2 ms·
I mean, it's only the size of a boxing ring, not a football field. I think LEDs could produce enough light to have a net effect.
by umvi 7y ago
I mean, it's only the size of a boxing ring, not a football field. I think LEDs could produce enough light to have a net effect.
- bmdavi3 7y agoI don't know if the strength of an LED is enough to move the craft significantly, but if it is you'd need to point it at anything _but_ the ship itself, otherwise the two forces would cancel out. Just shine it in the opposite direction of where you want to go.
- umvi 7y agoNo, the two forces don't cancel out, I can't remember exactly why but elastic collisions don't work like that. That's why you can point a fan into your sailboat's sail and it will still go forward, mythbusters proved it.
- mkl 7y agoMythbusters demonstrated something different, and something much less efficient than simply pointing the fan backwards like a normal fan boat (no sail required). Here: https://mythresults.com/blow-your-own-sail https://mythresults.com/blow-your-own-sail
- Skunkleton 7y agoNo. Think of the photons as producing little pushes. When they are emitted by the LED, they produce a little push in one direction, and then the sail pushes a little bit back in the other direction. If it were possible to create a significant volume of thrust from photons emitted by LEDs, then you would be better off just pointing the LEDs away from where you wanted to go (like a rocket).