Jansen, Henri; Krane, Kenneth S.
Description:
Our research was focused mainly on the field of plasma physics and the creation of plasmas in a laboratory environment. We first began our project with the goal to develop a tabletop Tokamak, a doughnut shaped device that magnetically confines plasmas at pressures greater than one atmosphere. After researching this topic, it was determined that it would be impossible for a team to design and build a Tokamak without serious financial and scholarly help. To continue our research, we instead intended to build an induction lamp that would let us take current, potential, and resistance measurements of a plasma as well as examine the working parameters of a magnetically induced plasma. While we were unable to complete the induction lamp design, we did complete experiments on plasmas confined in cylindrical tubes and determined the necessary electrical potential and current needed to sustain low-pressure plasmas as well as the change in resistance before and after the plasma ignites.