Tesla

Tesla, unit of measurement of magnetic flux density in the International System of Units (SI), or meter-kilogram-second units. Magnetic flux, measured in webers, is the force that a magnet or electromagnetic source exerts on other magnets or charged particles, such as electrons, in its vicinity. A tesla is defined as 1 weber of magnetic flux per square meter. The unit is named after Serbian-American electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. Tesla invented a system of generating alternating current, as well as the Tesla coil, a transformer used in radios, televisions, and other electronic equipment.

In centimeter-gram-second units, magnetic flux density is measured in gauss. A tesla corresponds to 10⁴ (10,000) gauss. Engineers and physicists use the tesla in work involving strong magnetic fields, such as the fields of electromagnets in particle accelerators. The fields of these magnets measure around 1 tesla. The magnetic field generated by a superconducting magnet can measure 50 tesla or more. The earth’s magnetic field is about 10^-4 (.0001) tesla, or 1 gauss.