I Water powered funicular with equal masses?

AI Thread Summary
A paper discusses a modified water-powered funicular system that can operate with equal mass cars, a departure from traditional designs. The physics behind this modification was revised by Uday Raj Khanal, a respected physicist. While the system can start with equal masses, friction will require additional energy input to complete the journey. The authors suggest the funicular could function effectively even with equal loads, though skepticism exists regarding this claim. Overall, the system may improve efficiency but does not achieve perpetual motion.
Suekdccia
Messages
352
Reaction score
30
TL;DR Summary
Water powered funicular with equal masses?
I found a paper (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312123871_Introducing_a_Modified_Water_Powered_Funicular_Technology_and_its_Prospective_In_Nepal) where the authors design a funicular system powered by water but with a modification from traditional systems where apparently the funicular would work even if both "cars" or wagons (the one at the top and the one at the bottom) have the same mass.

Apparently, as the paper says, the physics was revised by Uday Raj Khanal which is a respected physicist in the authors' native country. But even then, could this funicular be built? Could it work?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Sure, I don't see a problem - it just oscillates. In practice though, the cars will be different masses, otherwise there'd be no point to it.
 
The funicular will start just fine, with equal masses. There's still friction : it won't complete the journey without some energy input. It's just a way of making it faster.
 
  • Like
Likes russ_watters
hmmm27 said:
The funicular will start just fine, with equal masses. There's still friction : it won't complete the journey without some energy input. It's just a way of making it faster.
But the authors seem to imply that even with the same mass, the whole route of the funicular could be completed, right?
 
Suekdccia said:
But the authors seem to imply that even with the same mass, the whole route of the funicular could be completed, right?
I didn't give the paper more than a cursory glance, but I seriously doubt anybody who's "respected" would claim that.

The system probably works best if the loads are equal, but it isn't the dreaded "perpetual motion" by any stretch of the imagination : in fact there's a little bit more friction involved because of the longer tracks (mitigated - perhaps completely - by less regeneration involved in ac/decelerating the cars).

Maybe, cut and paste the section you have problems with ?
 
  • Like
Likes russ_watters
Thread 'Question about pressure of a liquid'
I am looking at pressure in liquids and I am testing my idea. The vertical tube is 100m, the contraption is filled with water. The vertical tube is very thin(maybe 1mm^2 cross section). The area of the base is ~100m^2. Will he top half be launched in the air if suddenly it cracked?- assuming its light enough. I want to test my idea that if I had a thin long ruber tube that I lifted up, then the pressure at "red lines" will be high and that the $force = pressure * area$ would be massive...
I feel it should be solvable we just need to find a perfect pattern, and there will be a general pattern since the forces acting are based on a single function, so..... you can't actually say it is unsolvable right? Cause imaging 3 bodies actually existed somwhere in this universe then nature isn't gonna wait till we predict it! And yea I have checked in many places that tiny changes cause large changes so it becomes chaos........ but still I just can't accept that it is impossible to solve...
Back
Top