6 ms·
I don’t see why we can store energy with this concept. Eg getting even a small object to .01% charge would be a ton of energy. We could store it with something
by mrfusion 5y ago
I don’t see why we can store energy with this concept. Eg getting even a small object to .01% charge would be a ton of energy.
We could store it with something with an equal and opposite charge (across a large insulator) to cancel out the net pull on things. And encase it in even two meters of glass or plastic if needed.
Anyone know if this has ever been researched?
- nayuki 5y agoThat's called a capacitor. The theory is well-known and many different products exist. But they don't store as much energy as you would hope.
- mrfusion 5y agoThat’s not what I mean though. Capacitors are limited by the breakdown voltage. But what if we make the plates separate by more distance and just increase the charge.
- klyrs 5y agoThen you'll have a capacitor with a larger plate separation. Play with the equations! http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/pplate.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/pplate.h...
- mrfusion 5y agoOk now we’re getting somewhere. So the equation shows that as d goes up, C goes down. But as d goes up the breakdown voltage also increases so my question is why can’t we force more voltage on there.
- goldenkey 5y agoYou can but eventually the voltage gets so high that the resistance of the air isn't enough to prevent a short via a discharge. And in a vacuum, the resistance is even less. One would have to keep the capacitor in a super resistant gas or fluid to prevent a short.
- mrfusion 5y agoYeah that’s what I’m trying to figure out. Maybe energy storage wise it’s worth encasing it in a large amount of high insulator. I’m curious to run those numbers but I’m not quite sure how to approach it.
- snet0 5y agoThat's basically increasing the breakdown voltage, no? Even if the "gap" between plates is 4 meters of insulation.