is heated it turns my whole room in Geiger counter(loudspeakers start clicking,computer goes wild...)I hope those are radio waves (because my computer sometimes reacts when I just turn on HV for some other purposes)not xrays

[quantumbits]

@boomkaE Pretty sure the computer and audio effect is the result of electromagnetic and static fields. Be careful because what affects your computer could be weakening / damaging it. Put some distance between your HV experiments and your sensitive electronics.

[DrMotorDude]

Rather than aluminum foil, see if you can find some tungsten foil - it works MUCH better for making X rays.

[panzuman]

lol much-ly

[robertgift]

Interesting and alarming!

Using my small Tesla Coil, I have enjoyed seeing lightbulb gasses glow.

Hopefully with no hard metal targets, I am not producing X-Rays.

IS MY HUGE TESLA COIL PRODUCING X-RAYS where its arcs hit solid metal surfaces?

Thank you.

[ThinkingBetter]

@robertgift Yes of course. The arc can produce dangerous UV light (damage your eyes) and X-rays (damage to your genes). If you play with voltages about 10kV you risk making X-Rays and the higher voltage the higher risk. Any ionizing radiation is increasing your total mutation count and chance of getting cancer.

[DragonFlyback256]

@robertgift

Possibly a very little. Not too much as far as it goes through atmospheric air i believe. Someone has yet to test this but, i've heard / read already that, lightnings can even generate a very few gamma rays.

[aCagedApe]

2:55 hahaha

[TheMaliPerica]

Metal box will provide protection only if ground of gamma scout is connected to it, which in this case isn't. I still doubt you've detected x-rays.

[healer378]

It could be a the elctromagnetic field contamination not Gamma ray. I have the same Meter and it reads magnetic fields as "Gamma". To prove a real X-ray effect must expose a film and develop it.

[HFbastler1]

Great! Thanks for the Info. Tried it with an Bosch induction coil an ist wiorks very nice. I dont know why, but after the experiment, the filament of the unused 5W Lamp was broken and moved around in the ion wind inside.

[clony101]

damn those high voltage things cost alot i know i looked. but it is cheaper than the gamma scout

[darkdjo]

Hi ! I didnt' know producing X-rays was so easy :)

[clony101]

lol you shocked your self...idiot...jk

[clony101]

i said just kidding jess. here i wil say it im sorry.

[gilligan80]

xrays are charged particles.... the best way to shield them is simply using aluminium foil....

[AScannerClearly]

Actually X-rays are uncharged; the high-speed electrons that produced them are negatively charged, but the rays themselves are photons and are chargeless. Aluminum foil is as translucent to X-rays as cellophane is to light.

[Driv3th3hiv3]

This is very low level radiation

0.5 MR/h is generally what comes out of a CRT TV when viewing from 80CM away

[AScannerClearly]

Yes this is very low, can't do much more than make my counter click. My tube in my new video is much better.

[1986kip]

You mean 0.5 mR/h, not 0.5 MR/h :)

[Driv3th3hiv3]

Haha didnt notice that :P

500,000R /h

[bdizzle248]

@Driv3th3hiv3 They stopped making CRT's *without* overvoltage protection in the 70's. The older tubes rarely emitted x-rays regardless, only when there was a fault causing the cathode ray tube to be overvolted.

[Ch3mG33k]

I wonder if the static is a result of the x-rays you're producing. If it is from x-ray radiation, I think you should come up with a better shield system for yourself. The water may protect your lower body but it seems to me like your head is getting quite a bit of radiation...

[AScannerClearly]

I'm thinking the static is more likely from EMF interference, as much more powerful X-rays fail to produce that kind of sound with my current set-up to be featured in my new video coming before year's end. The rays from the bulb are VERY weak, I was quite surprised water worked at all, but my current X-ray tube, water provides no resistance. I now have a lead apron, and that thick peice of steel helps a lot too.

