[HN Gopher] How the Hall Effect still reverberates
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       How the Hall Effect still reverberates
        
       Author : headalgorithm
       Score  : 34 points
       Date   : 2022-01-28 20:20 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (spectrum.ieee.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (spectrum.ieee.org)
        
       | fuzzfactor wrote:
       | I thought they were going to say something about the Hall Effect
       | sensors inside the analog reverb "tanks" of the vintage guitar
       | amplifiers.
        
       | ncmncm wrote:
       | I was impressed that Tsiolkovsky knew about Hall-effect ion
       | propulsion.
        
       | hermitdev wrote:
       | Doesn't the problem still remain, though, that you're still
       | expelling _something_ from your spacecraft. Sure, it may be more
       | efficient that a chemical rocket, but are we not still in the
       | conundrum of you have to carry the stuff you 're going to expel
       | from your craft to get motive? The article mentions moving a 2600
       | kg craft with the force of about the weight of 5 quarters, but
       | how much mass of the fuel is expelled to attain that force? How
       | long can that 5-quarter burn last before running out of fuel?
       | 
       | Space is pretty empty, but not entirely so, right? Would it be
       | possible to somehow gather the stray atoms & dust that's in a
       | craft's path to "top off the tank"? I know I'm straying into
       | science-fiction area here, but yeah, basically a fuel scoop you
       | might see in say, Elite: Dangerous or Star Gate: Universe (but
       | probably without the part of basically flying into the atmosphere
       | of a star).
        
         | zardo wrote:
         | >but how much mass of the fuel is expelled to attain that
         | force?
         | 
         | (Force of five quarters at 1g)/(exhaust velocity) = (mass flow
         | rate of propellent)
        
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       (page generated 2022-01-31 23:02 UTC)