tinkerer

A single step forward may take one half-way to the destination; if each successive step consumes 1/2 of the remaining travel, will the destination be reached?

What might the Oxygen content of the great variety of minerals present in the rocks and surface of Mars be regarding it's extraction?

"Deep" subject; it leads one to wonder how Evolution proceeded as extensively as it has.

Sir, your remark, above, may be interpreted in many ways, few not demeaning in some way to both the forum, and the New Member. First, it has no relevance whatsoever to the OP. Thus, it can only be concluded that: My post was so ignorant of the field of Chemistry, it did not deserve an answer, OR, My post could not be successfully refuted, OR, The intent was simply to belittle. Please be aware, I came here hoping to learn, even if that means taking "licks" when I'm wrong. I have never claimed to be a Chemist, but have always thoroughly enjoyed the study of Chemistry. I must apologize if my inabilities so related bring about brusque dismissal. imp

The Moebius Flask, which can have a liquid poured in, but cannot contain it as it pours out. The three-dimensional surface having volume but no inside or outside defined surface. During the year I taught high school math in very rural Missouri, I calmed down several boisterous classes by predicting the results of cutting two strips of paper apart, which I explained would totally befuddle them. They listened, observed, disbelieved, then owed they would spring this on friends and family! The Moebius Strip. A strip of thin material, rolled into a cylindrical form, must present height, diameter, and volume. The strip if twisted first, such that it's inner and outer edges are reversed, when rolled into a cylinder, become a moebius solid having no inside or outside, nor presenting a viable volume. imp EDIT: Even more befuddling is the process of taking a moebius strip prepared of paper of reasonable size, about a foot in length, which is then pierced anywhere at it's center between edges, then cut with scissors completely around it's length to produce two (?) pieces. Worse, the strip pierced 1/3 of it's width away from one edge, then cut lengthwise continuously until separated into two (?) pieces becomes.....?? Two new volumes, one a cylinder, the other a new moebius strip having TWO twists, AND they are of differing diameters! Try it! imp

The body is actually reliably "invulnerable" to not only hundreds, but even millions of volts, if the voltage source has a frequency very high, such as that of the typical Tesla Coil. The theory of "skin effect" regarding this has been largely superceded by the thinking that given the exceedingly low current levels and high frequency that the nerve endings as well as muscles simply cannot react very well to them. I think. imp

Both, to answer simply. Most affecting corrosion, given constant conditions of surrounding atmosphere or materials, is actually the hardness of the steel. Heat treatment of alloy steels not only makes them physically stronger, but also less amenable to corrosion, as heat treatment hardens them significantly. imp

I suspect this is not exactly so, regarding quantities of alkaline materials, whether much weak, or little strong: Ph is a measure of the TOTAL number of H+ ions in the solution, thus it would not matter WHERE those H+ ions had their origins, simply that there were LESS of them, given the 8.0Ph than there would be in "pure water", at Ph=7.0. Furthermore, why would the added acid immediately begin to react with the cured cement contained in the structure? So long as the added H+s failed to completely neutralize the Ph, the cement would never know they were added. NO? imp Quite so! Generally, the actual volume of water contained in a given swimming pool is very rarely known with any accuracy, unless filling the pool originally was metered; even then, if filling required several days (mine did), there would be a significant amount of water lost while filling to evaporation, as much as 1/2 inch per day, here in the hot and windy Desert. Calculating the pool's volume would be little more than an estimate, either, as the actual curvatures involved are poorly known. imp

Polychlorinated Biphenyls. "PCBs". The old "transformer" oil. Stank like the Devil, nearly incombustible, non-volatile, highly thermal-degradation resistant, could raise blisters on exposed skin, the lungs, who knows? As a kid, I had capacitors filled with the stuff, one could hear it slosh around in them. Cut one open, but only once. Wish I knew then, what I know now! imp

What might be said here regarding some differences which might exist, if any do, regarding our "light beam" in the discussion being limited to one, and one only, frequency or wavelength, unlike the zillions present in visible light? Add to that the requirement that the waves be in phase with one another, and coherent. Any differences at all? I'm stumped! imp

