What if you just put these mirrors as walls, so the whole room is just covered in mirrors. Then, you like put light in there or something. Won't it just keep going? So if you can somehow convert that power into a spaceship or something, can't that make infinite power? It will keep going forever, unless you turn off the source of power, or take out a mirror.
2007-03-26 08:44:09 · 6 answers · asked by Nick B. 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
No.
IF you had perfect mirrors which reflect exactly 100% of the incident light, what you could do is a battery i.e. you could store electromagnetic energy. But the amount of energy you could extract from the "battery" would be exactly equal to what you put in.
You might want to revise your knowledge of energy and power. Power is a measure of how fast energy can be produced. But power in itself does not "power" a spacecraft, energy does.
2007-03-26 08:52:27 · answer #1 · answered by catarthur 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a good thought, but there are a few problems in practice.
No mirror is perfect, so it always absorbs some of the light and reflects only part of it.
Even with perfect mirrors, light could conceivably continue reflecting forever. There is no energy loss, but neither is there energy gain.
If you continually add energy in the form of light, you are still providing the energy (via the electricity for the light). It becomes like an oven, where you gradually add heat and accumulate energy. But still no magic creation of energy.
Finally, the laws of thermodynamics say you can't get 'free' energy by any means. Of course, if you find a way to do it, we'll need to rewrite the laws of thermodynamics.
2007-03-26 08:58:33 · answer #2 · answered by Frank N 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
nope - reflectivity of mirrors is not 100%
so each reflection is a loss
we have not yet harnessed light as a fuel source
(e.g. - solar powered spaceship)
2007-03-26 08:52:38 · answer #3 · answered by tom4bucs 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
definite to powering vehicles, besides the indisputable fact that it wont be ordinary, and that is totally early days,,, yet as some examples, I have a 'mild MILL' at residing house, that is form of a 'Wind mill' yet quite of being powered by technique of the wind that's powered by technique of mild, besides the mild turbines blades is also made to move with a laser beam!!! from in spite of distance,!!!..... the mild mill became invented to teach mild has actual stress, besides the indisputable fact that that's amazingly very susceptible, and that i imagine a number of the particular potential comes after a conversion of light to thermal potential emmissions from the blades, extra study is needed, yet ultimately I dont see why laser beams could'nt push alongside vehicles?... Or vehicles pushed alongside by technique of lasers?.... different possibillitys exist as well, I have a number of theorys, microwaves may be properly worth searching up.... yet surely the region is asking a fabric that has a superior solid actual reaction to laser mild.... i.e. take a gadget which could decelerate mild, take that gadget right into a vehicle, and observe if it incredibly will decelerate the vehicle by technique of slowing the mild round it, then if the vehicle can grip and sluggish mild, per chance it may also grip and be pulled alongside by technique of mild...
2016-12-02 20:42:30 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1)dats stupid ,coz u cant get infy energy just by bouncin off photons from a mirrors surface dats coz even a photon has a very little mass which i guess cant be measured (dats my version of the theory)so it does have mass ,n hence momentum so it will slow down n wont go on for ever!!!
2007-03-26 08:54:59 · answer #5 · answered by saggy 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
of coarse not! All mirrors do is redirect light. they don't add to it.
2007-03-26 09:49:43 · answer #6 · answered by real_seller 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