[magx1]

Use a Wimshurst machine, or other electrostatic device. It will get you your hard X-rays. Don't use a Van De Graaff unless it's a small one - who knows what you'll get if you go over the 150kV range - scary! The harder X-rays are seriously dangerous, so make sure you are very well shielded before ever attempting anything with clinical (100-150kV) range x-rays. Be sure there is adequate distance between you and others (even if these 'others' are your next door neighboors).

[magx1]

Have you tried photographing your x-rays through objects yet: perhaps a nail in a block of wood or bones in a fish?

[AScannerClearly]

I've tried, but so far the images are much too dim for even a 30-second exposure at widest aperture to produce anything... I've only so far gotten one picture (of a key in a opaque cardboard box) that was bright enough, and even then it required enhancement on the computer.

[retrotech1]

How are you doing this? I thought x-rays were made by casting a 'shadow' onto a flat film surface?

I think clinical x-ray machines use between 100 & 150kV. At 25 or 50kV, you might not be getting short enough wavelengths to effectively penetrate these objects. More voltage will get you 'harder' x-rays.

[AScannerClearly]

I'm trying to photograph the glow/shadows the X-rays produce on an Intensifier Screen (in which typically film is used to record this glow to reduce exposure time in patients).

You're absolutely right, clinical X-rays are higher voltages and more penetrating; I'm just working with what I current;y have available to me, which only goes up to 50kV.

[Driv3th3hiv3]

Try look into wiring a few flybacks in series using a ZVS or using a mar-x generator for pulsed xrays

[radiation500]

Okay I just read your video notes so that answers the first question about your high voltage source being a type of containerized tesla coil. But I still need to know if the output of a standard tesla coil is AC or DC...also, if the output is indeed AC, does its frequency match the wall outlet frequency? Thanks!

[AScannerClearly]

Those must be dumb physicists! o_O Tesla and Oudin coils output AC only, they need some kind of special rectification circuit that is very expensive in order to convert that to DC. Really for producing X-rays, you'll need a DC power supply, like that from an Induction Coil (which I hope to acquire sometime soon). The Frequency is MUCH higher than wall outlet frequency, although for my device I'm not sure exactly what that frequency is.

[radiation500]

Thanx for the info, it certainly is more help than I've gotten so far. You need to be on those websites to help 'em out!

[magx1]

Unless rectified, any type of coil will produce AC. If you want high voltage DC, you should try electrostatics - which I do use often.

Rectification of a source like the one featured in the video can be accomplished using a string of microwave oven rectifier diodes. Get them on Ebay. Each diode is good for 4kV (perhaps more) or so. String several together. It will work if it's DC you want from this coil.

[radiation500]

Thanx magx1 , good info. This youtube thing is a serious knowledge source. There's potentially more here than in the "professional" sites!

[AScannerClearly]

Really, those diodes will work if I connect them together in series or something? So if I wanted to make a bridge rectifier good for 50kV, I should get about 25 of those diodes and would be good? ^_^ I'll be happy if you say yes lol

[retrotech1]

Series - yes. Although a half wave rectifier would be easier, and probably require less diodes. So unless you really need the xtra current, I'd go with half wave.

For what you are doing, AC might be better. At least the glass will pass the AC to some extent, due to it's dielectric properties. If you want to store charge, then you will need DC. You will also want to use some type of choke between your diodes and the device you are supplying, in order to protect the diodes from spikes.

[boxa888]

wasnt the rod also acting as a "target" for electrons to be stopped abruptly to give off the xrays as they vibrate from the collisions? i think thats why you were able to get more xray radiation once you put that there. ever heard of tesla, he was getting xrays that would go over 100 ft using only one wire tubes, now we reffer to this a bessauhauser or something like that, basically means creating of xrays without a target(like tugsten or iron)

[radiation500]

Excellent video. Now, two questions for you please: 1...Is your high frequency source basically a tesla coil inside a container, and 2...is the OUTPUT of a standard wall socket powered Tesla coil, which I have, AC or DC? Believe it or not, these two questions seem to stump the "Ask a physicist" websites.....!!! Thanks!

