Nikola Tesla Facts for Kids – A world Famous Scientist from Croatia
Nikola Tesla, the inventor, was an ethnic Serbian, born in modern-day Croatia. He eventually moved to the United States and became an American citizen. Tesla was the inventor and electrical engineer who developed the first AC motor with electricity. He did this after experimenting with what he thought to be a more dangerous direct-current electric motor. These are also called DC currents. He invented alternating current (AC) motors, radio transmitters, fluorescent lighting, X-ray technology, remote control devices, and radar systems. His work led to significant advances in electric power transmission and distribution, radio communication, robotics, computers, and many other new inventions in a variety of fields. There are many science facts for kids to learn from Nikola Tesla. Read on and grab the unit study for an electrifying study of Nikola Tesla’s life and most famous inventions.
Tesla’s inventions came onto the scene in America during the Industrial Revolution with so many famous inventors with magnificent scientific inventions.
- Alexander Graham Bell – the telephone
- Henry Ford – assembly line production
- Thomas Edison – electric light bulb.
- Michael Faraday -electromagnetism and the Faraday Cage
- Samuel Morse – Morse Code and the electric telegraph
Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison were fierce rivals. Edison even went so far as to promote fake content about Tesla’s AC current models in an effort in an attempt to maintain his public image and wealth. But Tesla’s hard work pays off and in 1975 Nikola Tesla is inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Despite the rivalry between the two, Tesla had many supporters and close friends like American industrialist George Westinghouse. Being familiar with the conflict between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse financially backed Tesla’s dreams of hydropower at Niagra Falls.
Tesla, George Westinghouse financially backed Tesla’s dreams of hydropower at Niagra Falls.
“I don’t care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don’t have any of their own”
― Nikola Tesla
“Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine”
― Nikola Tesla
Facts for Kids about Nikola Telsa’s Patents
Tesla and his patents were often ignored as being considered some of the greatest inventions of all time by his contemporaries due to what they perceived to be a lack of formal education. He did however attend the University of Prague and took classes to satisfy his curiosity rather than in pursuit of a formal degree. He was a prolific inventor and his ideas have had a profound effect on our modern world. Later in life, he received numerous honourary doctorate degrees from prestigious universities all over the world which proved him to be worthy of being added to the list of famous inventors of the 20th century.
Nikola Tesla Facts for Kids – The Inventor
His inventions, which can be seen at the Nikola Tesla Museum) changed the way we use electricity today. He made countless electricity-based experiments in his Manhattan laboratory, home of the Wardenclyffe Tower, and at Tesla’s laboratory in Colorado Springs. These discoveries revolutionized the electric industry and medicine in a profound way. There are so many interesting facts about Tesla’s inventions. Below are just a few of the most well-known of Tesla’s numerous contributions.
- AC Electricity transformation by alternating current (AC). AC power is used in everything from refrigerators and power tools to fans.
- Radio Technology. While Marconi was credited with the first transatlantic radio transmission, he used technology from 17 of Tesla’s patents.
- Remote Control – He knew this would be so important that he patented it in 11 countries! Tesla is why you can change your TV channels without getting up off the couch.
- X-Ray – While he called them ‘shadowgraphs’, he had the original idea and was the first to take x-ray images of the body. He also hypothesized about the harmful effects of x-rays.
- Hydroelectric Power – 9 out of 12 patents used to construct the hydroelectric power station at Niagara Falls, NY, belonged to Tesla.
- The Tesla Coil & More – from rotating magnetic fields (used in MRIs), the speedometer, and the Tesla Coil (used to transform high-voltage to lower currents).
Nikola Tesla Facts for kids – Electrical devices
In addition to these innovations, Tesla designed numerous electrical devices that would change the world in his lifetime and beyond. His work with wireless communications is the foundation of today’s WiFi. He even proposed a device called a death ray, which could be used to destroy enemy ships at sea. He also suggested using high-frequency waves to communicate across great distances. Did he have any failed inventions? Probably. But, his unique ability and photographic memory allowed him to test his innovative ideas in his imagination allowed him to fix basic design flaws early on. He was known for his critical thinking ability as well as his unique invention process.
“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”
― Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla Facts for Kids: The True ‘Science Geek’
One of the more interesting Nikola Tesla facts includes creating a plan for a death star, which could be used as a weapon. He believed that if a planetoid was hit with enough force, it would create a black hole that would swallow the entire solar system. (Think of the millions he could have made in Sci-fi movie royalties, alone!)
While considered one of the important inventors of the 20th century, Tesla was also quite ‘quirky’. In addition to his dramatic and sometimes theatrical approach to dining, where he would arrive in an evening suit, precisely on time, and require the waiter to ring 12 napkins for wiping hands and tableware he also:
- suffered from OCD – everything had to be divisible by three.
