Re: Capacitor problem

[William Beaty <billb@eskimo.com>]

On Sat, 29 Mar 1997, Donald E. Simanek wrote:

> One can, at this point mention the problem of the water tanks. Two
> identical cylindrical water tanks are connected at the bottom by a pipe
> with a valve which is closed.  One is filled with water to height h, the
> other is empty. The valve is opened and water flows. Finally the tanks
> reach equilibrium with each being filled to height h/2. 
>
> But the potential energy of the water in the tanks is only half that of
> the potential energy in the one initially filled tank. Where did the
> energy go?


<wizeguy mode>
If the connecting pipe is large or if frictionless water is used, then the
main path for energy loss will be via subsonic sound waves out the top of
the tanks! </wizeguy mode>


Actually this isn't that farfetched.  Isn't acoustic radiation the main
energy loss mechanism in a tuning fork?

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