Tesla's electro-mechanical oscillator is a steam-powered electric generator patented by

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 1856 – 7 January 1943 ...

in 1893. Later in life Tesla claimed one version of the oscillator caused an earthquake in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1898, gaining it the popular culture title "Tesla's earthquake machine".

Description

Tesla's oscillator is a reciprocating electricity generator. Steam would be forced into the oscillator, and exit through a series of ports, pushing a piston up and down that was attached to an armature, causing it to vibrate up and down at high speed, producing electricity. The casing's upper chamber had to withstand pressures of and temperatures exceeding 200 °C. Some versions used air trapped behind the piston as an "air spring", increasing efficiency. Another variation used electromagnets to control the frequency of the piston's oscillation. Tesla developed many versions of the oscillator and looked on it as a possible replacement for inefficient reciprocating steam engines used to turn generators, but it was superseded by the development of highly efficient

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam tu ...

s. Tesla also used the highly regular tunable oscillation of the device to set frequency in his high frequency electrical and wireless transmission experiments. There are also claims it had a physiological effect on people subjected to its vibrations in that it acted as a

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

causing people to immediately run to the bathroom afterwards.

"Earthquake" claims

In 1935 at his annual birthday party/press meeting a 79-year-old Tesla related a story where he claimed a version of his mechanical oscillator caused extreme vibrations in structures and even an earthquake in downtown New York City.rexresearch.com - Nikola TESLA - Mechanical Oscillator
/ref> Reporter John J. O'Neill's biography of Nikola Tesla includes a version of this story (date of the telling not given). One version of the story has Tesla experimenting with a small version of his mechanical oscillator at his laboratory on 46 East

Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...

near the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

neighborhood of

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

. Tesla said the oscillator was around long and weighing , something "you could put in your overcoat pocket". At one point while experimenting with the oscillator, he alleged it generated a resonance in several buildings, causing complaints to the police. As the speed grew, he said that the machine oscillated at the resonance frequency of his own building and, belatedly realizing the danger, he was forced to use a sledgehammer to terminate the experiment, just as the police arrived.''Prodigal Genius'', John J. O'Neill, pp. 162–164 Other versions have Tesla smashing the device before the police arrive and have multi-ton equipment in the basement moving around. Another version has Tesla clamping an oscillator to a building under construction and causing it to vibrate so violently the steelworkers working on it left the building in a panic. At the 1935 party Tesla also claimed the mechanical oscillator could destroy the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...

with "Five pounds of air pressure" () if attached on a girder and that he expected to earn $100 million from the oscillator within two years.

MythBusters

The oscillator/"earthquake machine" was explored in 2006 in Episode 60 – "Earthquake Machine". The

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internation ...

made a device powered by electricity rather than steam. It produced vibrations that could be felt hundreds of feet away, but no earthquake shaking on the bridge they attached to; they judged that the claim that the device produced an earthquake to be false (i.e. a "busted myth").

References

{{Nikola Tesla Inventions by Nikola Tesla Products introduced in 1893 Electrical generators

Description

"Earthquake" claims

MythBusters

See also

References