Re: Vector Rules

On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Stuart Ford wrote:

Status: RO

> You seem to be forgetting that there is a major difference between
trying to
> rotate an object in space Vs rotating it in water fighting the
resistance of
> the liquid.  You should be able to maneuver the big ships quite
quickly, the
> only drawback is that the further you are away from the point of
rotation,
> the more inertia you will have to deal with.	Captains take note...
make no
> surprise high speed maneuvers, lest your forward gunners become salsa.

There's no forgetting whatsoever.  Suspend both wooden objects by a
chain
connected to their middles, balanced.  You run around the 8' log as hard
as you can push it, one rotation, then /stop/ it and rotate it back the
other way.  I'll to the same one with the 8" cylinder.	Who do you think
is going to be exhausted and sloppy when the exercise is done?

This holds even in /axial/ rotations.  Put both on a lathe.  Let's time
how many times I can get opposite rotations out of our respective wooden
objects.  Mine spins trivially with a flick of my finger and stops just
the same.  Yours will require both hands and some sweat and /stopping/
it
will be as hard as, if not harder than (because you're trying to do it
faster), starting it!

How much the peas in the pod rattle around is a legitimate concern, but
is
/just/ as important when considering linear axial thrust.

-- 
[  Alexander Williams {thantos@alf.dec.com/zander@photobooks.com}  ]
[ Alexandrvs Vrai,  Prefect 8,000,000th Experimental Strike Legion ]
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