Engineering

Hey, I found a pretty interesting infographic about Nuclear Energy; it's not too in-depth or anything, but I think it does a pretty good job explaining the basics, and the history section is neat too: http://envirogy.ca/2011/06/01/nuclear-power-an-infographic/

HELLO. id like to propose and idea for a propulsion system, i saw a show on ufo's the other day, and the people on the show discussed propulsion systems and said they could not explain a system that could be quiet enough for one of the eye-witness accounts, they talked about jet propulsion and helicopter engines.... so anyway, i had an idea, maybe its already been invented,.....maybe not, maybe its classified propose we take a magnetic rail system...... you know....how magnets on the track and on the train are opposing each other, and we bend it into a loop making a concentric circle , making the track the main outside loop, with magnet faces (the magn…

So, I got the green smoke electric cigs, which have Lithium Ion batteries and while they are nice and all, I've ran into a problem with the charge just not holding. I have two batteries but I'll pull one off (that says it's charged) and it just near-dead and flashes the low battery light when I use it. I read (in a really old thread I found via search) that these batteries aren't supposed to have a memory, but the FAQ on the site says: First of all - is a couple hours (plug it in, let it charge, let it finish a few hours before waking up) really going to cause it to crap out in just a few weeks? If it knows when it's done (the light goes green) why does it jus…

I live close to a small airport. Small planes flying in and out of the airport can often be seen in the sky. They're slow straight-winged things with propellers. No jet-engines. Not even turbo-props, to judge from the engine noise. Just piston-engines. Like in planes from the 1930's. I wonder why these piston-engined anachronisms persist in our 21st Century skies. Isn't it a bit like seeing horse-drawn hansom-cabs still running around our city streets? Couldn't the piston engines be replaced by small turbofan jet-engines. Like the engines used in cruise missiles. These engines are light, compact, fuel-economical, and give high speed and long range. …

How viable is solar power? I was asking myself this question and here's the numbers I came up with. In 2001 the USA used 96275 trillion BTUs of energy that year. This comes to 3.22 trillion watts. Now there are about 295 million people in the US, so this comes to about 11Kw per person at any given time. This means each person uses is responsible for 262 Kwh of power per day. Now lets say that square meter of sunlight provides 1 kw of energy on average, the average area gets 5 good hours of sunlight per day, and the typical solar panel is about 30% efficient. This means that for every square meter of solar panel would render 1.5 KwH every day. This me…

I was wondering if any students may want to help me build a prototype magnetic motor. The design has already been established and a patent is underway. My design uses the full repulsion of the magnets. This could be great for a student working on a project and a 5% to 10% ownership of a possible multibillion dollar idea. I believe the motor can power a house and a small car (or at least keep an electronic car going without recharging) . Please feel free to give my name and email out. I will call or write back all contacts. Thanks, Brian Boyle Brian.Boyle@juno.com

I recently compared some motors I could find online. A 20hp 2 or 4 stroke motor may weight under 50lbs whereas a 20hp electric motor may weigh 300lbs! What are the determinants of electric motor weight and power? What are prospective avenues for reducing the weight of electric motors while increasing their power?

I'm developing a computer game for which I hope to have the combat mechanics as realistic as possible--or at least based on real physics. While developing my formula for attack damage, I was considering using KE = (1/2) * m * (v^2) for thust attacks and KE = (1/2) * I * (w^2) for swings as a factor in determining attack damage. However, I am unsure about the relationship between KE and damage, partly because I am unsure of how to define damage in physics. What function would best describe the relationship between the KE of an object and the damage said object inflicts upon a target? What other factors would this entail (ex. hardness, toughness, area of impact, ect…

Does anyone know what the average amount of kilowatt-hours per month that can be generated per square foot of building area is? This would be a convenient way to estimate how much energy would be available per month for a solar-powered house based on its area.

Ciao fellow engineers! With Air France flight 447 in mind (and assuming faulty pitot tubes caused the tragedy) could one imagine a robust, down-to-earth stone age backup technology which would give pilots rough indication of airspeed if all else fails? Perhaps a small membrane or similar in view of the cockpit window which would deform elastically from the air flow?

Hi! I'm having some trouble choosing the appropriate engine to run a mechanism. So maybe someone here could help me with the problem. Simplified, the engine is rotating a cylindrical shape body of over a worm drive. Since torque is M = F x v, i'm not sure what force i should use there to see what the momentum should be to make it possible for it to run. Hope it's understandable what's bugging me since English is not my mother tongue. Thx for any help you give me.

I haven't heard of this, has anyone? It must be possible to harness the power of waves rushing to and from shore. How about harnessing the power of tides going in and out twice daily? I've seen the wave-power-generating "wigglers" (I'm not sure what they are called) that are rafts connected in such a way that as they wiggle from waves they generate power. Maybe these could be connected to wind turbines off shore.

