If I could arrange a water turbine so that it would pump 10% of the water driving it back upstream,now the stream has increased by 10% so my turbine can now pump harder and can pump 10% more water back upstream. You see where I'm going? I know you cannot lift yourself up by your bootlaces. So what happens to my turbine?
2006-11-20 04:32:26 · 3 answers · asked by bo nidle 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
surely the second minute it pumps110 gallons plus 10%=121, and then121 plus 10%=121+12.1=133.1, and so on.
2006-11-20 07:54:17 · update #1
You're not missing anything. The natural flow is 100GPM. You start your pump and a minute later the flow is 110GPM. Your pump works harder and in another minute the flow is 111GPM, so the flow asymptotically approaches 111.111111... GPM. You have harnessed some of the energy in the 100GPM stream to form your own 11.111111 ... GPM stream. If that's all you can do, your efficiency is about 10%. If you try to draw power from this new stream you created, you can get only 10% of that. This is a poor use of the energy from the stream, unless you really like to watch a little more water flowing.
2006-11-20 04:46:53 · answer #1 · answered by Frank N 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it pumps 10% of your the extra 10% i.e only 1% of the original
if you continue this you get a Geometrical progression which will converge to a limit!!
2006-11-20 04:38:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The turbine will have a finite capacity to handle the water.
2006-11-20 04:38:26 · answer #3 · answered by nutsnflats 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