Although the static characteristie curve of the are of the tungar rectifier is, roughly speaking, falling, the farm is not so smooth as that of the carbon are.
This irregularity is due to the fact that the arc stream changes its position suddenly or gradually, between the anode of graphite and the heated filament as cathode with the result that the are length varies.
When the are stream of negative ions converges on the anode impinging on its edge, an oscillating current is produced in the condenser circuit connected across the terminals of the electrodes accompanying a sound in the bulb.
This phenomena seems to be related to the fact that the negative ions oscillate in the are vapour simply owing to mechanical causes. The frequ-eney of this ionic oscillation depends mainly upon the terminal voltage aud the filament current.
Some remarks on the dynamic characteristies of the rectifying are of tungar are given, particularly with regard to the effect of the condition of the filament. When the filament current is small, the dynamic character-istic of the are is not falling but rising distinctly. This may be due to the surface effect on the filament as cathode.
View full abstract