Electric Waves
Steinmetz Usage
Section titled “Steinmetz Usage”Electric waves are the longer-wave, lower-frequency side of the radiation spectrum: wireless telegraph waves, Hertzian waves, and even the wave aspect of alternating-current circuit fields.
The key source move is scale. Steinmetz does not treat radio waves and circuit fields as unrelated worlds. He explains that ordinary low-frequency AC fields have such enormous wavelength that propagation is usually ignored, while higher-frequency systems and distributed lines force the wave character back into view.
Modern Equivalent
Section titled “Modern Equivalent”Radio-frequency electromagnetic waves and propagating time-varying fields.
Why It Matters
Section titled “Why It Matters”Steinmetz’s treatment connects power engineering, wireless, high-frequency discharge, lightning/surge phenomena, and optics in one scale.
Related Sources
Section titled “Related Sources”- Radiation, Light and Illumination, Lecture I: electric waves and the radiation spectrum.
- Elementary Lectures: electric waves, impulses, oscillating currents.
- Transient Electric Phenomena: standing waves, traveling waves, propagation velocity, distributed line behavior.
Diagrammatic Explanation
Section titled “Diagrammatic Explanation”
Research Tasks
Section titled “Research Tasks”- Extract Steinmetz’s electric-wave demonstrations from the original figures.
- Compare “electric waves” with modern electromagnetic wave terminology.
- Separate wireless-wave material from ordinary low-frequency circuit-field approximation.
- Add Tesla-era comparison only after parallel Tesla passages are anchored.
Source-Grounded Dossier
Section titled “Source-Grounded Dossier”Generated evidence layer: this dossier is built from the processed concept concordance. Counts and snippets are OCR/PDF-text aids, not final quotations. Verify against scans before making exact claims.
Candidate occurrences tracked for this page.
Sources with at least one hit.
Sections, lectures, chapters, or report divisions to review.
What The Current Corpus Shows
Section titled “What The Current Corpus Shows”Read this concept as a connector between optical radiation, wireless or high-frequency waves, and transmission-line behavior. Keep wavelength, frequency, velocity, and source context visible.
The strongest current source concentration is Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillations with 83 candidate hits across 12 sections.
The dossier is meant to turn a concept page into a research workbench: begin with Steinmetz’s source wording, then add modern interpretation, mathematical reconstruction, historical context, and any ether-field reading as separate layers.
Terms And Aliases Tracked
Section titled “Terms And Aliases Tracked”Electric waves, electric-waves, standing wave, traveling wave, travelling wave, wave front, wave propagation, electric radiation, electrical radiation, radiant energy
Concordance Records
Section titled “Concordance Records”Electric waves - Wave Propagation - Electrical Radiation
Source Distribution
Section titled “Source Distribution”| Source | Candidate Hits | Sections | Concepts represented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillations | 83 | 12 | Electrical Radiation, Wave Propagation |
| Elementary Lectures on Electric Discharges, Waves and Impulses, and Other Transients | 32 | 2 | Wave Propagation |
| Elementary Lectures on Electric Discharges, Waves and Impulses, and Other Transients | 31 | 2 | Wave Propagation |
| Radiation, Light and Illumination | 19 | 6 | Electric waves, Electrical Radiation, Wave Propagation |
| General Lectures on Electrical Engineering | 8 | 1 | Wave Propagation |
| Four Lectures on Relativity and Space | 3 | 2 | Electric waves, Wave Propagation |
Priority Passages To Read
Section titled “Priority Passages To Read”Chapter 4: Traveling Waves - 33 candidate hits
Source: Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillations (1909)
Location: lines 30244-31450 - Tracked concepts: Wave Propagation
Open source text - Open chapter workbench
CHAPTER IV. TRAVELING WAVES. 20. As seen in Chapter III, especially in electric power cir- cuits, overhead or underground, the longest existing standing wave has a wave length which is so small compared with the critical wave length - where the frequency becomes zero - that the effect of the damping constant on the frequency and the wave length is negligi...... the fre- quency constant q and the wave length constant k can be neglected, that is, frequency and wave length assumed as inde- pendent of the energy loss in the circuit. Usually, therefore, the equations (74) and (75) can be applied in dealing with the traveling wave. In these equations the distance traveled by the wave per second is used as unit len...Lecture 8: Traveling Waves - 26 candidate hits
Source: Elementary Lectures on Electric Discharges, Waves and Impulses, and Other Transients (1914)
Location: lines 5279-6124 - Tracked concepts: Wave Propagation
Open source text - Open chapter workbench
