User talk:Wjbeaty

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Is this who I think it is? If so, we were talking about you over in Talk:Capacitor#Charge_on_plates_or_insulator.3F. Maybe you could clarify that article, too? - Omegatron 03:52, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)

[1] 24.75.67.179 15:25, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC) Another mystery IP

[edit] Electric power transmission

I'd like some amplification as to why "electric energy transmission" is felt to be more accurate than "electric power transmission". Are those wires overhead moving energy, or moving power? I found the use of "energy flow (power)" to be particularly interesting, since I thought "power" was an adequate way of expressing energy flow. True, my local newspaper has a hard time distinguishing between "MWh" and "MW". Also true, my household bill totals my consumption in "kWH" and doesn't talk about "kW" - but industrial "power" bills do. And when I flip the switch, I expect the 100 W to be available, no matter how long I have the light on. --Wtshymanski 17:12, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I know this wasn't directed to me, but the page is on my watchlist. I think it's as simple as power being the rate of flow or dissipation of energy, so power isn't flowing, energy is flowing, and power is the rate of that flow. So energy is transferred, and power is dissipated. Beaty can certainly explain this better. - Omegatron 21:10, Jan 1, 2005 (UTC)

This is good stuff! To some, this may seem like nitpicking but the truth is that cleaning up the slopply use of terms always leads to better understanding of the material. I wonder how many misunderstandings occur every day because two people use and understand the same terms differently?

Within the context of electric circuits, energy is either delivered to or supplied by a circuit element. The power associated with that element is the rate at which this energy transfer occurs. If the circuit element is resistive, the energy delivered to the element is lost (dissipated) to the environment. If the circuit element is reactive, the energy delivered to the element is stored in some fashion such that the energy can be returned to the circuit. Alfred Centauri 14:26, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Exactly. To understand electrical physics, we really have to understand the differences between energy and power and the differences bewteen charge and current. Both energy and charge are substance-like entities (they are "conserved.") Energy can flow, but power cannot, since power *IS* the flow of energy. Energy is joules, power is joules-per-second.

Analogy: what should we call the stuff that flows in rivers, "water" or "current?" When we fill a bucket from a faucet, do we get a bucket of "current?" Of course not. But in the electrical world, the equivalent of water and water-flow are frequently confused with each other. In most everyday conversation, accuracy isn't all that important, but in the classroom and in reference material it is vitally important that we avoid screwy concepts such as "flow of current" and "flow of power." Unfortunately, even the experts often use these terms incorrectly, and the terms have wormed their way into all sorts of places. Does a "power company" sell power, or does it sell energy? For anyone who has gut-level knowledge of the difference between energy and power, the answer is trivial: power is not a stuff, power can neither flow nor be used nor be sold, and the phrase "Power company" is even cringe-worthy. (And some "power companies" are changing their names, replacing the term "power" with "energy."

Charges flow in wires, and we call their flow by the name "electric current." EM energy flows across circuits, and we call its flow "power." To test the accuracy of statements about these sorts of topics, just replace the more complicated term by its definition: e.g. substitute the term "power" by the term "energy flow," or by the term "rate of energy use," and see if it still reads correctly.--Wjbeaty 07:59, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps the difference is between a physicist's perspective and an electrical engineer's perspective? CYME sells software for "power flow" analysis. My old EM textbook (William Hayt "Engineering Electromagnetics 3rd Ed." ) uses the phrase "power flow" several times, for example in discussion of the Poynting vector. I think the "power flow" usage is common, and that "power transmission" is what the wires are doing. And the distinction between selling "power" and selling "energy" is too fine for me to discern at this late hour; you can't have one without the other. When I worked at the steel mill, a big bill came in each month, with about half for something that was priced in dollars per megawatt (power) and about half the cost for something priced in dollars per megawatthour (energy) - it certainly looked like the utility was in the business of selling both power and energy. --Wtshymanski 08:34, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, I'm a BSEE. :) What makes me different than most BSEEs is that I spent several years trying to explain electricity to the general public. And there certainly is a difference between the EE and the Physicist perspective: scientists tend to be much more strict with terminology. It's built into their culture, while we engineers are far more likely to play fast and loose with words. Let me repeat myself again: power does not flow. The entity which flows is called "electrical energy." We could say it this way: Joules can flow, but Watts cannot, since "Watt" is the same as "Joule per Second." This isn't complicated! The plumbing analogy clears it up: gallons of water can flow, but gal/sec cannot flow, since gal/sec is an abstract entity. Electromagnetic energy is not abstract; it's the exact same stuff as light, just of lower frequency. And yes, you're right, the "power flow" misuse is very common. I said as much above: it has wormed its way into many reference books. But that doesn't change the definitions of the terms, since in science, the meaning of words is not determined by the number of people using (or misusing them.) If vast numbers of people say "power" when they're talking about "energy," it has no effect on the definitions of those words, and those vast numbers of people are using the terms incorrectly, and it suggests that they have a feeble grasp on the difference between the two concepts.

