4 ms·
I was thinking abut this, and it seems to me that the Third Law problem only exists when you're starting the drilling (pressing down) and removing the drill (pu
by hguant 11y ago
I was thinking abut this, and it seems to me that the Third Law problem only exists when you're starting the drilling (pressing down) and removing the drill (pulling up). During the actual drilling procedure, there should be a force from the action of the drill bit digging into the rock, and from the stuff being bored away from the drill. Shouldn't there be an equilibrium point where the pressure you're exerting on the drill (pushing you up) matches the force of the drill pulling you down? I feel [1] that higher torque speeds would impact this.
[1] "I feel," "It seems," etc. - I don't have the maths or the physics to back this up beyond intuition and a hasty free body diagram sketch, which admittedly seems to work well-ish for most problems in classical mechanical physics.
- jschwartzi 11y agoBasically, if there's nothing stopping you from spinning then the drill will spin you but with the bit stationary. The fixture holding the drill needs to be secured somehow so that the motor in the drill spins the bit against the surface. On Earth, this is commonly achieved using your feet and friction.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoExactly. There are so many problems with drilling/mining asteroids, its going to be one of the most enormous challenges ever undertaken.
- yongjik 11y agoThe drill doesn't pull you down. The equilibrium is achieved by (roughly speaking) (the force that the drill bit pushes the ground) = (the force that the ground pushes the drill up) = (the force that you push the drill down) = (the force that the drill pushes you up) = (the force that the Earth pulls you down). The Earth's gravity on your body enables all this force; without it you need to invent some other way of pushing down the drill.