Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Right-Hand Rule, rules

Strong Potential

It's called the "Right Hand Rule." Most basically described, a "free" electron moving perpendicularly, west to east through a magnetic field will be repelled away from the source of that field.

Hold out you right hand flat and point your index finger while extending your thumb at a right angle. Slide your hand away from your torso and imagine your index finger is the direction of travel for the "free" electron and your thumb as a magnetic line of force.

This repellent force, known as the Lorentz Force, is what lifts and accelerates a Maglev train. If you've ever wondered how extraterrestrials fly those Unidentified Flying Objects, this principle is probably what they use.

Earth would then be a very compelling destination, because in what is almost certainly a secondary bi-product of the tidal lock Earth has with our relatively large natural satellite, Earth has the only substantial and global magnetic field of all the terrestrial planets.

It has long been a dream of scientists to use this conveniently situated terrestrial magnetic field as a method of pegging satellites in orbit, to save fuel resisting the drag of an atmosphere swollen by being rarefied at Solar Maximum, for example, which often drags expensive satellites to their doom long before their time.

Moving at 7330 meters per second, usually from west to east through Earth's magnetic field, if such a flow of electrons could be controlled, it is hoped, satellites could remain in low Earth orbit for far longer.

William R. Gorman and James D. Brownridge of State University of New York have proposed a series of experiments to test what they hope will be the most efficient way to reduce resistance and counter to necessary return of electron, in a closed circuit, that would act as a counter to the Lorentz Force.

Unfortunately, their initial experiments have resulted in runaway component failure and arcs that weld and short the simply complex platform. Clearly, there is much to be learned about applying Lorentz Forces to practical methods.

And it may not be the first time experiments with induced electro-magnetic forces have ended in component failure.

On at least two occasions, short and long tether experiments have been deployed from the Space Shuttle in attempts to utilize the altitude and speed through the magnetic field lines of Earth to tap them for electricity.

The last attempt ended in failure when designers may have underestimated just how much electricity was trapped even in low Earth orbit. While unreeling a ten kilometer long tether, mission specialists did not get far.

Before half its length was deployed, the conductive tether, more or less, became a long length of available charge, traveling perpendicularly through Earth magnetic field. Resistance caused heat to build along its length, and the tether melted.

The experiment has not been repeated.

If you will pardon the pun, the potential of allowing orbital inertia to push a conductor through Earth's natural magnetic field is very untapped.

No comments: