Re: There's work, and then there's work

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 18:51 -0800 2/2/03, David Rutherford wrote:
> When the capacitor is charging, half of the energy of the charges is
> dissipated as heat in the resistor and the other half goes into the
> charging of the capacitor. So it's logical to assume that, when the
> capacitor discharges, half of the energy of the charges is dissipated as
> heat in the resistor and the other half goes into the discharging of the
> capacitor.
As you point out, of the energy expended by the battery to charge the
capacitor, half of it was lost in the resistor as it charged, leaving
only half the original energy in the capacitor. Now when the
capacitor discharges, it loses half the original energy in the
resistor again, and still has half the original energy to "use" in
discharging the capacitor. What a great idea! Shall we patent it? I
could sure use the money. It would appear that you have discovered
what people have been looking for for centuries--a source of energy
in excess of what you put into the system. And not just by a little
bit, you have increased the energy supply in one swell foop by 50%.
Wonderful! Where can I get in on this good deal? Will you be offering
investors their opportunity soon? When is the IPO?

I can hardly wait.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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