Voltage Multiplier

           What you're seeing is around 60,000 volts of electricity. (I have been studying electrical theory for four years in high school and college. Do not try this at home.) I started with a three-volt battery, I fed this into a booster module which outputs around 10kV. Then I used a flyback transformer out of an old cathode ray TV to jump it up to 20kV. Next, I used a Marx generator to reach the 60kV seen in the video. A Marx generator is a subclass of DC high voltage pule generators. The strange spreading effect is known as capacitive coupling, and I achieved it with several layers of plastic sheet protectors. These voltages are rough guesses, I am able to guestimate because it is known that 1kV will arc approximately 1mm. Despite being 60kV it is nowhere near as dangerous as the 2.2kV transformer used to make the Jacob's Ladder. This is because the current here is so low it's not lethal, unlike the Jacob's Ladder. It would still hurt badly to touch, like a taser.

           Below is a photo of my desk around the time I made the project above. The long white tubes are homemade HV capacitors which are used in the Marx generator (18 were required).