If we were two engineers having a conversation, then the phrase "power flow" would be no problem. We both know what we really mean. We could be strictly correct and say "power appears" or "power arises," but it would be sort of silly. But if we wish to explain these topics to NON engineers, then it becomes very important to avoid misusing the terms. And if we're writing a reference book, we'd better take pains to correct any common misuse. Engineering conversations and even engineering textbooks can get away with screwy phrases. A source like Wikipedia cannot. If we talk about "power flow," then we are unwittingly sowing confusion regarding the two concepts. Saying "power flow" unwittingly teaches the reader that there's this stuff called "power" which can flow through wires. This is wrong. The "stuff" that flows in electric circuits is called electromagnetic energy or electrical energy (or often, "electricity.") --Wjbeaty 04:54, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)

I must respectfullly disagree. The majority usage seems to be that power flows. Definitions are how people use the words. Insisting that power can't flow doesn't seem to serve the cause of clarity. I have argued on the side of pedantry before, so this is an inconsistency on my part, but I don't think saying that power flows, is transmitted, etc. puts us much further along the line to pointing and grunting instead of articulate speech.

And what about reactive "power" - this can't exist, because power is the flow of energy, and energy is the capacity for doing work, and we all know that reactive power can't do any useful work. Correct? --Wtshymanski 22:23, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

"The majority usage seems to be that power flows." The majority is wrong, and if you disagree, then you are wrong as well. Why wrong? It's very simple: Energy is a conserved quantity, therefore energy is substance-like, and energy can flow along. But "energy flow"(power) is a rate, it's not a conserved quantity. Rates are not like substances, rates cannot flow. Yet this issue goes even deeper: words like "number" and "rate" and "energy" signify fixed concepts, therefore whenever a large number of people try to re-define those words, those people are wrong. This is the difference between legal debate and science debate. Suppose I say that 1+1=3. Suppose I get two billion people to say the same thing. Does 1+1 now equal 3?!!! The definition of scientific terms like "energy" and "power" are similar to 1+1=3: they are not open to voting. If the majority has traditionally swapped the words "energy" and "power," then the majority is wrong, and their error has become ingrained and traditional. Yet it remains an error.

In most cases, such misuse causes no problems. For example, we say "power supply" and "power lines" and "power consumption," when in all three cases the correct term would be "energy." Since these misuses cause no problems, attempts to correct them is pedantic nitpicking. But in some situations the misuse of words does cause problems. In my teaching career, time and time again I've seen that students don't know the difference between power and energy. The words "power flow" are one major cause of student misconceptions.

If our goal is to teach newbies the difference between energy and power, then we can greatly help them by ruthlessly excizing our own traditional misuse of such words.

Here's a very powerful rule of thumb: stop using the term "power" entirely. Erase it everywhere it appears. Instead expand the word "power" by replacing it with its own definition: "energy flow" or "rate of energy use." Ok, ready?... If someone writes "flow of power," and if we expand it to "flow of energy flow," then the original mistake is made clear. The stuff that flows along electric cables is not called "energy flow," it's called "energy." --Wjbeaty 12:33, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC)

"And what about reactive "power" - this can't exist." Ah, this is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how correct semantics can clear up problems. If we remove the word "power," then we realize that "reactive power" is not like a substance. What then does "reactive energy-flow" mean? GOOD QUESTION. Look at an AC generator (an ideal voltage source) connected to an idea capacitor. The energy flow is 100% reactive. During one quarter-cycle, the energy flows from the generator into the capacitor, charging it. During the next quarter-cycle, all of the energy that was stored in the capacitor returns to the generator again. OUR ANSWER: reactive energy-flow is "energy sloshing back and forth." The reactive energy-flow is not 'abstract.' It is genuine, it really exists. But it doesn't flow continuously forward from the source to the load. On average there is no forward flow of energy into that ideal capacitor. Contrast this with a resistor connected in place of the capacitor. In that case the energy flows continuously forward as two pulses per cycle, and no energy flows from the resistor back to the generator. In AC energy distribution systems, the flow of electrical energy can have a vibrating component riding upon an average forward flow component. The vibrating component is the "Reactive" flow, while the average forward component is the "Real" flow. Yet both components really exist. --Wjbeaty 12:58, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC)

I noted the edits to the electric power transmission page which led me here. Transmission systems are designed and operated on the basis of "power" or "load" "flows". The maximum rate of energy transfer determines the capacity of the network or network component. For a monthly energy transfer of 720 kWh, the power requirement could vary from 1kW used continuously or 720kW used for only one hour in the month. I think that is why engineers tend to think of transmission systems as being power transfer systems. In a utility system control room the MW or MVAr "flows" are monitored continuously to manage system constraints and system performance. Notwithstanding the pedantry exhibited, and despite the physics, I believe that "power" will continue "flow" in transmission systems as that is how the industry has described and continues to descibe the transmission of electrical energy. The terms power and energy have become synonymous. Good luck with the campaign to stem the tide.

On the question of how the transmission company charges, there is a simple reason for it to bill for both kW and kWh - it is load factor. As noted previously, the system required to convey 720kWh in a month is highly dependent on the rate of energy consumption. The energy conveyed is related to the duration of the demand. Hence, utilities want to signal the benefits of high load factors; they therefore recover their costs by applying a two part tariff. It is worth noting that in a deregulated electricity market a transmission utility does not sell energy, nor does it sell power. It recovers its costs for the use of its system by generators, distributors and retailers through its tariff. The steel mill sees a bundled charge for the services of all the contributors. Tiles 02:11, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

By analogy: the public water system is designed and operated on the basis of flow rate. Does this mean that the substance flowing within the pipes is no longer called "water?" Of course not. Does this mean that households aren't buying gallons of water? (I'm just trying to show that pipes always deliver water, even if the city water system is designed in terms of gallons/sec rate capability, and even if pipe-owners focus on flow rate in their fee calculations.) As far as Power goes, where electric systems are concerned, it's MORE important that we clean up our usage of words, since the energy and its motion are both invisible. At least with hydraulic systems we can see the water, and we can conceptually grasp what one gallon, is or easily understand the "one gallon per second" rate.

Power transfer systems? :) But "flowrate" is not something that can be transferred, so "power transfer system" isn't such an informative and meaningful phrase. "Energy transfer system" is OK, and "Power system" isn't that bad. In all these examples, to reveal the problem, just replace the word "power" with "flow rate." Is the utility grid a system for transferring energy, or is it a system for transferring "flow rate?" And yes, the utilities are certainly selling a service. Charging for power is similar to charging for maintainence: nothing substance-like is being sold. (In a water system, the supplier could add surcharges for high flow, but that doesn't mean that the pipes have become "flowrate transfer pipes" rather than "water transfer pipes."

