J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Anyone have any knowledge or opinions of New Energy, i.e. Cold Fusion, Zero Point Energy etc ?

I think it sounds fantastic but am still sceptical, I dont have a great deal of Physics knowledge so cant comment authorativel but I know a few on here do !

If so, answer this, how does a magnet stick to the fridge, it doesnt have and energy source, perpetual motion doesnt exist so where does it get its energy from, how does magnetism work what is it, whats gravity, why is it when you wear light coloured pants you always dribble, etc etc

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Magnetism's something close to magic I think. Electromagnets use a special kind of magic to make the switchable

Gravity is the mutual attraction between two objects that have mass. Newton wrote a gravitation theory which was pretty close, but Einstein revised it as part of his relativity work.

A dribble on light coloured pants is Sod's Law in action.

If you want to read up somewhat more comprehensively (and seriously :P ) on Gravity and Magnetism, can i recommend:

www.wikipedia.org

I stumbled across the gravity page there this morning (at work with little intention of working )

HTH.

John.

mj

jacko - sent you a PM

555wrx

Wasnt there some talk a few years back of using methane to power vehicles?
With the amount of bull**** that the government produce, they couldve redudced transport costs tenfold by now.

Leslie

J4CKO,

Its all part of Life's deep mystery, especially the bit about the light coloured trousers

Les

SJ_Skyline

http://www.iter.org/ - prototype fusion reactor

ajm

Remember, when a magnet is stuck to a fridge it is not "getting energy" from anywhere because it is not using any energy to stay there. No work is being done.

It does have potential energy however. When you pull the magnet away from the fridge you are doing work, and that energy goes into increasing the potential energy between the magnet and the fridge. The principle is exactly the same with gravity.

As for why there are forces due to magnetism and gravity at all, this is probably a good place to start....

http://staff.science.uva.nl/~rhd/string_theory.html

Dracoro

In theory, you could have a car that is driven by a magnet? Obviously the magnet to do this would be too big and heavy to power a car and the issue of containing the magnetism (else you'd attract other cars ) are problems but 'in theory' could it be a power source that doesn't need 'recharging' etc.?

OllyK

Perpetual motion, free energy machines, call them what you want. The idea has been around for donkey's years (there are even US patents for them ) Nobody has yet been able to make one work (nor will they unless physics is fundamentally wrong), but they keep trying, have a look on www.randi.org for more info

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

There DOES seem to be something in Cold Fusion (there was a Horizon proggie a while ago, and an article in the New Scientist IIRC), but no-one knows for sure waht is going on - it certainly isn't fusion as such. Zero Point is a load of *********.


M

hades

RE: the magnet to power a car idea:
Fixed magnets don't move, other than towards/away from other magnets. The only way your theory could work is
(a) the car travels very short distances towards very big magnets. It then takes an even bigger, petrol powered car to drive in the other direction. OR
(b) If the road is a continually switched electro-magnet. At this point, you're using the road to provide the energy rather than the car. not ideal as the road controls how fast and where you go.

Cold fusion that "certainly isn't fusion". That would be plain "cold", then? Yep, cold exists!
It's quite possible that the something there appears to be in "cold fusion that isn't fusion" is down to "Zero Point energy". To my knowledge, zero point energy is a generic term for energy that is contained within and can be released from a substance (typically water), although we cann't actually understand or explain why. In which case, it is a damn site more likely to exist than "cold fusion that isn't fusion".

Dracoro

hades - I was thinking a metal spinning ladder type thing (like hamsters/gerbils run on) with a magnet moving towards/away (depending on throttle position) the ladder thing which spins round at a faster/slower rate. This can then, somehow, turn the wheels.

Not a scientist so I'm sure someone can clearly tell me how this, in principle/theory, can or cannot work.

ajm

It wouldn't work because the wheel wouldn't turn! No matter where you hold the magnet in relation to the "hamster wheel" it will be exerting an equal force in both anti-clockwise and clockwise directions!

hades

The problem with that is that each "rung" will be equally attracted to the magnet after it has passed it as when it is approaching it, so there will be no net force in a forward (or backward or whatever) direction. Without switching the magnetic field, or moving the magnet in and out at high speed, there will be no motive power.

You could switch the magnet in and out, by making it or the "rungs" of the ladder a switchable electro-magnet. At that point, you've invented a variant of the normal electric motor. Unfortunately, a few people beat you to it.

Dracoro

Ah well, back to the day job then

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Why is this reminding me of that episode of Blackadder where Lord Percy invented 'Green' ?