🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BzE2oz.I4H@ns1.nodak.edu> csmith@plains.NoDak.edu (Carl Smith) writes:
>I am not going to argue the above point, but consider this.  If you are
>going to measure danger by the amount of stored energy, then which is
>more dangerous when it explodes?  A flywheel that has enough energy to 
>move a car 100 miles at freeway speeds, or a tank of gasoline with enough 
>energy to move a car at greater-than-highway speeds for 300 miles?

It depends on how fast you release the energy. A damaged flywheel will
release all its energy at once. A tank of gasoline by itself will not
explode in a collision, despite what you see in the movies.

Why don't you go buy a gallon of gasoline in a metal container, take it
as high up as you want, and drop it. It will not explode. It might
splatter, but it will not explode.

You can also try shooting it with a rifle or whatever. I have.
It's pretty boring.

>>Unless you wrap the flywheel in a massive enough container that it can absorb
>>all that energy without vaporizing, you're going to have an explosion.
>
>Why bother, we don't wrap our gas tanks in a container that would contain
>their explosion?

Because gas tanks don't explode. Movies are not reality.

-- 
My opinions are my own.