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My physics teacher found some devices that measure the period/frequency of an object on a spring. The centripetal force is measured in Newtons with a spring scale, then the known mass is spun around it's string, where someone is applying a constant force by twisting the post below. (The mass then spins around its post, stretching the spring mor eor less depending on the centripetal force on it. A stopwatch can be used to measure the period). This force is only what's needed to make the bottom of the mass align with the post (refer to this diagram): http://img433.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mysterydeviceka3.png The point of this query is our teacher only found these and they're basically antiques. He's trying to find a good name for them, and I'm trying to find the original name. Does anyone remember this lab equipment and what its "actual" name is?

Actually, this is a type of alien life, but using Earth standards is a good way to make sure you're not way off the mark where it comes to physics. As for wind chill, very true, I hadn't seriously considered that. I guess all I could think about was all that intense heat that space shuttles encounter as they plummet to earth even where the atmosphere is thin isn't much affected by the chill of the air. As for needing initial energy, the creature would definitely need some chemical energy to get up there, I was just thinking of the down-trip, and whether enough could be "stored" during mid-dive to allow a creature to lift its weight a significant distance. If gravity were part of the system it could almost be a perpetual motion machine.

A good friend of mine actually patented one of these as a toy (though it was larger than yours). He told me that a lot of it has to do with harmonics. I can guess that the smaller it is, the more it will have to rely on these things. Because a jet is so much larger compared to the size of an air molecule than your flying machine is, air particles and harmonics probably would have a lot more to do with it. (Just like how a water strider can stand on water tension but perhaps not rubbing alcohol, but a large boat can float on each.) So whatever dimentions needed might depend a lot more on the kind of air you're flying this on. I'm sure you already know this and I really can't give any actual values, so I'll take my leave... Sorry I can't give any really good help.

I'm "creating" a creature (actually just drawing it, but I want it to be almost like a bluprint with some sound scientific principles). I want to have a flying creature with a special outside shell. The general structure is very odd and doesn't need to be explained but basically I want this creature to actually get some energy from the heat that's generated by the friction from air resistance. This was basically my idea: The surface of the "body and wings" would be made of a hard surface that's actually a series of regularly spaced loops (like the hard side of Velcro only loops instead of hooks), with a pore spaced in between each loop. As the creature dives through the air, the air particles that rub against the surface generate heat. In rapid motion, cool pegs actually located beneath the "shell" poke through each regularly-spaced pore, and the part that pokes through touches these thick loops, now packed with heat energy from the friction. It would then submerge and carry that super-heated portion to an area that converts this thermal energy into mechanical energy that would be used to actually move the "wings" and such. Of couse this structure would have to be incredibly stable and hard, the loops at the right angle to avoid being snapped off. They'd have to be rather thick, and even still... Another issue is that the "pegs" (substances that stick through the pores to collect the heat) would have to be cool enough to conduct that thermal energy. And, it would take some kind of effort to cool them down again. Is there some kind of conservation of energy rule that applies to such a system? If this creature is using no energy with its actual "wings" and is just dive-bombing, could it actually collect a surplus of energy by simply generating this frictional heat? After all, it's coming from the air particles, not collisions caused by it exerting itself. I know we probably don't have the technology to do this, but as a visual artist with a passion for science, I'd like to know how feasible it is.