Ah, that's exactly it; the terms "power" and "energy" have become synonymous. So, how can we explain these concepts to the public? First we have to act like nitpickers and fix any mistaken usage. But such nitpickingly-consistent usage of terminology is only appropriate to reference authors. Analogy: people who correct their friends' grammar have some sort of mental problem... but the authors of grammar texts had better be the worlds' formost nitpickers. :) But there's no need to "stem the tide" of widespread misuse of the word "power." All we have to do is fix the mistakes in our little online textbook here. Or put it another way: teachers have to maintain very high standards of accuracy, since their misuse of words will give their students misconceptions. But the world of non-teachers has little need for such ridiculous levels of rigid consistency. --Wjbeaty 04:54, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Titling

Note you do not need to type ""s when you are creating a new article. [[Experimenter's regress]] will do, that will show up as Experimenter's regress. Thanks Dysprosia 05:18, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You can register, login and submit a bug at http://bugzilla.wikipedia.org . By the way, talk goes at the bottom of the page :) Dysprosia 05:40, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Talk:Resonance#Increase in energy?

I replied a while ago. I don't understand your comment. - Omegatron 03:11, May 12, 2005 (UTC)

Oops, WP started taking up too much time, so I went temporarily Cold Turkey --Wjbeaty 01:37, May 21, 2005 (UTC)

I should do that... - Omegatron 01:56, August 8, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Tesla's "radiant energy" patents

Can you check my... "review" of one of Tesla's patents over at Talk:Photoelectric_effect#Tesla / radiant energy? I think it's up your alley. If I did anything wrong, point it out. - Omegatron 15:59, May 21, 2005 (UTC)

Also check out User:Omegatron/Hydraulic analogy, which will be merged into Hydraulic analogy when it's complete enough. I wish I knew how to write applets... - Omegatron 00:42, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] electrometer

Does an Talk:Electrometer measure charge, electric field, or voltage? - Omegatron 16:12, August 7, 2005 (UTC)

Or picoamps too? I think an electrometer is similar to an analog meter movement: depending how it's used, an analog meter can measure current or voltage, yet it's really a current-sensitive display device. An electrometer is a voltage-sensitive display device, but can be used to build a voltmeter, a picoammeter, an e-field meter, or a micro-coulometer. --Wjbeaty 20:14, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

To simplify the description I'd like to add that for a typical electrical engineer (like me) an ideal electrometer is a device that messures voltage while allowing no current through itself (it has infinite impedance). The closer to this ideal the better device. Of course it may be used in many applications as Wjbeaty says depending on the closeness to the ideal of a particular model. Jim 21:23, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] welcome

Welcome to Wikipedia. I am happy to see you here. I found your http://amasci.com/ pages inspirational for many years. I hope your ideas catch on -- especially the idea of making explanations understandable to newcomers, rather than just to people already in-the-know. "thoughts on why obfuscated language develops. I hope you are right that more and more people will solve more and more of the big, complicated problems. The sort of problems that previously, people didn't do anything about, because the big words tricked them into thinking they weren't smart enough to fix it." ( http://CommunityWiki.org/PlainTalk ) --DavidCary 06:03, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

I concur. :-) — Omegatron 13:34, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

You have my support too. Its so refreshing to see someone prepared to tackle this insidious watering down of terminology and to explain things in ways that make sense. Keep up the good work! --Light current 17:34, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

Awwww, shucks. --Wjbeaty 21:40, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Electric flux

According to Gauss' Law, electric flux is equal to charge which is measured in Coulombs. Therefore should not electric flux have the units of Coulombs? If not, what is the unit of electric flux? --Light current 04:40, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

"According to Gauss' Law, electric flux is equal to charge which is measured in Coulombs." Nope. Electric flux is e-field over a surface, and e-field does not "equal" charge. The only time that electric flux is directly connected to electric charge is when we measure the *net* flux extending through the *entire area* of a *closed* surface (such as a sphere) which contains charge. If the closed surface contains zero charge, then the flux summed over the whole surface is zero, even though the flux at any small patch need not be zero. If we measure the flux of an arbitrary piece of that surface, or the flux of any area bounded by a closed curve, in that case flux isn't proportional to charge. --Wjbeaty 01:30, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