Of course, the young mind of a 15 year old then more interested in cars and engines than Physics, might not be expected to "see through" the author's simplified statement. Seems pretty evident that a glass prism, say, "breaks up" white light based on it's wavelength, red thus being bent more than violet, as the whole mess passes through. Thus, X-rays, being "light" of a much shorter wavelength than visible violet light, would be bent only a minute amount, detectable, perhaps easily now, less easily in 1950. Since we're on Physics, long ago I came across the following sequence of high-speed X-ray exposures taken microseconds apart, supposedly released many years after they were produced at Los Alamos, showing quite graphically and vividly, the compression of an "incompressible" solid when enormous pressure was exerted from all around the test sample:

It has been said that alcohol is an excellent prohibitor of ejaculation. The key of course is knowing how much. More to the point, my neighbor, taking Hydrocodone, stated ejaculation was not possible when dosed, it was "wonderful". In my case, having perfected "edging" to a near-science while still quite young, P.E. is something I can only imagine.......

If one IS an Engineer, and has had exposure to the manufacturing field, wherein a plant having skilled trades-people employed in various Maintenance positions depends on interaction between them, successful interaction, and, say, a Facilities Engineer, you know that invariably such workers tend to sneer at Engineering ability, demean it, have difficulty accepting sound convictions voiced regarding their work habits. I overcame such occurrence by successfully welding a crack in a hydraulic pipe below floor level in a pit, when my Welder voiced the opinion that he did not think he could do the job successfully. I secured permission to try, shelving the possibility of a Union Grievance, watched them snicker, got dirty as hell doing the job, the weld held, continuing to feed 385 degree F oil to hydraulic presses. After that incident, they were like puppies. I was fortunate to have spent my mid to late teen years building fast cars, with little money to spend on skills, and learnt them myself.

I interpret the OP title to be soliciting creative engineering ideas, of a general nature, rather than pertaining only to the one problem described. Thus, while designing and building my 1/8-scale live steam locomotive, I needed a very stout cylinder, preferably steel, about 8-inches in outside diameter, and about 4 feet long, from which to fabricate my boiler. Then the idea struck: commercial pressurized gas cylinder, wall thickness almost 1/4-inch, made of 4130 alloy steel, readily weldable, commonly used to ship and store gas at 3,000 psi (though, not hot) quite safely. Surely approximately 100 psi steam at ~ 500 `F should pose no problem, got the tank free, started work on the boiler! Now, the problem: Being new and unsure of procedure here, my image being url generated does not embed, just sits there. So, i'll paste it but won't know the result until after submission. I see it worked! Anyone horrified by it?

I did not see mention of the fact that many localities now have made rainwater collection illegal. Believe it or not. I believe the first case cited was in California, perhaps a year or two ago, when drought was a leading newsprint seller. Just sayin'......

Simple enough solution: dog-goned certain the wire wheel shank is not very hard, I would simply chuck the first 1/4 inch of it in my lathe, turn the portion between the chuck jaws and wheel down from .250" to .236"; one cut would likely do the job. Then, cut off the 1/4" stub that was chucked in the lathe. This should not be such an involved thing, should it? The horse is by now dead.

Most interesting discussion! Seems to contain "posturing and conjecturing" in areas mostly beyond my comprehension, however. Being rather pragmatic, I would view a superficial difference of unbalanced force acting upon the Earth as quite insignificant when compared to precessionary forces, for one.

The proposed sphere's size in comparison to the proposed heat source, an LED, might not yield anything at all, insofar as spectacular results are concerned. LEDs generate but little heat themselves. However, be aware that light fixtures now sold for use in everyday lighting may contain heat-producing circuitry utilized to successfully operate LEDs on "household current". This is especially true of CFLs (Coiled Fluorescent Lamps) which contain some mysterious "ballasting" which becomes quite hot. This is mentioned in reference to the remark about overhead fixtures.

My Physics text in High School contained the following statement, as closely as I can recall it: "X-rays may be bent and diffracted by means similar to visible light". I asked our instructor, if x-rays pass freely through a glass prism, how can the text's statement be valid? He was a recent college grad., his academic background unknown. He kind of shrugged, and as he usually answered the "unanswerable" said, "Read the book!"

New consignee: saw no location for introductions......retired dual-discipline Engineer, Electrical-Mechanical. Have not entered any personals yet, save your time! My lifetime interests have ranged from fast cars, I.C. Engine work, High-voltage experimentation, explosives, in short, any of the things often considered "bizarre" by those outside of my little world of interest. Multi-forum member, rarely encounter many members interested in things technical. Several airline pilots present on a seniors forum presented interest, but my difficulties with an uncaring forum owner ended rather, er........ironically. I am a tinkerer, at heart.