Tesla Valve Experimentation Kit for Schools

For additional resources, such as instruction sheets (in German), see our GitHub repository.

The models provided here form the basis of an experimentation kit that teachers can print in order to allow their students to perform experiments with Tesla valves. The following additional components need to be separately provided:

1. an acrylic tube with diameter 40/34 mm and length 330 mm;

2. a length of plastic hose with diameter 10 / 7 mm and length 40 mm (available in many school chemistry labs);

3. a pitcher with volume 500 ml (available in many school chemistry labs);

4. a stand to hold the acrylic tube (available in many school chemistry labs);

After printing the models (1x per experimentation kit; the funnel ("Trichter") is optional; the rings need to be printed 6x per kit), the kit is assembled as follows:

1. hot-glue the hose attachment ("Schlauchanschluss") to the bottom of the tube;

2. push the piece of hose into the hose attachment;

3. click the 6 rings into the spacer bar ("Abstandhalter");

4. feed the rings and spacer bar onto the acrylic tube;

5. place the optional funnel ("Trichter") on top.

You can then prepare a round of experiments as follows:

1. place the acrylic tube into a vertical stand so that its bottom sits about 25 cm above the table;

2. place the stand into an optional collection pan (to avoid accidental flooding);

3. fill the pitcher with about 500ml of water and place into pan next to stand;

4. prepare a timing app or stopwatch with the ability to record lap times.

You can then conduct experiments as follows:

1. attach one of the Tesla valves to the piece of hose;

2. block the outflow of the valve with your finger;

3. pour the water from the pitcher into the funnel at the top of the acrylic tube until it sits about 20 mm above the topmost rin;

4. place the pitcher under the Tesla valve to catch the outflowing water;

5. remove your finger from the valve;

6. record the times at which the water passes each of the rings (e.g. using lap times on the stopwatch);

7. reverse the Tesla valve and repeat;

8. try Tesla valves with different winding counts and repeat.

You can then evaluate the experiments as follows:

1. Compare the times taken to reach each ring. This reveals that was the water pressure sinks, the flow through the valve slows and the time to reach the next segment gets longer.

2. Compare the times taken to pass from top to bottom ring in forward and backward direction of the valve. This reveals the effectiveness of the valve in reducing flow in one preferred direction ("diodicity").

3. Compare the effectiveness of the valves with 1, 3 and 5 windings. This reveals that the effectiveness of the valve (diodicity) increases with the number of windings.

Have fun!