[teslafredde]

I just have to try this! but I have always thought that you need a vacuum to create x-rays? Do you thing this would work with a 20kv flyback transformer?

[AScannerClearly]

Yes you do need a vacuum, but that's already included inside of the bulb.

I tried this with my 15 kV flyback transformer circuit, but the current in my circuit is so low I can only get the faintest green glow inside the bulb. The voltage is likely also too low for the rays to be hard enough to penetrate glass, I think 23-25 kV is the absolute minimum, I can't remember for sure though.

[teslafredde]

I just tried it with a 3w christmas lightbulb, I actualy saw a faint green light but as you said the x-rays didn´t go through the glass. I would have to update my driver to get more voltage but the real problem is that light bulbs are illigal to sell in sweden :( and i only have one left... I guess I have to order some from the us

[AScannerClearly]

Yes Christmas light bulbs work too (by 3W do you mean the big ones?) I've only tried the smaller ones, and while they do light up a pretty green, at the voltages required to produce the hard X-rays, the bulb is simply too small to handle the current and I've melted through all of them in just seconds, so I found them kind of useless. A larger one would be better, perhaps like what you are using!

[teslafredde]

I believe it was the small once. But recently I found a 15w lightbulb that didn´t make a corona so it will hopefully work.

I´m working on a new Push Pull dual transistor driver that will make some 30k volts which I hope will be enought..

[medicaldud]

You are NUMBER ONE!!

2:57 was kind of funny.

:)

[TheCynicalAtheist]

This video is facinating, although i laughed at the self shock.

Great Vid.

[hboy007]

nice experiment, thanks for showing us. You could try to add a litle battery driven inverter, ground the lamp socket and zap the aluminium foil instead

[AScannerClearly]

I've tried rigging a bulb up to a 12V battery and grounding the top end with aluminum foil. However a bulb meant for 120V doesn't glow very bright at 12V, and the fact that my Oudin coil is AC makes the filament vibrate wildly, often ruining the bulb if it touches the glass and contacts it for more than a couple seconds. I'm hoping to build a bridge rectifier or get a new HV source entirely in the next few months.

[athlonz2007]

Hemp oil, hemp seed, hemp food, hemp life i guess :D

[nepssis]

I think that gamma scout, in this case, registers only betta radiation which is product of high voltage.

[AScannerClearly]

Technically, beta radiation is when an electron is emitted from an atom's nucleus; high voltage only accellerates electrons from the atom's electron shell... and those electrons are never able to leave the bulb as they collide with the glass and give up there energy right there, mostly as heat or that green light, but < 1% is in the form of X-rays.

Just last night I was able to confirm with an intensifier screen, that these bulbs do indeed produce X-rays. I'm still trying to photograph it.

[morganhv]

What is an intensifier screen?

[AScannerClearly]

It's a screen that has a phosphor powder on it, usually a Rare-Earth phosphor, that glows when exposed to radiation. They're used in X-Ray cassettes for photography. X-rays can expose film, however it's very slow process, so by using a screen that glows blue or green when exposed to X-rays and using a film sandwiched between 2 screens which is sensitive to one of those colors, then you can take an X-ray photograph with only a fraction of the exposure time and dosage.

[morganhv]

where would someone be able to get one

[AScannerClearly]

I got mine from eBay. Now is probably a good time to obtain one, since many facilities that used X-ray film are now converting over to digital X-ray machines that are simpler to use and require even less X-ray exposure, so more intensifier screens are hitting the market as they're phased out.

[sciencoking]

wtf do you need the HV-scorce for(normally)?

[AScannerClearly]

It's sold for testing for holes in insulation or paints or things like there, where there's a non-conductive layer on a conductive material; if there are any holes, the spark goes directly for it.

It's also great at producing plasma, ozone, zapping insects, experimenting with ionic wind, scaring friends and neighbors, things like that.