The closed surface integral of the e-field is the total charge enclosed over the permittivity of the medium. It is the closed surface integral of the electric flux density (D) that is equal to the charge enclosed (in coulombs). A non-conservative e-field or d-field integrated over a closed surface is identically zero (the divergence of the curl is identically zero...). However, a closed contour integral of the e-field is non-zero only if the e-field is non-conservative (the curl of the gradient is identically zero...). Stationary charge creates a conservative field. Accelerated charge (a changing electric current) generates a non-conservative component of the e-field ([E = -(gradV + dA/dt]). Welcome back Bill! Alfred Centauri 03:15, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

OK Bill, thanks for the clarification on that one!--Light current 01:38, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] magnetic field sensing

"The Gift of Magnetic Vision" http://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20040226.html Should I drop this link into magnetoception ? --DavidCary 08:10, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

Yeah! Very cool. Also this was a scary coincidence, since I just logged in to look at Talk:Nose, but first I checked this message. On Talk:Nose they're arguing about ...human magnetoception! --Wjbeaty 21:40, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion

Sorry, don't remember doing that - it was blank and TFD'd at the time, should be a redirect to Template:SI electromagnetism units, restored and fixed. ed g2s • talk 23:42, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

OK, I have undelete those edits as well. Looks like an mistake by User:Brockert. ed g2s • talk 23:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion of one of your pages

See Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science#Electromagnetism_and_force.3F, where one of your pages is being discussed. http://www.amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html I thought you'd like to join in perhaps. --GangofOne 00:12, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vaneless ion wind generator

Do you know of any other specific implementations of this idea besides Kelvin's thunderstorm and Alvin Marks' power plant patent? — Omegatron 23:09, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Didn't "Sharper Image" or "BN Genius" or one of those catalogs sell tens of thousands of these things as ion-fans/air cleaners?--Wjbeaty 21:49, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

No, that's the opposite. You're thinking of ion wind generators or air ionizers, which generate wind directly from electricity. This is a device that generates electricity directly from wind. I listed Kelvin's thunderstorm as similar, since they both generate electricity from the motion of water droplets. — Omegatron 20:35, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Oops! I didn't click on the link. No, I haven't heard of anything besides the Marks "power fence" patent. --Wjbeaty 19:51, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hill's spherical vortex

Isn't the term Hill's(spherical) vortex used only for the spherical case, not the general vortex ring? (cf Batchelor p526, IIRC) Linuxlad 19:36, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pathological skepticism

Hi, you may want to comment on this:

Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Pathological_skepticism

Much enjoyed reading your commentary on that article's talk page and some stuff you've posted elsewhere on the subject, with which I pretty much agree. best regards, Jim Butler^(talk) 04:55, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ZOMG!!!1!!!

I wanted to just say wowza for that totally awesome answer to the physics question. I was really worried that it was going to be all frivolity and n00bashing, thanks soooo much for taking the time to say something so thoughtful. Your comments about the eastern philosophy really struck a chord with me, I had a Buddhist meditation teacher who talked about the 'child mind' and how useful it was for learning and re-learning. I think a popular scientist (maybe Carl Sagan) used to talk about it too. Anywayz, you totally made my week with that post. Cheers!Anchoress 05:34, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Glad you liked it! Well, if I actuall followed my own advice, I'd hope to avoid any positive ego-stoking comments, and instead much happier if you could deliver some brutally accurate detailed criticism!

;)

Yeah well, reading on it looks like that's already been covered. ;-) I have a policy of giving positive feedback for the best responses I read, and yours was one! Anchoress 21:54, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Laser explanation

I'd like to caution you against using the Wikipedia reference desk as a soapbox for your ideas on how to improve science teaching, as you did here. -- SCZenz 06:45, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the criticism. But could you clarify? I don't understand what I did wrong, so I don't understand what I should do differently in the future. What should I change in my reply in order that I *not* be "on a soapbox?"