- had an odd appreciation for pigeons
- Had an aversion to ladies’ earrings – especially pearls.
- The smell of camphor made him ill,
- Counted his steps while walking and calculated the volume of food
- He wouldn’t touch other people’s hair
In spite of his quirkiness, Nikola Tesla was one of the most extraordinary and well-known scientists and inventors of his era. He won 15 honourary doctorates, had a sense of elegance, and even won the title of ‘Best Dressed man on 5th Ave.’ (in New York City) Finally, in a list of the 10 greatest geniuses of the second millennium, he is number four. Know as a futurist, he could also be considered the founding father of wi-fi.
Nikola Tesla museums can be found in Zagreb, Belgrade, and of course the Tesla Tower on Long Island in New York, Each facility cares for his collection of inventions which includes a modern, practical invention of remote control and the pre-cursor to wifi as well as the original design and important discoveries associated with the AC electric converter.
Get Amped with the Tesla Unit Study
There is so much more to learn about Tesla’s life and inventions. Does he have just one important invention? No. It is clear that the number of patents and the completion of patent rights prove the variety and intricacy of details are world-famous. Following years of success and failure, Tesla died of coronary thrombosis in his hotel room. Of great inventors, Tesla is considered an inventor of the first order. Originally considered a Serbian-American engineer, he is now considered America’s greatest inventor, and quite possibly one of the most famous inventors in Europe along with Albert Einstein. The Let’s Study Nikola Tesla Unit Study has everything you need to enjoy learning about one of the greatest scientists of the 21st century.
Nikola Tesla sits in honor among the great inventors in history. Archimedes screw, Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press, and Tesla’s lightning rod all changed science, history, and life in dramatic ways. In fact …
without Nikola Tesla:
- Elon Musk would never have created an electric car.
- Guglielmo Marconi would never have won the Nobel Prize for transatlantic radio transmission.
- You would still be getting off your couch to change the TV or radio station by hand.
There is much to learn about this amazing inventor and mathematician and his incredible contribution to science. We will scratch the surface here and provide you with ways to extend your learning and make it fun all at the same time.
In The Let’s Study Nikola Tesla: Get Amped Unit Study You Will Find:
- 6 engaging science experiments about Tesla’s greatest inventions.
- Videos, printable worksheets, online games, and interactives. It is chock full of resources to learn all you can about Tesla’s life and contribution to science.
- Read & respond to questions about Tesla’s life and greatest accomplishments.
- Fun, engaging experiments to learn more about Tesla’s most famous works and ideas.
- Experiments and resources that can be used for final projects, science fairs, etc. The unit study includes experiments, lab reports, and fun ways to learn about Electricity, and Magnetism. It also includes comprehension questions and an answer key for several assignments.
- Information about history and science museums are in large part dedicated to the life and work of Nikola Tesla.
- Virtual tours of three of the most famous Tesla museums.
The Unit study is perfect for high school students, but middle schoolers that love science, electronics, and engineering will enjoy it as well. some students may wish to keep a journal of vocabulary words and complex ideas so they can refer back to them throughout the course of the unit study.
More famous Scientist Resources
Amazing quotes from Nikola Tesla
Ponder these great quotes from this amazing inventor.
“Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.”
― Nikola Tesla
“As I review the events of my past life I realize how subtle are the influences that shape our destinies.”
― Nikola Tesla, My Inventions
Quote: “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
― Nikola Tesla
“The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. My Mother had taught me to seek all truth in the Bible.”
― Nikola Tesla
“We crave for new sensations but soon become indifferent to them. The wonders of yesterday are today common occurrences”
― Nikola Tesla, My Inventions
“If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have the key to the universe.”
― Nikola Tesla
“I am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the equivalent of labour, for I have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers.”
― Nikola Tesla, My Inventions
“My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements, and operate the device entirely in my mind.”
― Nikola Tesla, My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
“Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents.”
― Nikola Tesla
“The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter—for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way.”
― Nikola Tesla, Problem of Increasing Human Energy
“There is something within me that might be illusion as it is often case with young delighted people, but if I would be fortunate to achieve some of my ideals, it would be on the behalf of the whole of humanity.”
― Nikola Tesla
“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success . . . Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.”
― Nikola Tesla
“There were many days when [I] did not know where my next meal was coming from. But I was never afraid to work, I went where some men were digging a ditch … [and] said I wanted to work. The boss looked at my good clothes and white hands and laughed to the others … but he said, “All right. Spit on your hands. Get in the ditch.” And I worked harder than anybody. At the end of the day I had $2”
― Nikola Tesla
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