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Comment by rkagerer | Hacker News Reader

Can't you also charge up capacitors then slam them together in series? Is there a name for that kind of supply?

This is known as a charge pump, and is the third concept described in the linked article. The article only mention one flying capacitor, but you can use more than one and connect them in series to get a higher multiple of the input voltage.

Ben Eater also did a nice introduction to charge pumps by building a simple one on a breadboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4alV5LzHLE4&t=704s

Yes, it's called a charge pump.

There's one specific sub-type called a Cockroft-Walton voltage amplifier.

They won the Nobel prize using this invention (which wasn't theirs).

https://circuitcellar.com/resources/quickbits/cockcroft-walt...

Cockcroft went on to great acclaim for "Cockcroft's Folly".

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-29803990

The high voltage version of that is called a Marx generator. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago used to have a million volt Marx generator made by General Electric. The parallel to series switching was mechanical. The "crack" when it fired echoed through the whole building.

They've downsized to a Tesla coil.

I know exactly what you're talking about! I used to go there so often as a kid and definitely remember the crack. (Also nearby was that exhibit where you could perform electrolysis on some water. It had a "push to start" button that was activated by touching some glass with a button outlined by a red decal. I still don't know how that works.)

Something else stuck in my head from that museum was the Operation Lifesaver displays around the model train exhibit. I think my dad was a little freaked out by how many times I wanted to watch the video of the train hitting a car.

Honestly, I'm a little disappointed every time I visit a museum because of how much fun I had at MSI as a kid. I think a lot of that was from being a kid, but ... good museum.

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