I'm not sure where to ask this. This is just something I've thought about and can't resolve. Let's say you had a bunch of liquid hydrogen, helium, or air. It doesn't matter. Something that condenses only at extremely low temperatures. Now let's say you put that liquid in a thick vessel and filled it up. What would happen when you let the temperature inside increase? Let's say the temperature increases to room temperature. Or maybe you're even heating it. What happens to the liquid inside assuming your pressure vessel is so think it cannot be breached. Or would the gas find a way out no matter how thick the vessel was? I'm a degreed engineer but I can't make any…

Any thoughts for the community ?

Hello, I first discovered the coil gun about one week ago. After many failed attempts, I finally managed to fire a nail at a reasonable velocity. Now I have a few questions. 1) I am currently firing the gun by touching a lead of the capacitor bank to one lead of the coil itself. Would using an SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) switch result in more power, or just save the hassle of touching the wires together every time? 2) I used 30 gauge enameled wire to make the coil. The coil is probably 100 turns per layer, 4 layers, and 1 1/2 inches long. What is the optimum gauge wire to use, and the ideal coil length and thickness? 3) I bought a cheap voltage …

Hello there! I have a problem with the measurement and implementation of the following paper (I did it in matlab): "Fast Algorithm for near field synthetic aperture radar processor, IEEE transaction". I would like to know if someone is familiar with the topic of the ground based synthetic aperture radar and can help me. My problem concerns the results of the focusing image... I get strange result and I'm not sure if it is a bug in the matlab code, a wrong measurement setup or just measurements noise such as reflection ecc... I do not post any measurement details, but if need for future discussion I will post it. Thank you Samuele

We have to make a working model on our own scientific idea. I have thought of one but I don't know how to make a working model for it. I have thought of a bag that follows you. For this, you put a device on the back of your shoe and a device is fitted in the bag. The bag is equipped with wheels for movement. When you move your feet, the device calculates the co-ordinates of the parabola and hence the speed. The device at sole is a radio wave or infrared wave emitter which connects itself to the device in bag. Therefore, the bag automatically follows you. Now the problems are- How to make the circuit for this model? Is a wireless connected device, as explained above, a…

what are some basic constructions for said spud guns and which works best

So, a typical television(or monitor) has three colours for the pixels-red, green, and blue. How do they produce yellow(a primary colour)? The TV that Sulu advertises might actually do what it says and provide more vibrant colour since it adds in yellow to the typical RGB scheme.

Hello. I have invented a system of perception for blind people. (I think this is so although I haven't verificate it in the patent office ... Maybe I mistake). My web page (URL) is : http://www.sites.google.com/site/josemanuelruizjorge After that I have passed long time thinking it I haven't obtained almost any response and my invention (probably invention) continues being no public. The explications are in Spanish because my level of english is low and I would have mistakes in the traduction. Thanks for the attention. (P.D. : Forgive me the unnecesary repetitions in the PDF text). (My name is Jose Manuel Ruiz Jorge.).

Firstly, Thanks to anyone who takes the time to try and help me, as i am aware there are people all over the world who are far more intelligent than myself so here goes with my question I have 3 unknown materials which i have to name X,Y and Z and 3 graphs from which i have deduced the Young's Modulus of Elasticity for each material. X= 161.29 GPa (GigaPascals) I think maybe Manganese (Mn) Y= 277.8 GPa (GigaPascals) I think maybe Tungsten Alloy Z= 600 Pa (Pascals) NO IDEA. I have scoured the internet and i have had some success but i do not know if i am right so i was hoping for some guidance in the right direction, Maybe a reference ? Once…

Solar Leaf Cheaper Fuel Cell I came across these two articles recently and it has left me with the impression that we might see some big strides in the solar energy front in the next decade. The first is a solar leaf that can provide hydrogen and oxygen from water economically, the second is a fuel cell manufactured from reasonable materials. What do you think? If a President set a goal similar to Kennedy's man on the moon, could we make serious strides toward energy independence in a decade?

just tinkering building a pellet gun we're using a recycled fire extinguisher aluminum canister we drilled and tapped a hole in the bottom and threaded a one way valve from a bicycle inner tube in the back (and glued it) so it's 1/16 wall thickness (maybe 3/32 but don't think so) and just wondering about safety it handles 100 psi well and shoots well with that pressure. Will the aluminum fatigue? Are we holding a shrapnel bomb at that pressure? I haven't the slightest clue about the formula for designing such a contraption we're just rednecks drinking beer and having fun on the weekend. Thanks in advance because it would not be pleasant to be missing my beer drinking…

If you were given the task of designing the simplest vehicle possible, what would the components be? Assume at least one or two passengers and possibly some cargo. Also assume you would want it to be able to cruise for extended periods at highway or slightly under highway speeds. By simplicity, I am mainly referring to the number of parts and their complexity. Air-cooled engines seem simpler to me than their water-cooled counterparts, for example. I don't know much about electric motors or other types of combustion engines, e.g. rotary engines. A related issue is how much fuel efficiency advances can be achieved alongside simplification of systems. The air-coo…

It is a popular idea that residential energy users can install solar panels and feed their unused energy back into the grid. But doesn't the voltage have to be at a certain level to effectively traverse the grid? Does the transformer that intermediates power between the lines and residences allow weak voltage charge to flow backward? I wouldn't think the current would be strong enough to add anything to the grid, but if it does, how does that work?