For my estimate, I did look up a few things on Wolfram|Alpha, which is really a magical place of numbers and information (http://www.wolframalpha.com/). According to that, a 1 kg weight at a height of 10 meters has a potential energy of 100 Joules. I also guessed that maybe 5 LEDs would be in the Gravity Light.
After squishing the data together and some head scratching, I estimate that the weight needed to work the Gravity Light will be huge. The number I ended up with is 186 million kg, which is impossible and most definitely not a viable option.
So I am going to estimate, based on the fact that those bags in the Gravity Light video were not that large, that the weight required to work the Gravity Light for 30 minutes is 10 kg. Assuming that the weight required is not more than a person (~50 kg), this is a viable option.
I also found that the weight required would have to be huge! Did you then conclude that your calculations were wrong? I kind of think the technology wouldn't work, but I'm not sure if it's my estimation that's lacking or the engineers' plan.
ReplyDeleteI disregarded my final calculations because the number I got was a six-digit figure - I would hope that the engineers had considered that one person cannot lift 18 million kg! Claudia also found that the weight required would be large - although her estimate was a more reasonable 600kg.
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