Timeline for Can a circuit be powered from Earth with a return ground on Mars?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2015 at 19:59 | comment | added | BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft | The system would act more like a radio antennae than a capacitor... | |
| Aug 20, 2013 at 8:54 | comment | added | Wouter van Ooijen | It does for AC, which is what the OP is referring to. | |
| Aug 20, 2013 at 8:01 | comment | added | Federico Russo | If you have an open circuit with the wires at 1cm from each other they also form a capacitor, probably a larger one than between earth and mars. Yet that doesn't make it a closed circuit. | |
| Aug 20, 2013 at 3:45 | comment | added | travisbartley | Indeed it is a very very large capacitor, and the "plates" are already charged. When you connect a resistor to the two plates, current will flow through it according to just how large the voltage between the two planets is, and what R is. | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 17:17 | comment | added | user | "a (very very very small) capacitor" Seems to me two planets would make a very very very large capacitor, but who am I to judge? :) | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 16:31 | comment | added | Wouter van Ooijen | I know what capacity is, is "charge-capacity" something different? | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 15:18 | comment | added | Wouter van Ooijen | Well, part of the 'giant' capacitor that is formed by mars and earth might still be many wavelengths from the source. Good luck calculating what will happen exactly :) | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 15:16 | comment | added | pjc50 | Hmm, I'd missed that :( | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 14:46 | comment | added | Wouter van Ooijen | Even if Mars is only one mile from earth, as the OP assumes? | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 14:01 | comment | added | pjc50 | I disagree, given that this is an AC signal of wavelength shorter than the wire. It's not a closed circuit but an antenna, and you can pump AC current into it until it melts. | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 10:19 | comment | added | travisbartley | Similar to my comment on Connor Wolf's answer, the current need not flow back to earth. The current can flow from earth to mars with little issue that it does not return to earth. | |
| Aug 19, 2013 at 6:55 | history | answered | Wouter van Ooijen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |