• Solar plane makes first international flight
    95 replies, posted
Okay, because you people don't seem to understand what Turnips5 is saying in words I'll try a different approach to educate you: The sun outputs a FINITE amount of energy. It is a defined number. For the purposes of this explanation let's assume that number is just 5 units of energy per second (just to make things simple). Because the sun only puts out 5 units of energy every second the MAXIMUM amount of energy you could EVER achieve from solar power would be 5 units of energy. Not 10 units. Not 7.5 units. But 5 units of energy. Here's an image to try and explain. [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a151/sltlamina/PHYSICS_MOTHERFUCKER_DO_YOU_UNDERSTAND_IT.png[/IMG] Let's say the situation on the [b]LEFT[/b] is the real, correct situation. There are only 5 units of light (or energy) impacting the surface area (let's say 1m^2) per second. Like we established above. What you people are saying when you say, "oh but in future we can get more energy from it," is the situation on the right. But the thing is the sun is only outputting 5 units of energy per second over the area of 1m^2. You can't just MAKE the additional 4 units of energy seen in the second example, because they're not physically there. The sun isn't outputting that much energy per square metre. There's no physical way for the solar cells to be absorbing more light, because they're absorbing all of it.
[QUOTE=wait, what?;29847038]What if a pane of magnifying material or glass were adhered to the top layer of a photovoltaic panel? Would that change anything? That's probably a stupid suggestion, but oh well.[/QUOTE] Magnifying glasses don't multiply the amount of photons present, they focus them or disperse them, so in effect it would be completely fucking useless. [editline]16th May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Swilly;29847961]But you can fine tune the other equipment to be more effiencent and use lighter materials. Its not enough power to thrust a current jumbo jet.[/QUOTE] WHich is built of state of the art lightweight materials, is hyper efficient and NEEDS to consume masses off fuel just to get it's bulk in the sky. Are you not getting this? THERE WILL NEVER BE A SOLAR POWERED JET, EVER, IT IS A COMPLETE IMPOSSIBILITY. [editline]16th May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Gareth;29849016]Dude you've been saying all this shit that solar panels cannot become more efficient but i don't think you understand the term 'efficiency'. Solar panels with our current technology don't create as much energy as is inputted. By making it more efficient, the same amount of light can produce more energy than before. Stop trying to make the other guy out to be some massive dumbfuck when you lack basic common sense.[/QUOTE] STUPIDITY STUPIDITY EVERYWHERE!!!
Another way of looking at it visually. [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a151/sltlamina/PHYSICS_MOTHERFUCKER_DO_YOU_UNDERSTAND_IT_02.png[/IMG] A lot of you seem to think you can put 5 units of energy in (the right) and get 9 units of energy out, which makes no sense. In reality you can only get out as much as you put in (the left). And even then, you would never get 5 units of energy out in reality. You'd get like 4.7 units of energy out because your entropy's bitch, not vice-versa.
Essentially what they are suggesting is that we bend the laws of physics and create photons. Although if we could bend the laws of physics I'm sure we could put a tiny fan on the back of the plane and reduce the planes weight using bendy physics.
holy shit this thread is amusing esp those who don't get it
[QUOTE=nikomo;29828229] Fuck this shit, I want to be pure energy.[/QUOTE] be a bird
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