Engineering

Hi! I was just wondering, how exactly does a nuclear reactor work?

I wasn't sure as to where this post should of been posted in. But does anyone have any ideas how to build a mousetrap propelled airplane? Any imput will be appreciated.

I have been peeling pees for few days. I am really exhausted and wish to make a PEA-EXTRACTOR machine. Is anything like this has ever been created? If yes, kindly provide me with some details. If no, let us discuss how it can be made!

i want to understand ---- maximum output=14 PS/7500 rpm & maximum torque= 14 Nm / 6000 rpm (a bike engine's specs)--- thoroughly what it means and how it affects bike ride (performance,power,speed) Thnx for ur time

Let's say we have two rods/bones/whatever, that are the same length and mass. And let's say that one of the rods is solid and the other one is hollow. Can someone explain to me why it is that it's easier to twist (i.e. shear forces) the solid rod than it is the hollow one? That seems completely counter-intuitive. And also, just correct me if I am mistaken here; since the solid one is easier to twist, that would also mean that its angle of shear (i.e. θ) would be greater than the θ of the hollow rod, right? This concept is driving me mad, someone please help me.

a mechanism to store mechanical energy then release it, like wounding a giant spring then having a full seize car go 100 miles. the closest i found was NASA's human powered plane. did you hear of anything similar?

I'm looking for an equation to estimate the area required for a tube/fin heat exchanger array (5 staggered tubes). The tubes are electrically heated, the only moving fluid is the air flowing perpendicular to the tube/fins. I have the temperatures, air flow, etc. Thank you.

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1102.4905v1 How feasible would it be to make a large scale tractor beam? Would it be useful as a propulsion mechanism(pulling the moon toward it, but the moon has enough inertia to not really move) to sort of slingshot rocket payloads into space to ease the fuel needed to attain orbit?

hi i need to make a flame thrower very cheaply out of very cheap materials

Hi, 1st post. Im not an engineer, but rather a learning amateur of Ham Radio. Im planning to build a Magnetic Loop for HF SSB phone. It is made of copper 28mm OD with a 3.2' inside diameter. The power used is 100W max and a gamma match is intended to be used, I want also to control the tuning over the 20-10mtr bands with Vaccume Variable Capacitor. Now the VVC Im looking at is a 2-100pf 5KV capacitor. What Im interested in learning is...how many turns does this type of capacitor take from completely meshed ( closed ) to fully open? When I find out this information I can ask about Stepper , Driver spec for the VVC. All good advice welcome, stepper001

I think this is a important and interesting part of engineering category. Espacially with thinking of bionic architekture / construction engineering. Its impressive what we can built up today with the nature as example. Here is an example of an awesome tower project. I am looking forward to the experiments of bionic with surface! I mean, today the photovoltaik and solar elements are indispensable for architecture. Thats one step of a great way. And how it began? With Nasa experiments für astronomic work

Car wing=Car Being Blown in Wind? Well, I got to thinking... What if the very forces involved with the wing of an airplane, go to the car being blown away in the wind in a tornado of hurricane? The reason I think this is, the wind pressure on the top of the wing, is lower. But the part under it is higher. So I was wondering, if it wasn't the force of the wind that was blowing cars away in the wind, but the low pressure behind the car. When the wind hits the front of the car, the pressure increases, much like the shape of the wing. But when it gets to the back of the car, the flat-ish surface of the back creates drag, which is just a low pressure area, so th…

Hi: To start off this is not a homework question. Here is my problem and the info I have,it falls under physics and engineering. you have a 6"x8" piece of Titanium 2.54mm thick. This piece of metal has dents in it from 1 to 25mm deep. What I need is a chart that shows the amount of kinetic energy required by a projectile to make the deformation at the point of impact. I think this info should be available someplace but I dont know where to start looking. I am sure a formula exists to solve this but im not a engineer. I dont know what other info you need to solve this problem. The projectile will vary that is why I need a chart to find the minimum amount required …

Need to build an egg launcher that is: powered by water has a parachte and a deployment method must land a raw egg without it breaking in a 2 litre water botlle

I've been reading about solar sailing projects and they seem to mostly focus on using solar panels to charge batteries that are used to run propellors. The problem is that the batteries are heavy and cumbersome. I am wondering why the batteries couldn't be replaced with some kind of sea-water hydrolysis system since, as I recall, salt water electrolyzes more easily into hydrogen and oxygen anyway. I also haven't seen any that combine wind (sails) with solar panels. Could solar panels be used to make hydrogen and the hydrogen used as fuel for propellors when their is no wind on a sailboat?

While reading this article about the potential for building floating cities (http://www.gizmag.com/lilypad-floating-city-concept/17697/), I was wondering if there is any research into floating structures for people to use?

if you have a Remote controlled submersible with no empty space in it will pressure be a problem? is it possible for a hobyiest design to be able to withstand pressures of 681psi?

Someone seems to have redeveloped an older concept and won an award for it:http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2011/02/09/dickson-ekranoyacht/ The fact that this vehicle's efficiency is being attributed to its use of hydrogen as fuel leads me to question its validity, since hydrogen is not a fuel but a storage medium. Still, I'm wondering about the claims that such a low-flying boat/plane could actually be more efficient than a non-flying boat. Surely it is much less efficient than a passenger Jet flying at very high-altitude, but how much less?

I'm looking to build a co2 laser....not as worried about high power as much as a working unit from easy to find parts....the hardest part to find cheap would be the power supply....I can make this a little less hard by keeping the watts down.....I was wondering if a 10 mm tube 600mm long or even shorter with a good vacuum pump would keep the power demands low and still be a laser? Is there math for this?

I have been having discusses about different propulsion system looking for ways to bring the space cost down. And after looking at the different propulsion system it seems chemical propulsion is the only option --- Anti-matter ( very very very costly (way more than chemical propulsion) cannot be controlled or stored has fuel. Also hard to make you have smash atoms and it only last for second or so the anti-matter If there was breakthrough where we can make lots and lots of anti-matter very cheap and can control it and store it and use it has fuel it be banned for use in , earth thus only used for deep space has a size of rock would destroy all of New York.…

i was making some jet engines this morning but after a a thew succesful runs, the just started giving out puffs of smoke, is there any reason for that happening as i have not managed to get them to work ever since? i have been adding the same amount of fuelin the same temperature, i know this because i have been making sure i have been launching them in high temperature areas with temperature controls in place

I'm wondering if anyone knows much about smart fabrics. I've done a little research about it as it's something I'm interested in. I'm looking for someone to have a discussion with and hopefully answer some questions I have. For those who don't know what it is. Smart Textiles E-Textiles Conductive Textile This is kind of example of the technology. Join the discussion tell me what you think about it. Bounce some ideas around. Also if you know of something that is related to this technology please let me know!

So, I have to right my research paper for school this year. However, I do not yet have a topic. My paper needs to have a persuasive element to it and I would like it to have something to do with engineering. I have always loved engineering and it would my topic interesting to me. Thanks, Bartimaeus

What are your favorite reads on the topic of robotics? If you had to choose one book on robotics to share with someone, what book would that be?

Hi everyone! I have a science fiction story in which a dog has a GPS locator chip embedded under its skin, sort of like a Home Again or Avid chip. In one scene, the dog gets shot with what's basically a Taser. It was recently brought to my attention that the electrical current would likely destroy the chip. (Is that true?) Later in the story is a pivotal scene in which another character uses the chip to track the whereabouts of the dog. I don't want to cut the dog-shooting scene because it's fairly important from a character-revealing standpoint. If the chip were instead attached to a leather collar, would that prevent it from being destroyed by the Taser? Tha…