... y dis- tance angle co, and at any time t, that is, time angle 0, then is p = ei, = eo^e~2"* cos (0 =F co - 7) sin (0 =F co - 7), = ^6-^«'sin2(0Ta>-7), (2) and the average power flow is Po = avg p, (3) = 0. Hence, in a stationary oscillation, or standing wave of a uni- form circuit, the average flow of power, po, is zero, and no power flows along the c...... ^o [1 + cos 2 (</> =F CO -7)], (5) and the average flow of power is po = avg p, (6) Such a wave thus consists of a combination of a steady flow of power along the circuit, jpo, and a pulsation or surge, pi, of the same nature as that of the standing wave (2) : pi =^%-2"*cos2((/)Tco-7). (7) Such a flow of power along the circuit is called a traveling w...Lecture 8: Traveling Waves - 26 candidate hits
Source: Elementary Lectures on Electric Discharges, Waves and Impulses, and Other Transients (1911)
Location: lines 4745-5520 - Tracked concepts: Wave Propagation
Open source text - Open chapter workbench
... tance angle co, and at any time t, that is, time angle <£, then is p = ei, = e0ioe~2ut cos (</> T co - 7) sin (0 =F co - 7), = ^|V2«<sin2(c/>=Fco-7), (2) and the average power flow is Po = avg p, (3) = 0. Hence, in a stationary oscillation, or standing wave of a uni- form circuit, the average flow of power, p0, is zero, and no power flows along the ci...... = = eQiQe-2ut cos2 co - 7), and the average flow of power is p0 = avg p, (5) (6) Such a wave thus consists of a combination of a steady flow of power along the circuit, p0) and a pulsation or surge, pi, of the same nature as that of the standing wave (2) : Such a flow of power along the circuit is called a traveling wave. It occurs very frequently. Fo...Chapter 3: Standing Waves - 15 candidate hits
Source: Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillations (1909)
Location: lines 29316-30243 - Tracked concepts: Wave Propagation
Open source text - Open chapter workbench
CHAPTER III. STANDING WAVES. 14. If the propagation constant of the wave vanishes, h = 0, the wave becomes a stationary or standing wave, and the equa- tions of the standing wave are thus derived from the general equations (50) to (61), by substituting therein h = 0, which gives R2 = V(k2 - LCm2)2; (97) hence, if k2 > LCm2, R2 = tf- LCm2; and if /c2 < LCm...Lecture 1: Nature And Different Forms Of Radiation - 13 candidate hits
Source: Radiation, Light and Illumination (1909)
Location: lines 608-1548 - Tracked concepts: Electric waves, Electrical Radiation, Wave Propagation
Open source text - Open chapter workbench
... uch low frequencies, but such very low frequencies NATURE AND DIFFERENT FORMS OF RADIATION. 15 have been observed in the radiations of bodies of very low tem- perature, as liquid air, or in the moon's rays. 7. Very much longer waves, however, are the electric waves. They are used in wireless telegraphy, etc. I here connect (Fig. 12) FIG. 12. the conde...... e terminals, and the arrival of the electric wave at A2 causes a small spark to jump across the gap Gv which closes the circuit of the tungsten lamp L, thereby lighting it as long as the wave train continues. 16 RADIATION, LIGHT, AND ILLUMINATION. The electric waves used in wireless telegraphy range in wave lengths from 100 feet or less to 10,000 feet...Lecture 17: Arc Lighting - 8 candidate hits
Source: General Lectures on Electrical Engineering (1908)
Location: lines 9920-12795 - Tracked concepts: Wave Propagation
Open source text - Open chapter workbench
... nner, thus giving rise (to very different wave shapes of the impulses. So some impulses may rise very rapidly, with •A. I. E. E. Transact. March, 1907: "Lightning Phenomena in Electric Circuits." LIGHTNING AND LIGHTNING PROTECTION 273 extremely steep wave front, and slowly die down. Others may rise slowly, then suddenly fall and reverse, or a series o...... interference between the reflected waves, the incoming waves and the waves passing over the reactances, and so give rise to systems of standing waves or oscillations, similarly as an ocean wave rolling on to a sloping beach breaks up into surf. Where a traveling wave is reflected, the combination of the reflected wave and the incoming wave produces a...Reading Layers To Build Out
Section titled “Reading Layers To Build Out”| Layer | What to add next |
|---|---|
| Steinmetz wording | Pull exact source passages only after scan verification; keep OCR text labeled until then. |
| Modern engineering reading | Translate the source usage into present electrical-engineering or physics language without erasing the older vocabulary. |
| Mathematical layer | Link equations, variables, diagrams, and worked examples when the concept has formula candidates. |
| Historical layer | Identify whether the term is still used, renamed, absorbed into modern theory, or historically obsolete. |
| Ether-field interpretation | Keep interpretive readings separate from Steinmetz’s explicit claim and from modern physics. |
| Open questions | Record places where the concordance suggests a lead but the scan or edition has not yet been checked. |
Next Editorial Actions
Section titled “Next Editorial Actions”- Open the highest-priority source-text passages above and verify the wording against scans.
- Promote exact definitions, equations, diagrams, and hidden-gem passages into this page with source references.
- Add related concept links, equation pages, and diagram pages once the evidence is scan checked.
- Keep speculative or Wheeler-style readings in explicitly labeled interpretation blocks.