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Re: Meteor

From: Rick Walter <rick1walter~at~comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:26:19 -0600
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

My thanks, too, Garmt--and it's a pity that Michel's junk science couldn't
benefit from your insights and clarity. All the best, Rick Walter in
Albuquerque.

---- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Taves" <btav~at~loc.gov>
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 5:28 PM
Subject: Meteor


> Thank you, Garmt!
>
> On Sun, 16 Oct 2005, Garmt de Vries wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 spaceart~at~att.net wrote:
>>
>> > The machine used to affect the orbit of the meteor is a truly SF
>> > device---although Verne (or whoever) apparently ignored the law of
>> > action and reaction when describing it operating. Any force it applied
>> > to shifting the meteor would have applied to the machine as well. I
>> > remember thinking while reading the book that probably the only result
>> > of shoving on the meteor hard enough to move it would be the flattening
>> > of the device itself.
>>
>> It is clear from the text that the meteor was much lighter than the
>> Earth.
>> What the machine does, is create an absolute vacuum between itself and
>> the
>> meteor. The non-empty space behind the meteor then pushes it towards
>> Earth. Of course, the non-empty space behind Earth would push our planet
>> the other way, but this effect is much smaller, because Earth is larger.
>>
>> Assuming that the pressure from space is a constant, the ratio between
>> the
>> forces exerted on Earth and on the meteor goes with the square of the
>> ratio between their radii, whereas the ratio between their masses goes
>> with the cube of the ratio of their radii. The meteor thus experiences an
>> acceleration that is larger than the accelaeration experienced by Earth
>> by
>> a factor equal to the ratio of the radii.
>>
>> By the way, the working of the machine is an interesting foreshadowing of
>> the Casimir effect. In quantum mechanics, empty space is never empty.
>> There is a constant appearing and disappearing of electron-positron
>> pairs,
>> which exist for a short time before annihilating again. But they do
>> contribute to the energy density of the vacuum, which gives rise to a
>> pressure exerted by the vacuum on everything around it. Another
>> ingredient we need is the concept of particle-wave duality. Every
>> particle can, depending on circumstances, behave as a particle or as a
>> wave. The wavelength is inversely proportional to the momentum. The most
>> familiar example of this duality concerns photons: light can be a wave
>> phenomenon (refraction, interference, etc.), but it can also behave as
>> quantised particles (photo-electric effect). Similarly, you can do
>> interference experiments with electrons, which you're more used to
>> thinking of as particles.
>>
>> Now imagine two parallel, flat, conducting surfaces, close to eachother.
>> Between them, only certain energies are possible for the
>> electron-positron
>> pairs: namely those energies for which half of the corresponding
>> wavelength fits exactly an integer number of times in the distance
>> between
>> the two surfaces. At the same time, outside the two planes, all energies
>> are allowed. This means that there are fewer pairs inside the gap than at
>> the outside. Thus, the pressure inside is lower than outside, and the two
>> planes are pushed towards each other. Think about it: "empty" space
>> exerting a real, macroscopic force! It takes a physicist to come with
>> something like that :) But the effect has been measured, and it is as
>> real
>> as gravity.
>>
>> Sorry for the lecture...
>> Garmt.
>>
>
>
> Brian Taves
> Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division
> Library of Congress
> 101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540-4692
> Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax)
> Email: btav~at~loc.gov
>
>
> Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Received on Thu 20 Oct 2005 - 05:26:48 IST

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