A New Look towards the Principles of Motion - Section 1 (contd)

[Arindam Banerjee]

A New Look towards the Principles of Motion

New physics for keen and fresh young minds!

Author: Arindam Banerjee, Melbourne, 30 May 2019


Section 1 (contd._


Author's note: Regrettably the diagrams cannot be included!


The Electric Current

It was soon found out that when a current existed in a conductor (like, a copper wire) which was placed in a magnetic field (or the area over which the magnet exerts its measurable or significant attractive effects), that conductor experienced a force. The direction of the current, the direction of the magnetic field, and the direction of the force – were all at right angles to each other. Also, when a conductor was moved by a force in a magnetic field, a potential to create electric current (or voltage) was generated by the conductor, along its two ends (terminals). Thus, we have the electric motor, and the electric generator, respectively.







Whenever a current existed in a conductor, a magnetic field was immediately created around it. This field could be increased in strength if the conductor was looped, to form a coil. More the number of coils, and more the current, the stronger the magnetic field. For a given voltage, across the terminals of the conductor, if the resistance of the conductor is very low, we can generate very high currents, as there is a relation between the voltage V, current I, and resistance R, namely V = I*R.

The Gun

The general idea behind the futuristic rail gun, or any ordinary gun, is very simple. Its object is to send a projectile at high speed to hit a target. But the principles of operation between the rail gun, and the ordinary gun, are vastly different. An ordinary bullet is composed of a lead projectile, along a cartridge filled with gunpowder. It is fired through combustion of the gunpowder – from solid state, this matter becomes hot gas. As this very high pressure gas expands, very fast, it pushes the bullet (and with rifles, also rotates it) along the barrel from where it emerges at high speed.

From early days, the gun was seen as a direct example of Newton’s Third Law – every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Because every bullet fired, caused a recoil, that caused the gun and the person holding it to receive a backward force. So in the days when cannons were fired from sailing ships, the cannons had to be tightly secured. If the restraints were broken, there could be disaster, hence the term “loose cannon”. (There are such things as recoil-less guns, but these work as much like rockets as guns, for they have a double-charge of gun-powder. The first charge sends off the projectile, the second charge kills the recoil, but also sends back a lot of matter, so one should not stay behind such a gun when it is fired!)

A lot of internal energy is released, and plenty of internal force is created, when a bullet is fired from a rifle. But can we use this for translational motion for the rifle, or move its centre of gravity with its own internal energy, and internal force? Let us construct an experiment. We load a gun, and fix a sandbag around the muzzle very tightly, such that after the gun is fired the bullet stays in the sandbag and the sandbag does not come off the barrel of the gun. Now let us float this contraption (along with floats) in a large bathtub filled with water, and fire the gun. What happens? The gun should not budge! For the expanding gases have exerted force in both directions, and these two forces (the action on the bullet and the reaction in the other direction) have cancelled each other out.

The Rail Gun





In a rail gun, we have two rails that are parallel to each other. The bullet (or in the electrical engineering terminology, the armature, or the moving part of the motor) is a piece of copper or brass, that sits across these two rail at one end. There is a very strong magnetic field acting down upon the length of the rails. A very large current is passed through the copper bullet, by applying a voltage across the rails. A force then acts upon the bullet, accelerating it down the rails till it emerges from the gun with high speed. A good deal of engineering is required to create the high currents and magnetic fields, and to keep the rails steady and parallel, and also the bullet resting on the rails for its journey. Since the current generating schemes are at this stage rather heavy, rails guns are expected to find first use in tanks and ships, rather than with the infantry and air forces.

Reaction from the Rail Gun

It was expected that the reaction force involved from the action of accelerating the bullet down the rails of the rail gun, would be its equal and opposite, as per Newton’s Third Law. In the context of military warfare, it was always necessary to take the suitable actions for the recoil, in the design of the gun platforms.

The following information is lifted from the Internet. It belongs in the public domain, and is the advertisement for the sale of the Masters Thesis of Matthew K Schroeder, who did ground-breaking work in the calculation of the reaction of a rail gun in the University of Texas at Austin. Hs work was funded by the US Department of Defence.

An Investigation of the Static Force Balance of a Model Railgun
Authors: Matthew K. Schroeder; NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA


Abstract: An interesting debate in railgun research circles is the location, magnitude, and cause of recoil forces, equal and opposite to the launched projectile. The various claims do not appear to be supported by direct experimental observation. The goal of this research paper is to develop an experiment to observe the balance of forces in a model railgun in a static state. By mechanically isolating the electrically coupled components of such a model it has been possible to record the reaction force on the rails and compare that force with the theoretical force on a projectile. The research is ongoing but we have observed that the magnitude of the force on the armature is at least seventy times greater than any predicted equal and opposite reaction force on the rails.
Limitations: APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Description: Master's thesis
Pages: 93
Report Date: JUN 2007
Report Number: A783374




The line “we have observed that the magnitude of the force on the armature is at least seventy times greater than any predicted equal and opposite reaction force on the rails” is as great a discovery as was the discovery of the electric current by Professor Luigi Galvani. For this is the very first undisputed, verified and recorded breach of Newton’s Third Law of Motion.

Restatement of Newton’s Third Law of Motion

We had obtained marvelous insights after we generalized Newton’s First Law of Motion, by outing the word “external”. Similarly, we shall get great technology after we specialize Newton’s Third Law of Motion, by phrasing it thus:
“Every mechanical action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

The consequences of this re-statement are awesome. It substantiates the point made earlier in this treatise, that acceleration is possible with internal force. We have already seen that if acceleration with internal force is possible, then we can reach light speed within a year in a technically do-able spacecraft.

Not that the experimenter takes the theoretical stand that acceleration of a body is possible with internal force; that is something we can now work on, in the succeeding paragraphs.

To suggest the ultimate test for showing that Newton’s Third Law is indeed being violated by the rail gun, as the reaction is much lesser than the action, what is needed is to repeat the chemical gun with sandbag test described earlier. This time, one will expect the rail-gun along with the sandbag that absorbs the fired bullet, will get an acceleration and continue to move – thus violating Newton’s First Law. The following diagram provides the illustration of this important new idea.








Design of the Internal Force Engine

The design of the Internal Force Engine (IFE) was given in the book “To the Stars!”, mentioned earlier; the diagram below has been lifted from a chapter of the book named “Moving a body with Internal Force”. The explanation for its functioning was tentative, as the work was not founded upon experimentation. However, it is now evident that the basic design was sound. A proper explanation for its functioning can now be given, using the experimental work done by Schroeder.



There are some fundamental differences here, with respect to the rail gun talked about. While the principle is the same, here we do not have rails. Instead, we have heavy copper or brass bars in a very strong magnetic field, created by the electromagnets. Then instead of passing the current through the rails, the current is directly passed to the bars using fexible and thick copper wire (not shown in the above diagram, for simplicity’s sake). The central bar is kept on the straight path by insulating barriers (also not shown in the diagram). Since the idea now is not to accelerate the projectile (or in this case, the bar) out of the system, the rails are not necessary. The bar impacts upon the strong impact surface shown in the above diagram, then either:
a) bounces back with lesser force upon a plunger to a hydraulic system which accelerates the two outer masses, which receive further acceleration from the electromagnets and the currents through them – if the current through the bar is cut off when it is returning to the original position. The cycle repeats, and the bars keep on hitting the impact surface harder and harder, and also faster and faster.
b) if the current to the bar is not cut off on its return path, the bar’s return motion is arrested and it returns to the original position (or somewhere ahead of it) with no impact upon the plunger. After that it again accelerates from rest to repeat the earlier motion, of hitting the impact surface.

It would appear that when the charging times and discharging times of the capacitor to send the current through the bar are aligned with its motion, best results would occur. During the charging time of the capacitor, there is no current through the bar, and in this time it should make its return trip to the plunger. During the discharging time, when there is current through the bar, it accelerates towards the impact surface. There could be a scenario where the bars get stuck at the impact surface – to counter this, techniques to pull back the bar with suitable reverse currents through it, by certain control circuits, have to be developed. This sort of relatively minor intricacies have to be dealt with and overcome in the product development and testing phases of the Internal Force Engine. It is certainly going to be a challenging task!

Since Schroeder has proved with experiment that there is no or negligible reaction to the action of accelerating the bar, it is expected that the whole body will experience a net acceleration towards the direction of impact with the impact surface. Further, since there are no rails (which too was impacted by force and had to be held together tightly, there is both a loss of weight involved, as well as less loss of energy through the rails.

The energy from the power source, that is not converted to heat, is thus converted into kinetic energy. Since there is no reactive force, the thrust of this kinetic energy is to provide internal force only in the forward direction

Problems with Rail Guns

It is only to be expected, that the problems encountered with practical rail guns will be visited upon the functioning of the Internal Force Engine. Let us then dwell in brief upon the problematic issues with rail guns.

a) Generation process of extremely large currents – of the order of a million amperes is necessary for the quick acceleration of the projectile.

b) The generation of such current causes a lot of losses (resistive loss, or I*I*R) losses at normal temperatures, where R is quite significant. Both in the projectile, and also in the rails.

c) The rails wear out significantly with the heat.

As of date, rail gun technology has advanced so far that the abovementioned problems have been more or less surmounted to produce practical results, and rail guns may well be fitted onto ships and tanks in the near future. Their advantages over chemically-fired guns are enormous – there is much faster velocity of the projectile (10-20 Km/sec as opposed to 1-2 Km/sec); faster rates of fire; no cartridge shells as waste; and as we now see, no recoil despite such high speeds of the missiles. Still, the power consumption is enormous, and the heats generated great, and the wear on the rails are significant.

Rail Gun problems not relevant for Internal Force Engines

The Internal Force Engine does not need rails, so the question of wear and tear of the rails do not apply. Also, the waste of energy (as heat, and also the energy required to hold them together) within the rails is negated – the Internal Force Engine is thus more efficient. Most importantly, the Internal Force Engine is designed to work in outer space, where the temperature is very low. At such low temperatures, superconductivity effects take place. That is, the resistance of the metals becomes so low, to practically zero, that a very large current can pass through it with very little loss in terms of heat energy. Thus even a comparatively low voltage and a not really very powerful energy source, can generate very large currents. The Internal Force Engine, for outer space travel, is thus a very robust, and practically indestructible, because of its sheer design simplicity. The control circuits and the power source are external to it, and hence subject to normal maintenance routines. The main engine itself, once constructed properly and according to specifications, will have a very high degree of reliability.

The Design of Space Ships with Internal Force Engines

It is absurdly simple to create space ships, when we have Internal Force Engines. Any shape for the Space Ship will do, as there is no friction in outer space! This shape should house the passenger area, the various control systems, and the generator for the electricity needed to power the Internal Force Engines. All the areas that humans could inhabit need to be insulated and pressurized.

The Internal Force Engine should be beyond the scope of shipboard maintenance. It has to bolted to the Space Ship, along with robust electrical connections for power supply and control. More than one IFE could power a Space Ship. The more the number of the IFEs, the greater the thrust, and the acceleration – like any normal engine.

There will be lateral IFEs, of smaller thrusting power, for changing the orientation of the Space Ship. They will be used for turning the space ship around, when it will be necessary to undergo the deceleration phase.

Internal Force Engines on Earth

It is tempting to use IFEs on Earth. However, the high temperatures on Earth will not make superconducting effects possible in as natural a way as in outer space. Unlike the Rail Gun, where the rails have to be exposed to the air (since the projectile has to leave the gun) the IFE can be totally enclosed and insulated. It can be cooled, by taking out the air from it, meaning decreasing the air pressure to practically nothing. As is well known, by the universal gas law, pressure and temperature for a gas in an enclosed volume have an inverse relationship according to the formula:
P1*V/(T1 + 273) = P2*V/(T2 + 273),
where T1 and T2 are the temperatures in centigrade, P1, P2 are the atmospheric pressures corresponding to the temperatures T1 and T2, and the volume V where the gas is contained is constant. When we decrease P2 to near zero, T2 will tend to approach the value of – 273, and then superconducting effects will take place, as they do in outer space.

While heat transfer from conduction and convection can be reduced greatly by taking out the gas with a powerful pump, there remains still the problem of radiation. External radiation may be minimized by a reflective coating, and a metallic container for the IFE could be used to contain the electromagnetic effects, and to give the mechanical strength to hold the near-zero pressure within. The I*I*R losses in the metals would still be there, and they would cause radiation within the IFE, causing heat build up. To avoid this problem, it may be necessary to place say liquid nitrogen within the IFE to absorb such radiant heat, and consequently evaporate. The evaporated gas would be sucked out by the pump, cooled to a solid state, and introduced once again into the IFE as a liquid. Because of the necessity for such a cooling system, the terrestrial IFE will be more complicated than its counterpart in outer space, where the heat generated by I*I*R losses will be radiated away. However, once the technologies are mastered, IFEs could be used in ships and airplanes for much greater speeds, and lower fuel consumption, than what are presently possible.

Sea craft and Airplanes using Internal Force Engines

Unlike the Space Craft using IFEs, the shape of the Sea Craft or Airplane using the IFEs is very critical. Reducing air and water resistance, and air resistance, respectively, is very important, for the realization of the top speed possible.

These crafts generate electricity on board (using fossil fuels, hydrogen, solar or nuclear power), and feed it to the IFEs, that are bolted to the main body of the ship or airplane. A powerful cooling system is used to keep the IFEs cold enough to maintain the superconductivity effects. For the rest, there is no change with respect to present airplanes and ships.

Ship acceleration with Internal Force Engines

Let the mass of the IFE be M1, and the mass of the internal impacting bar be M2. Let it hit with velocity V1, and let there be N hits per second. From the law of conservation of momentum, we will have:

M1*V1 = (M1+M2)*V2, where V2 is the resulting velocity of the IFE in free space without constraints.

So V2 = M1* V1/(M1 + M2), and since there are N hits per second, after one second the velocity will increase by N*M1*V1(M1 + M2), which is the acceleration, call it A.

Putting values of M1 = 1 Kg, M2 = 1000 Kg, V1 = 20,000 meters/second, and N = 2, we get the acceleration as

A = 2 *1 * 20000/ (1000 + 10) or A = 39.6 meters per second.

The thrust F is A*(M1 + M2) = 39.6*1010 or roughly 40,000 newtons.

Let this engine be fixed to a ship of total mass including cargo 9000 Kgs. Then the total mass will be 10000 Kgs. The acceleration A-ship will be :

A_ship = F/(Mass of Engine + Mass of Ship and Cargo) = 40,000/10,000 or 4 meters per second per second. On land, this is very respectable indeed. Using the equations of motions developed earlier, this will take an airplane only 14 seconds (in practice, because of friction and air losses, a little more) to reach a take off speed of say 200 Km/hr, or 56 meters per second. The runway need not be long – if it did take 14 seconds to take off, the minimum length for the runway will be 0.5*A_ship*t*t or 0.5*4*14*14 or about 400 meters.

Let us see what happens when we add a second IFE to our airplane. Then the total mass will be 11,000 Kgs, the thrust 80,000 newtons, and the acceleration will be 80,000/11,000 = 7.27 meters per second per second. It will take off in less than 8 seconds, and need a runway length of 0.5*7.27*8*8 or around 250 meters.

