Do orbiting wires generate?

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John Brown
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Re: Do orbiting wires generate?

Post by John Brown »

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Whenever a current is generated in a conductor there is a force generated as well. Any force applied to an orbiting spacecraft will effect it's orbit. It's probably a good thing that the conductor loop broke because it would have brought the craft out of orbit in a short time. Again there is no free power. <hr></blockquote>
You've hit the nail on the head, as soon as you tried to use any of this power, the spacecraft would be slowed down. Hey presto, the first orbiting electro-magnetic braking system!
Will
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Re: Do orbiting wires generate?

Post by Will »

Unless I'm mistaken (not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility) It's the Left Hand Rule which is applied to force generated by a current in a conductor. As I see it any net emf is unlikely to be generated in a loop because the emf from one side would be balanced by an equal and opposite emf from the other side. Any current generated in the loop in spite of this (Possible if one side of the loop were significantly further from the field source than the other side) would not cause any absolute movement/repositioning force, only a twisting moment which would, in any event, probably be rendered insignificant by the flexibility of the loop material.
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Bernius1
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Re: Do orbiting wires generate?

Post by Bernius1 »

I think the tether was similar to 16ga wire. No wonder it broke. " A little knowledge..." Interesting "EM brake" theory; the energy MUST come from somewhere. If that's true, a 'horse's mane' of fine wires would act either as a brake, or as a solar sail. It would be interesting to float a fine copper strand on water, and expose it to an expanding field, and see how it moves.
Can't we end all posts with a comical quip?
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