Recent content by Michael_E

If you want this really small, I would skip the entire idea of a linkage and go to a rack on the cylinder rod and a pinion on the shaft with a one way clutch on the shaft to allow the rack to move back into the starting position. You'd need the pinion gear to be matched to the exact rotary...

I suppose that on a physics forum that people will naturally be forward looking, but there are some OLD technologies which I think should be resurrected. This vehicle for instance gets great mileage !

This is kind of funny in that you have identified your own problem in that the changes to the paper affect the ways in which the machine's parts interact with the paper. Since you can not change the humidity, this can only leads to two solutions as follows: 1. Change the paper to something...

Good idea, check this out: http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2008/solargrid.html

No, it shouldn't be taught in any particular context. Mathematics is a common derivative of all other forms of language, in that it precisely describes relationships between objects, whether they're abstract concepts or features of physical objects. Often the abstract and physical overlap and...

I think that would depend on the strength of the weeds and how much processing that you did to them first. If you wanted to be absolutely sure, you might consider cutting them into smaller pieces first. A sickle bar mower would work well,( they look like a big hedge trimmer if you haven't seen...

I used to do design work in the fruit industry where we used large, open impeller trash pumps to move large volumes of water, (along with anything floating in it, like apples, pears, etc.). They even used these things in the maraschino cherry business to tear the cherry clusters apart into...

This thing is only 12" tall and the only problem that you're liable to have is that the retaining wall will keep moving letting the slab tilt once the soil gets wet. Any thin items pounded into the hill under the slab won't do anything since they are too thin to provide resistance to soil moving...

This statement seems to parallel the attitude that Feyman takes in his lectures and popular book about QED. He just shrugs his shoulders and says, " We don't know why and can't come up with a scenario to figure it out". Then goes on to discuss how they came up with a calculations that work to...

Alf, I don't know much about the market for physicists, but I do know something about selling and you may be selling yourself short. Engineering, for instance, is nothing but applied physics. Get the right engineering job and you may be quite happy using physics to solve engineering problems...

As long as the center of rotation of the laser is at the focus of the parabola ,then you're in business. Regardless of where the laser is located, if a line along the axis of the laser continues to go through the focus of the parabola then the output will be parallel. If you've got a large...

Wolram, If you're in the UK then check out this site. http://www.lathes.co.uk/page3.html I would recommend either a Myford, Emco or a Southbend 9" or 10". Many of these can be had in your price range and include much tooling. These lathes can be set up with many special attachments, like...

I think that this is it in a nutshell. To take an ingenious idea, translate it into parts that can be described by mathematics, churn those equations around for a while and have it all relate accurately to something verifiable really does take the insight of genius as well as a tremendous...

rghusted, Gravity is not energy. A weight suspended in a gravitational field has some potential energy which you can harness if you turn it into kinetic energy by letting go of it. The problem with your scenario is that the mass is not moving, it's balanced. If it does move so that you can...

Thanks Zz, You did answer my question quite well. Even having "let go of your classical inhibitions" you must still think of prying into the way that things work as a big deal. It must be difficult to develop and express imaginative ideas and experiments when the physical tools and spoken...