Now let us add another (the third) IFE to our airplane. The total mass will now be 12,000 Kgs, and the thrust 120,000 newtons. The acceleration will be 120,000/12,000 or 10 meters per second per second. Now that is slightly higher than g, or the acceleration due to the Earth’s gravity. So, our ship can now take off like a helicopter or VTOL (Vertical take off and Landing) airplane, as its upward acceleration is (10 – g) or (10 – 9.8) or 0.2 meters per second per second. It will take off from the ground relatively slowly, but continually gain in speed during ascent. We have built a flying saucer, if our airplane now takes that shape for aerodynamic purposes. Its surface could be covered with solar panels, for enhanced power generation. With such a ship, or “vimana” as they are called in the Indian epic poem “Ramayana”, we can reach the moon in a matter of hours, as shown earlier in this section.

With properly designed hulls, sea craft can go much faster with powerful IFEs, and speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour are perfectly possible. Thus, distances can become much shorter, and ships could once again compete with planes for passenger transportation. Submarines, too, can go much faster than presently possible with the use of IFEs.

Needless to say, all land speed records on the flats will be broken with the use of IFEs, just as rocket-cars broke the records set by the internal combustion engine cars This does not mean that any significant changes will take place to the present developments in the car industry, as IFEs are not compact, and cars run with IFEs will be difficult to maneuver.

The Vimana or the Flying Saucer

It is to be expected that IFEs will find first use in ships and other naval vessels, as it will be easy to fit them on the ships. However, the ships cannot escape the boundaries of Earth – thus the vimana or the flying saucer has a much more powerful appeal.




Elevation and Plan diagrams of a Flying Saucer (or Vimana)

The design is thus stunning in its simplicity. The shape could be anything – the saucer shape is useful in any atmosphere, for the purpose of gliding, as a lot of lift can be obtained with such a shape, and so extra pressure upon the IFEs can be averted. On Earth, if the surface is covered with solar cells, then it could hover indefinitely in the winds of the higher layers of the atmosphere. Instead of a nuclear power plant, which seems the most logical for long journeys, it could have fuel cells, powered with Hydrogen. Hydrogen can be mined from the gas giants, such as Jupiter. Or even, plain diesel oil generators could do the trick!

So how does it take off? Much like a VTOL (Vertical Take off and Landing) craft, where the exhausts are angled downwards to provide such thrust that will more than compensate for the weight of the craft. A lot of fuel is used in this, and the range of the VTOL is decreased. This will not be the case for the vimana. The IFEs will give an upward thrust, enough for it to overcome the weight of the vimana. If you consider all the IFEs as just one IFE, then with the powerful upward thrust it will “kick” the craft up; then before it falls back to the earlier position, it receives another “kick” to stop it from doing so, rather move it further upwards. This is possible, because as Schroeder has found out, because Newton’s Third Law of Motion does not cover the issues relating to the reaction from electromagnetic force – as proved by Schroeder’s work.

Saving Humanity en masse

Our studies of astronomy show us that there is no doubt that the Earth can be hit by a small comet, or wandering asteroid, or even a very large meteor at any time. An enormous loss of life would ensue – perhaps the entire humanity, along with many other species, could perish.

We now have the opportunity to save the planet. Our telescopes are now good enough to give us enough information about exactly when such a disaster could happen.

Large Internal Force Engines could be placed on such an asteroid, using the flying saucer/vimana. They could be energized, so that the path of the comet, over a few days of such continuous action, gets sufficiently deflected away from the Earth and thus collision is averted.

Conclusion of Section 1

The very first high-level design of the Internal Force Engine has been presented, after revising the fundamentals of the physics relating to statics and dynamics. This section is now concluded. In the next section, we shall investigate the fundamental reasons for the large and continuous energy generated by the sun, the stars and our planet Earth.