Imagine 2 super-strong magnets in a vacuum chamber. They're polished to a mirror fininsh and mounted in a frame that allows them to be brought together without touching At some very close proximity, the magnetic force between them becomes so strong that virtual particle pairs in the gap are torn apart before they can recombine. Positively charged particles are drawn in one direction and negatively charged ones in the other. A wire connects the 2 magnets and an inline meter begins to measure a current. Plausible scenario? Have I just revolutionized the world? ;-)
2006-09-23 07:43:56 · 3 answers · asked by AmigaJoe 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
*lonely*
-I've considered all that.
1. Magnet structural strength-theoretical, depends of field intensity necessary
2. Do the experiment in space for best possible vacuum OR cool the chamber til the air liquifies and drain it out=Good vacuum
3. Yes, I know the surface would be eaten away by antiparticles. The question is how fast before efficiency degrades too much. The faces would have to be replaceable as well as gamma/x-ray shielding
-The real point is you would be generating energy from NOTHING. Everything else is engineering.
4. Quantum mechanics indicates free space energy densities are ENORMOUS
2006-09-23 14:20:36 · update #1
No, not plausible for a few reasons.
First, if the field between the magnets is that strong, it would probably do damage to the magnets themselves.
Secondly, it would be impossible to acheive a good enough vaccuum fo such an experiment.
Thirdly, When the anti-particles contact the magnet (eg. the negative end of the magnet and positrons), the anti-particles would annihilate with their equivalent particle (eg. electrons) on the surface of the magnet, and would destroy the magnet.
Finally, to acheive the kind of voltage you would expect, you would need huge magnets, because the quantum fluctuations that result in particle-antiparticle pair creation are so small that there would not be enough of them in any reasonably-sized area to make it possible.
There are probably other problems with this too, but there's are the ones that jump to mind first.
2006-09-23 12:03:07 · answer #1 · answered by DrCuprate 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting! Maybe it's possible to refine your idea. Consider this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_Effect
2006-09-23 20:30:57 · answer #2 · answered by KeroZin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no idiot. you just broadcasted your idea over the net. i hope you have a patent
2006-09-23 14:53:45 · answer #3 · answered by madchiman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