🚀 go-pugleaf

carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:

>I'm afraid you've forgotten the law of conservation of energy again.  I ask
>again:  IF THE ENERGY THAT'S BEING DUMPED DOESN'T END UP AS HEAT, WHERE'S IT
>GOING?  HOW'S IT BEING TRANSFERRED OUT OF THE SYSTEM?

>=With proper engineering of the flywheel
>=to shatter into uniformly-sized pieces (for maximum energy xfer in collision)
>=and an appropriate weave or composite of Kevlar in the housing, it seems
>=that it's within shooting range (pardon the pun) to develop a system where
>=there's enough energy loss via particle collision and fracture that the
>=heat generated in the housing materials will be manageable. 

>Again you prattle of "energy loss."  WHERE IS THIS ENERGY BEING "LOST" TO?
>It doesn't just go away because you find it inconvenient.  And the remnants of
>the flywheel don't just keep orbiting the place where the shaft used to be.  So
>where did all the kinetic energy go?

The energy is being used to split the covalent bonds that hold the flywheel
together. In essence, you're separating charged atomic species and therefore
converting the kinetic energy of the rotor into potential energy in the
form of fragmented material.  The idea of the housing is to allow the
rotor components enough time to interact with each other so that a large
fraction of the energy goes into rotor destruction rather than housing
destruction.

David Basiji
UW Bioengineering
NeRD #3762