The unlimited-income theory (was Why gravity helps people work faster)

On 4/20/13 5:22 AM, hitssquad wrote:

> , Joe Strout wrote:
> > A motor runs just as fast in 1/3G, 1/6G, or 0G as it does in 1G or 2G.
>
> Yes. Why aren't industrial motors on Earth more powerful than they are?
> It would seem that revenues could be increased to unlimited levels by
> the simple expedient of employing more-powerful motors.

Alas, there are other laws of physics besides gravity. Motor power is
limited by a variety of things including the amount of electrical power
available, the amount of power you can run through the coils without
melting them, the amount of space and mass you can afford for the coils,
the strength of the permanent magnets, friction and noise from the
brushes (when using a brushed motor -- brushless ones are more powerful,
but more expensive), and so on.

Robotics is one of my hobbies, and I can tell you that more powerful
motors generally ARE available, but they get exponentially more
expensive -- twice the torque (at roughly the same mass) may cost 10X as
much. And I can also tell you that gravity has nothing to do with it.

(Of course I don't expect to convince you; you aren't amenable to
reason. But perhaps this will be useful for other readers.)

> > if reduced force between train car wheels and the track is troublesome
>
> It is "troublesome" on every rail line on Earth.

But not troublesome enough, except in the case of roller coasters, where
in fact we have solved it.