[sciencoking]

ROFL, ok thanks :-)

[foxsmith2009]

Yes indeed ASC, and I can confirm that from personal experience, ferocious little gadgets. I was once assisting a guy who was checking the lining of a chemical storage tank with a similar device, ( his had a brush like tip ). I knew not to mess with it, but impetuosity, curiosity , and more than average dumbness, are a dangerous combination. So, I tried it on my hand, like being kicked by a horse, fierce pain and temporarily paralysed hand, and it lasted for hours. Lucky I didn't try a headshot

[coilgunman]

i dont have dosimeter but im try it ha ha ha

[clony101]

thats actuly is called a dosimeter not a geigor counter

[Harrisburg37]

same thing, but dosimeters are usually for radiation safety.

[Harrisburg37]

i have a gamma scout. its really good.

[AScannerClearly]

Technically this unit counts as both. It has a Geiger-Mueller tube inside of it and has a functionality where it does count things click by click, but it also translates # pulses into a dosage and can record that. I typically call something a dosimeter if it's a film badge.

[bionerd23]

yeah, i'm still confused by that term in english. in german, it's pretty clear - one is a GEIGER MUELLER ZAEHLROHR, the film badge is a DOSIMETER, and the gamma scout would be a DOSISLEISTUNGSMESSGERAET.

[AScannerClearly]

Words like that kinda make me glad I live in America lol (no offence!). I just don't think any word should have that many letters!

I suppose you could try to teach me how to pronounce it and then I'll say it in a future video. =P

[clony101]

the stadicy sound is because of the x-rays

[JaksProductions]

wow that was totally freaking one of the most awesome things- the lightbolb when you touched it with few kilovolts?:P

[bionerd23]

which wouldnt be good so it would... be bad. LOL! ^_^

cor, i love this! your little spark thing rocks. i may need to get one of these... probably safer AND more efficient than messing with a flyback transformer (25kV).

amazing instructable, just one little thing: next time, can you turn on the audible click? that'd demonstrate the production of x-rays even better, i think. nevertheless, i am glad to be the first to rate this 5 stars. =)

[AScannerClearly]

I was pretty surprised that my camera's mic didn't pick up the sound of the spark more, because it is loud! I didn't use the clicker function because I can't hear it over the sound of the high voltage so it'd be kind of pointless, but I guess the camera mic is less sensitive to the sparky noise, so perhaps next time I shall do that.

A flyback transformer, if stepped up to around 50KV or more, would probably be more efficient, but I don't know if it would be safer, so it's up to you. =P

[bionerd23]

well, the problem is especially with "something going wrong". i do not have an insulation transformer, so if something bad happens due to a mistake and the voltage is being transferred back into the mains power supply, some 80kV or something would zap everything in the house to death, which would mean the largest trouble ahead, EVER.

and yeah, the cam mic picked up the 'warning, reached threshold' click just fine, that's why i suggested turning on the audible click...

[foxsmith2009]

Even bigger problem if one zaps oneself with it bn, :) but of course, you're far too bright to do that,...but I wasn't, ( see my other comment on here ).

Good job I only tried it on my hand, elsewhere might have produced more permanent results I suspect.

[AScannerClearly]

lol yeah, they do make different tips for that device for different applications... I've never been curious enough to zap myself with it, especially after having accidentally zapped myself with it 3 times now lol, but luckily never got as severe of a shock from it as you described!

As they say, "Experience is the greatest oracle of wisdom."

[foxsmith2009]

Sensible quote, and often true, and the founding fathers were bright guys, and it certainly taught me a lesson.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, but perhaps angels have less curiosity, and or, a higher boredom threshold than I do.

I can't help empathising a little though with Oscar Wilde in this regard,

" The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation. "

[AerialTheShamen]

@bionerd23 The mains power grid is very low ohmed and a small tesla coil is high ohmed, thus shorting it to mains can not do really much harm beside crashing computer programs. Else also bad flyback transformer in TV set would send 25KV out of mains sockets after arcing through the mains transformer insulation. (Mains trafos can not hold back voltages beyond 4KV anyway, so 80KV would surely skip its insulation and reach the socket current anyway.)