The student news site of New Trier High School

New Trier News

The student news site of New Trier High School

New Trier News

The student news site of New Trier High School

New Trier News

Costakis shocks with construction of Tesla Coil

Junior Charlie Costakis built a five-foot tall, homemade Tesla Coil in his basement laboratory.

Costakis took it upon himself to build a lightning generator made of materials he found in his own home. “To the observer it might look like a giant tube covered in a copper-y color,” explained Costakis.

“But they are actually turns of copper wire with a metal donut-shaped dome for the sparks to emanate from. This design steps up the voltage from the ground.”

A Tesla Coil is an instrument created with the purpose of producing high frequency alternating currents. For the non-scientist, a Tesla Coil is what every sci-fi movie’s mad scientist has in their lab that has dramatic sparks shooting out of it. It’s not just a cool prop, but a useful scientific tool, too.

Costakis explained that the lighting strikes look instantaneous to the observer, but there are actually over 100 sparks per minute.

“I first got really into physics and doing experiments when I was in fifth or sixth grade and my parents got me a set of snap circuits for Christmas,” said Costakis, “I’d always play around and try to make everything in the set work together.”

Costakis has been interested in making a Tesla Coil since seeing videos of them on YouTube several years ago. But not everyone was on board with his aspirations.

“I could never convince my parents to let me make one, for safety concerns. Looking back on it, I’m happy I wasn’t able to do it until now because I didn’t know nearly as much about electronics as I now do.”

Costakis has also built an arcade machine with existing plywood, however it wasn’t nearly as big of a job as the Tesla Coil.

The whole coil cost him about $200 to build, but purchasing expensive parts from eBay surpluses made this project 10-20 times less expensive. “This is one of my more expensive projects to date,” said Costakis. “But it was completely worth it and I plan to build more of them in the future.”

“Charlie had never told me about the Tesla Coil. I actually brought it up to him when I heard there was going to be a spotlight on him and his project,” said AP Chemistry teacher Garrett Forbes. “We also have a Tesla Coil in the classroom and we’d love for him to bring his in to compare how they work,” he went on to say.

According to Forbes, Costakis’s passion translates to the classroom.

“He does extremely well in my class and participates a lot,” continued Forbes. “I think this has a lot to do with his practical knowledge in labs and his home set-up.”

“I know last year it was more chemistry activities that he was interested in, but now I think it’s more physics this year with the Tesla Coil,” said Forbes.

Costakis has put a lot of work into this project. He has even learned how to play songs with the Tesla coil, most notably his rendition of the Tetris Theme Song using just lightning pitches from the coil, which he says works best for his apparatus. “I finally got the Tesla Coil to make music,” Costakis said. “And it’s twice as cool in person as seeing it in YouTube videos.”

“I think what’s great about Charlie is that he’s creative, thoughtful, and self-motivated,” explained Forbes. “He will investigate things on his own and with his work ethic and the way he takes on challenges. I think he’ll be very successful in the future.”

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The comment section provides a space for readers to voice their opinions. The New Trier News wants to amplify the voices of our audience, so comments will not be censored based on a difference of opinion. However, we will not accept the following forms of commentary: Racism, homophobia, or any other sort of prejudice Anything against the school policy clearly stated in the New Trier Student Handbook Violent threats or any form of harassment toward our staff and/or sources Any obscene or inappropriate language Anonymous comments will not be approved. The comments will be monitored by managing editors in consultation with our faculty advisers.
All New Trier News Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *