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Some capacitance calculations for the Ark
Hi guys- as an amateur capacitor-builder, woodworker, biblical scholar, and scientist I feel somewhat obliged to comment here. I should warn the readers that I am not very familiar with the works of Hutchinson or Haramein, although I am very conversant with those of Tesla.
The power of the ark as a capacitor relies almost solely on the 'dielectric material' (described as '****tim wood' or 'acacia wood', in this case) and its thickness. I'll note right now that the ONE number we need to be certain, the "Dielectric Constant" of acacia wood (or a material made of acacia gum- but I'll get into that later...) seems to be impossible to find online. So I'll solve the problem for a range of likely DC's (2-6), and thicknesses (1/2"-1"). But we can make a series of educated guesses, and try to find a logical conclusion.
For accurate specs on the ark, I referred to my own copy of the Tanakh as well as an analysis of some of the original Aramaic biblical texts at Encyclopaedia Biblica/Aramaic Versions-Asara - Wikisource . This text was scanned and OCR'd, and is therefore difficult to read, but is well worth it. The author uses language analysis tools to determine which of the biblical texts are 'most original', and which have been modified over time. First, the bad news- according to this analysis, the original Ark was plain acacia wood- the gilding (or perhaps just the description of the gilding) seems to have been a later addition by a subsequent author/editor.
Now for the good news. (We'll set aside the entire concept of the 'lid', or "Mercy Seat' in this discussion). IF the Ark was covered with gold, inside and out, and IF there was a gap in that gold covering along the rim, then the Ark would function as a capacitor (an obsolete term for capacitor is 'condenser'), and we should be able to estimate its electrical characteristics. Specifically, the Ark would be the type of capacitor called a Leyden Jar (or "Leyden bottle").
An earlier poster was asked if he'd ever built any large capacitors. I have- and they hold enough charge to kill a rhino.(some photos are at Welcome to Facebook | Facebook and at Welcome to Facebook | Facebook ), and I've also built "arks" (ornate wooden chests), so I feel qualified to comment here.
One more bit of cheerful news-- the lid, or "mercy seat" is interesting in that the root-word for "mercy-seat" is "bitumen"-- or tar, a useful, flexible electrical insulating material (also used in the so-called "Bahgdad Batteries")- an interesting choice of words if accidental- but as I said before, I'm not discussing the 'lid' here.
Now for the "assumptions". Lets say that a cubit is about 18". Lets assume that to hold a pair of stone tablets without breaking, that the Ark would be made of wood somewhere between 1/2" and 1" thick (for our calculations, knowing an approximate thickness is critical- even more critical to the operation of the device is that the thickness remain absolutely consistent throughout the material). Lumber from an acacia tree (a relatively scrawny desert tree) wouldn't be big enough to cut boards a cubit-and-a-half wide, so lets assume that smaller boards were glued (probably with hide-glue, casien glue, or acacia gum) and dowelled together to make panels- a common woodworking technique, even 3000 years ago.
I can't find any specifics on the "Dielectric Constant" of acacia wood in particular, but I found a USDA document that says "wood" can range in values from 2 to 5, depending upon dryness. Resistivity can be thousands of megohms in very dry wood, so voltage bleedoff shouldn't be a big problem. I also couldn't find the "Dielectric Strength" of wood (or acacia), but paper has a rating of 200,000 volts per inch of thickness, so lets say acacia is good for 150KV/inch. (We're counting on the DRY middle-eastern climate A LOT, here...) I know that's a lot of assumptions, but despite Tesla's florid claim, the bible is sketchy on the details, and there aren't a lot of hard numbers on the electrical characteristics of 'natural materials', like acacia wood.
Now lets run some numbers- We know our Leyden Jar (Ark) is electrically equivalent to two gold plates, each about 5000 square inches in surface area, separated by an acacia dielectric (with a DC of maybe-as-low-as 2, or maybe-as-high-as 5) that is between 1/2" and 1" thick.
That means the (perfect-world) 'lousiest' capacitor we might construct would assume a Dielectric Constant of "2" for acacia, using 1/2" thick boards. It would have a rating of .0044mfd (microfarads), and a maximum voltage of 75,000 volts (75KV). This represents 12.375 joules of energy. (and is still probably generous. It assumes a great attention to detail on the part of Bezaleel, the original carpenter)
Our (perfect-world) "Best Hopeful" case would assume a Dielectric Constant of "5" for acacia, using 1" thick boards. It would have a rating of .005619mfd (microfarads), and a maximum voltage of 150,000 volts (150KV). This represents 63.214 joules of energy. (perhaps even more generous, and again assumes the chest was manufactured to 'electronic tolerances', not "2000BC. furniture tolerances")
Therefore, a simple wooden box, made of accurately thicknessed 1" boards, with a gold lining and covering (having a gap between them along the rim), which is 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 2.5 cubits, when properly charged (that's another story...) MIGHT have an energy capacity between 12 and 63 joules. (Note that I carried-out the decimal places so that others might check my math-- there is NO WAY our assumptions are close enough to merit that degree of accuracy). In terms of energy, 10-200 joules is in the "might kill you" range. Over 200 joules is in the "will almost certainly kill you" range. A Taser generates pulses (depending upon make and model) ranging between 1/3 and 2 joules per jolt. (interestingly, a .22cal rifle bullet has a muzzle-energy of 200 joules...)
SO, IF it functioned as a capacitor (or "condenser", or "Leyden Jar") the Ark might indeed have had enough juice to kill the unwary, like poor Uzzah, who was trying to steady it after the oxen jostled it. It would most probably have enough 'juice' to knock you on your A-double-S.
If you try to build a duplicate Ark out of plywood and aluminum foil (yes, it can be done), take a CLOSE look at the photos of my big leyden jar "Fat Albert", and keep the inside and outside layers shorted-out when not in use. ANY CAPACITOR THIS SIZE CAN KILL YOU. Start small- build a small, harmless 'film-can leyden jar' first- instructions are at Instructions for Making a Film Canister Leyden Jar . You can charge this little guy by waving it in front of your TV screen- no silk curtains or badger-fur covering needed-- you'll be able to see small sparks, and you won't end-up fried, like poor ole' Uzzah!
As far as 'mankillers' go, although smaller than the Ark, "Fat Albert" uses a 5 gallon bucket made of HDPE a few hundredths of an inch thick, and at well over 200 joules is FAR more powerful than our theoretical Acacia-wood Ark-capacitor- the secret is that beautifully thin, consistent layer of HDPE the bucket is made of..
But, there is another possibility- one that MIGHT account for a more high-powered Ark- perhaps up to 800 joules. Consider this: MAYBE the stone tablets were never carried in the ark (according to the text-analysis of the Aramaic, that passage may have been a later addition to the bible). Not needing to support their weight, the acacia wood could be even thinner making the entire unit more powerful than I calculated above. Or perhaps (and this is a stretch..) the "acacia" wasn't "acacia wood", but "acacia gum"- (an interesting substance exuded from the acacia tree consisting mostly of polysaccharides) dissolved in water, cast into thin even sheets, dried, assembled, and gilded. From what I know of the dielectric constants of polysaccharides, that could amount to a pretty serious capacitor- with a nice, consistent, uniform, homogeneous dielctric.
In that case, perhaps the gilded-carrying-staves were NOT to spread the load of a heavy ark bearing stone tablets- they may have been intended to carefully suspend a FRAGILE ark made of cast-gum-arabic-panels and lightly gilded; a less-rugged Ark would certainly explain Uzzah's concern about the jostling, and the carefully constructed 'resting place' in the tabernacle- it would also store a LOT more energy. All of this, naturally, is total, gross, and sheer speculation on my part-- but if someone tests acacia wood, or acacia gum, and gets a really high Dielectric Constant, that may be key. For example, a delicate Ark made of 1/4" thick panels, and a dielectric material with a DC of 10 (camphor is 10, so acacia gum may be close) could store a whopping 800 joules. I might be able to believe that-- Acacia gum IS a fascinating natural substance- just read The Acacia Gum Arabinogalactan Fraction Is a Thin Oblate Ellipsoid: A New Model Based on Small-Angle Neutron Scattering and Ab Initio Calculation to see how unique it is! (pity they didn't test it for a Dielectric Constant!!)
But be warned- I've found NO evidence of any culture ever casting acacia gum into sheets- if it was done, no mention of it can be found anywhere, so that's a really big assumption. For a really powerful Ark, though, we need some kind of dielectric material 'leap' like this.
None of this explains the warning in Joshua 3, telling the sons of Israel to stay a kilometer away, however. THAT is an entirely different kind of power-- ionizing radiation of some kind, from UV to gamma-ray, take your pick... (maybe that's the function of the lid, or 'mercy seat' and cheribum, and the Leyden-Jar-Ark is just the 'feed voltage'--lasers and MRI machines are fired with big capacitors- but you're still only working with a one-shot instantaneous discharge of less than 800 joules even in the most starry-eyed best-case analysis....)
I don't have the ability to measure the DC of acacia gum, but it would be easy to dissolve some in water, and try to cast a small panel with it. That way you could determine if building an ark of the stuff is even possible. (does anyone out there have an ounce-or-so of "gum arabic"? try this for us!) By the way, gilding an acacia-gum-panel Ark would be a cinch-- acacia gum (gum arabic) is the stuff they use for glue in gilding!
My undying thanks and a gold star goes out to anyone who can get us solid numbers on the dielectric constants for acacia wood, and solid, dry, acacia gum.
I hope this helps.... And PLEASE-- if you have the capacity to check my math, CHECK IT! I ran these numbers at 2AM, so ymmv....
-bob
for those interested, two useful online calculators for homemade capacitors are Electronics 2000 | Capacitor Charge / Energy Calculator and Tesla Coils - Capacitance Calculator
Hi guys- as an amateur capacitor-builder, woodworker, biblical scholar, and scientist I feel somewhat obliged to comment here. I should warn the readers that I am not very familiar with the works of Hutchinson or Haramein, although I am very conversant with those of Tesla.
The power of the ark as a capacitor relies almost solely on the 'dielectric material' (described as '****tim wood' or 'acacia wood', in this case) and its thickness. I'll note right now that the ONE number we need to be certain, the "Dielectric Constant" of acacia wood (or a material made of acacia gum- but I'll get into that later...) seems to be impossible to find online. So I'll solve the problem for a range of likely DC's (2-6), and thicknesses (1/2"-1"). But we can make a series of educated guesses, and try to find a logical conclusion.
For accurate specs on the ark, I referred to my own copy of the Tanakh as well as an analysis of some of the original Aramaic biblical texts at Encyclopaedia Biblica/Aramaic Versions-Asara - Wikisource . This text was scanned and OCR'd, and is therefore difficult to read, but is well worth it. The author uses language analysis tools to determine which of the biblical texts are 'most original', and which have been modified over time. First, the bad news- according to this analysis, the original Ark was plain acacia wood- the gilding (or perhaps just the description of the gilding) seems to have been a later addition by a subsequent author/editor.
Now for the good news. (We'll set aside the entire concept of the 'lid', or "Mercy Seat' in this discussion). IF the Ark was covered with gold, inside and out, and IF there was a gap in that gold covering along the rim, then the Ark would function as a capacitor (an obsolete term for capacitor is 'condenser'), and we should be able to estimate its electrical characteristics. Specifically, the Ark would be the type of capacitor called a Leyden Jar (or "Leyden bottle").
An earlier poster was asked if he'd ever built any large capacitors. I have- and they hold enough charge to kill a rhino.(some photos are at Welcome to Facebook | Facebook and at Welcome to Facebook | Facebook ), and I've also built "arks" (ornate wooden chests), so I feel qualified to comment here.
One more bit of cheerful news-- the lid, or "mercy seat" is interesting in that the root-word for "mercy-seat" is "bitumen"-- or tar, a useful, flexible electrical insulating material (also used in the so-called "Bahgdad Batteries")- an interesting choice of words if accidental- but as I said before, I'm not discussing the 'lid' here.
Now for the "assumptions". Lets say that a cubit is about 18". Lets assume that to hold a pair of stone tablets without breaking, that the Ark would be made of wood somewhere between 1/2" and 1" thick (for our calculations, knowing an approximate thickness is critical- even more critical to the operation of the device is that the thickness remain absolutely consistent throughout the material). Lumber from an acacia tree (a relatively scrawny desert tree) wouldn't be big enough to cut boards a cubit-and-a-half wide, so lets assume that smaller boards were glued (probably with hide-glue, casien glue, or acacia gum) and dowelled together to make panels- a common woodworking technique, even 3000 years ago.
I can't find any specifics on the "Dielectric Constant" of acacia wood in particular, but I found a USDA document that says "wood" can range in values from 2 to 5, depending upon dryness. Resistivity can be thousands of megohms in very dry wood, so voltage bleedoff shouldn't be a big problem. I also couldn't find the "Dielectric Strength" of wood (or acacia), but paper has a rating of 200,000 volts per inch of thickness, so lets say acacia is good for 150KV/inch. (We're counting on the DRY middle-eastern climate A LOT, here...) I know that's a lot of assumptions, but despite Tesla's florid claim, the bible is sketchy on the details, and there aren't a lot of hard numbers on the electrical characteristics of 'natural materials', like acacia wood.
Now lets run some numbers- We know our Leyden Jar (Ark) is electrically equivalent to two gold plates, each about 5000 square inches in surface area, separated by an acacia dielectric (with a DC of maybe-as-low-as 2, or maybe-as-high-as 5) that is between 1/2" and 1" thick.
That means the (perfect-world) 'lousiest' capacitor we might construct would assume a Dielectric Constant of "2" for acacia, using 1/2" thick boards. It would have a rating of .0044mfd (microfarads), and a maximum voltage of 75,000 volts (75KV). This represents 12.375 joules of energy. (and is still probably generous. It assumes a great attention to detail on the part of Bezaleel, the original carpenter)
Our (perfect-world) "Best Hopeful" case would assume a Dielectric Constant of "5" for acacia, using 1" thick boards. It would have a rating of .005619mfd (microfarads), and a maximum voltage of 150,000 volts (150KV). This represents 63.214 joules of energy. (perhaps even more generous, and again assumes the chest was manufactured to 'electronic tolerances', not "2000BC. furniture tolerances")
Therefore, a simple wooden box, made of accurately thicknessed 1" boards, with a gold lining and covering (having a gap between them along the rim), which is 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 2.5 cubits, when properly charged (that's another story...) MIGHT have an energy capacity between 12 and 63 joules. (Note that I carried-out the decimal places so that others might check my math-- there is NO WAY our assumptions are close enough to merit that degree of accuracy). In terms of energy, 10-200 joules is in the "might kill you" range. Over 200 joules is in the "will almost certainly kill you" range. A Taser generates pulses (depending upon make and model) ranging between 1/3 and 2 joules per jolt. (interestingly, a .22cal rifle bullet has a muzzle-energy of 200 joules...)
SO, IF it functioned as a capacitor (or "condenser", or "Leyden Jar") the Ark might indeed have had enough juice to kill the unwary, like poor Uzzah, who was trying to steady it after the oxen jostled it. It would most probably have enough 'juice' to knock you on your A-double-S.
If you try to build a duplicate Ark out of plywood and aluminum foil (yes, it can be done), take a CLOSE look at the photos of my big leyden jar "Fat Albert", and keep the inside and outside layers shorted-out when not in use. ANY CAPACITOR THIS SIZE CAN KILL YOU. Start small- build a small, harmless 'film-can leyden jar' first- instructions are at Instructions for Making a Film Canister Leyden Jar . You can charge this little guy by waving it in front of your TV screen- no silk curtains or badger-fur covering needed-- you'll be able to see small sparks, and you won't end-up fried, like poor ole' Uzzah!
