TY - JOUR
AU - Jensen, Harald C.
AB -  Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois The previous article in this series1 dealt with the electromotiveforce induced in an inductor when its magnetic field collapses. The point of primary interest in that apparatus is the energy stored in a magnetic field and the possibility of converting it to work per unit charge or electromotive-force. The complementary situation is that of storing energy in the electric field between the plates of a capacitor. This energy can also be used to flash a neon bulb2 if the circuit pictured in figure one and shown in schematic form in figure two is realized. This apparatus is one form of a relaxation oscillator. When the circuit is completed, the capacitor C3 is charged by the battery B. The time of charging is dependent upon the value of C and the series resistor R. At the moment that the potential difference across C is large enough to ignite the neon bulb .V, the capacitor is discharged instantaneously through the bulb producing a flash of light. After the bulb is extinguished, the charging process again takes place and becomes repetitive or periodic. The frequency of the flashing depends on the time constant RC of 
TI - A Relaxation Oscillator
JF - School Science and Mathematics
DO - 10.1111/j.1949-8594.1959.tb08293.x
DA - 1959-12-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/a-relaxation-oscillator-F6CDIeONxt
SP - 680
VL - 59
IS - 9
DP - DeepDyve
ER -