AL: You mention a disc shaped space station. This concept has been described in detail by Al Globus, et al ( http://space.alglobus.net/papers/Easy.pdf )
I'm not sure why your concerned with a reaction wheel. A spinning space station will continue it's initial spin with very little need for...
Thanks Ray and Buffu. I was having trouble imagining why the the sin 0.36°, 0.036°, 0.0036°...asymptotically approaches 2π. You each explained it quite well from your different perspectives. Ray, your explanation was particularly helpful in getting me to see why the numbers "work out".:smile...
Yes, I noticed that the sine asymptotically approaches the absolute value 6283185... (2π) as the angle diminishes.
Hmm...I'll have to think on your reply for a while. I'm trying to get my head around it but I'm not quite grasping the concept.:confused:
The vector method for determining centripetal acceleration breaks the circular path into small segments and then uses the sine of the angle formed by the initial and final velocity vectors to determine the factor (numerically, ##{\frac {2π} {T}}##) which, when applied to the tangential velocity...
Homework Statement
The formula for centripetal acceleration (Ac) is $$Ac = \frac {4π^2r} {T^2},$$ where r = radius and T = period of rotation
Homework Equations
The above formula can be rearranged as follows: $$Ac = \frac {2π} {T} × \frac {2π} {T} × \frac {r} {1},$$ $$= \frac {2π} {T} × \frac...
The above excerpt from my previous post should have read "...energetic photons and neutrinos...". The energetic photons would be from both the process itself and from the annihilation of the antielectrons produced with the original electrons comprising the matter.
Chris
Dark magic, indeed. From a layman's point of view this process certainly seems to be one of those quantum physics ideas that is "way out there". The description that comes closest to a layman's explanation that I can find is contained in a May, 1993 paper by Glennys R. Farrar and M. E...
Thanks, Kuros, for your reply. I'm clearly over my head on this so it won't serve any purpose for me to speculate any further. At this point I'll accept that the author of the Wikipedia article knows what he or she is talking about.
If anyone in Physics Forums is familiar with this process I...
So now my question is:"Is the process described in the Wikipedia article accepted (theoretical) physics?" It seems that it's not well known to kuros and Ben Niehoff (thanks for your replies).
I'm wondering if this process, if it's real, might be one possible fate for matter subjected to the...
I ran across the following passage in the Wikipedia article on mass-energy equivalence:
This level of physics is way over my head, but I'm wondering: "What happens to the quarks that comprise the protons and neutrons?" Are they conserved in the neutrinos and antielectrons?
Chris
If you're interested in astrophysics but you don't like "research work", you might want to browse through Wikipedia articles about the universe and space. They're usually suited for the general public and it would probably be less chaotic than sifting through random posts in the Phycics Forums...
Excuse me for being a bit simple-minded about this. I read the FAQ explanation. I also viewed Penrose's lecture, Misner's 1969 paper and John Baez's explanation. These last three were over my head, although I could relate some of what Baez said to parts of the FAQ explanation.
As I understand...
The short answer to your question is "no". It just depends on which frame of reference you want to use. If you're (hypothetically) standing on the sun, you can say that the probe is moving away from you. If you're standing on the probe, you can say that the sun is moving away from you.
There...
I won't pretend to understand the formulas and equations that have been used in this thread. Conceptually, the OP seems to be asking in the mass of an object that is raised to a higher level in a gravitational field decreases. Since this section deals with Special and General Relativity, I'm...