As far as 'mankillers' go, although smaller than the Ark, "Fat Albert" uses a 5 gallon bucket made of HDPE a few hundredths of an inch thick, and at well over 200 joules is FAR more powerful than our theoretical Acacia-wood Ark-capacitor- the secret is that beautifully thin, consistent layer of HDPE the bucket is made of..
But, there is another possibility- one that MIGHT account for a more high-powered Ark- perhaps up to 800 joules. Consider this: MAYBE the stone tablets were never carried in the ark (according to the text-analysis of the Aramaic, that passage may have been a later addition to the bible). Not needing to support their weight, the acacia wood could be even thinner making the entire unit more powerful than I calculated above. Or perhaps (and this is a stretch..) the "acacia" wasn't "acacia wood", but "acacia gum"- (an interesting substance exuded from the acacia tree consisting mostly of polysaccharides) dissolved in water, cast into thin even sheets, dried, assembled, and gilded. From what I know of the dielectric constants of polysaccharides, that could amount to a pretty serious capacitor- with a nice, consistent, uniform, homogeneous dielctric.
In that case, perhaps the gilded-carrying-staves were NOT to spread the load of a heavy ark bearing stone tablets- they may have been intended to carefully suspend a FRAGILE ark made of cast-gum-arabic-panels and lightly gilded; a less-rugged Ark would certainly explain Uzzah's concern about the jostling, and the carefully constructed 'resting place' in the tabernacle- it would also store a LOT more energy. All of this, naturally, is total, gross, and sheer speculation on my part-- but if someone tests acacia wood, or acacia gum, and gets a really high Dielectric Constant, that may be key. For example, a delicate Ark made of 1/4" thick panels, and a dielectric material with a DC of 10 (camphor is 10, so acacia gum may be close) could store a whopping 800 joules. I might be able to believe that-- Acacia gum IS a fascinating natural substance- just read The Acacia Gum Arabinogalactan Fraction Is a Thin Oblate Ellipsoid: A New Model Based on Small-Angle Neutron Scattering and Ab Initio Calculation to see how unique it is! (pity they didn't test it for a Dielectric Constant!!)
But be warned- I've found NO evidence of any culture ever casting acacia gum into sheets- if it was done, no mention of it can be found anywhere, so that's a really big assumption. For a really powerful Ark, though, we need some kind of dielectric material 'leap' like this.
None of this explains the warning in Joshua 3, telling the sons of Israel to stay a kilometer away, however. THAT is an entirely different kind of power-- ionizing radiation of some kind, from UV to gamma-ray, take your pick... (maybe that's the function of the lid, or 'mercy seat' and cheribum, and the Leyden-Jar-Ark is just the 'feed voltage'--lasers and MRI machines are fired with big capacitors- but you're still only working with a one-shot instantaneous discharge of less than 800 joules even in the most starry-eyed best-case analysis....)
I don't have the ability to measure the DC of acacia gum, but it would be easy to dissolve some in water, and try to cast a small panel with it. That way you could determine if building an ark of the stuff is even possible. (does anyone out there have an ounce-or-so of "gum arabic"? try this for us!) By the way, gilding an acacia-gum-panel Ark would be a cinch-- acacia gum (gum arabic) is the stuff they use for glue in gilding!
My undying thanks and a gold star goes out to anyone who can get us solid numbers on the dielectric constants for acacia wood, and solid, dry, acacia gum.
I hope this helps.... And PLEASE-- if you have the capacity to check my math, CHECK IT! I ran these numbers at 2AM, so ymmv....
-bob
for those interested, two useful online calculators for homemade capacitors are Electronics 2000 | Capacitor Charge / Energy Calculator and Tesla Coils - Capacitance Calculator
It looks like some auto-censoring software assumed I was saying a naughty word in the second paragraph, above, as the text was replaced with asterisks. Another, equally acceptable (and perhaps less-likely to trigger the autocensor) transliteration of the Hebrew is "chittim-wood".
Sorry, guys-- I just realized I posted a bad link to the photos of "Fat Albert", the 5-gallon bucket capacitor, and the little film-can capacitor. The correct links to the photos are: 
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