I do think I came down a bit hard on the guy who recommended that very poor laser explanation at UC, so I deleted that section. But it fell more under the heading of excess criticism of others' mistakes, so I don't yet think I understand what you're objecting to. --Wjbeaty 21:49, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

No response? --Wjbeaty 21:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] On learning physics...

I'm not sure you told our Reference Desk physics student what they wanted to hear, but as someone who managed to get an "800" (top marks) on the physics achievement test in November of the year that I was taking high-school physics, I'm certain you told them the truth. Like you, I've often been one of those peope who spot the errors and unstated assumptions in the textbooks, and find there are better ways to learn than to memorize (or, often, even read) the textbooks. But those shortcuts you listed, true as they may be, sure sound like the hard work that our questioner is trying to avoid ;-).

Atlant 12:38, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, it's always hard to accurately "read minds" of anon. users who ask questions. However, the guy did not want shortcuts to getting high grades or quick learning. Instead, he wanted the secrets leading to expert knowledge (becoming like his teachers.) That's a very different thing. The "shortcuts" I discussed let us avoid barriers which prevent most people from gaining expert status. But unless one has an immensely high IQ, these "shortcuts" can end up slowing one down, and even earning low grades on tests. But then, the guy did say that he's ambitious! --Wjbeaty 21:38, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Transistors with 1920 technology

I thought you may be interested, I posted the same on the J.E.Lilienfeld talk page.öö

Just in case somebody is interested in how Julius Lilienfelds results can be replicated using 1920ies technologies. I found a paperJVST A Volume 20, Issue 4, pp. 1365-1368 describing transistors made with anodized aluminum gate insulator and a chemical bath deposited semiconductor (CdS/CdSe). Both are techniques that do not require complicated equipment (beaker, current source, heater) and should have been accessible in the 1920ies.

Bizarrely enough the same authors managed to file patent on their technique (US6225149), despite of all the prior art. (Using chemical bath deposition for transistors is not exactly a novel idea..) --Qdr 20:37, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Move Levitron article?

(Moved from entry made to User_talk:Keenan_Pepper/Archive_3

(Old discussion from May 2006.) Good idea. Moving the article to Magnetic Levitating Top will probably stop some of the odd reverts (and the message from Wikipedia's lawyer BradPatrick threatening to delete anything about the court case.) Hmmmm, "TheGreatScott" is anonymous (no personal info on user page) and has contributions only on the Levitron page but nowhere else, so I wonder if he's from Hones' Levitron company. Me, I have a little personal interest, having followed the Sherlock's "hidden history" page as they added more and more info. I still maintain a piece of their old page on my site. But I've never heard the story from the other opponents (from Hones/Fascinations.) --Wjbeaty 04:57, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Reply: Nope - no 'personal' info on my page (and never will be as long as the ex-wife and her lawyers are alive). I have other contributions under Evangelical Christianity, but they are anon as well for obvious reasons (tolerance seems to be one-way these days and 'Christian Scientist' is not an oxymoron!). I haven't been part of the 'corporate world' other than my own company for a long time and ended up visiting the Levitron entry looking for help in getting mine to work (hints/tips appreciated). I've read the article and to be honest, it sounds like a conspiracy theory (then the Art Bell references didn't help); then I read that (in the court case) the article was posted just after the authors' company was sent to a collections lawyer for refusing to pay a $ 10K debt. A very similar thing happened to me by a former client when I sent him to collections. This history article is well-written, but I have doubts as the motivation. As far as a reply from the Levitron Company goes, I would take a pr release from a corporation with a grain of salt - as I imagine most would these days. I also know from experience that your words can be twisted around and used against you. They may be thinking the same thing. Bill Bennett never suggested aborting every black baby in America - but that's exactly how some media outlets portrayed his comments - and these were the 'respected networks'.

Just a thought. If anyone wants to email me, it's The.Great.Scott at Hotmail dot com. If you have ideas on how to get the top to actually work, please let me know. I have the levitron floating globe, and it's electromagnetic so the setup is easy. TgS --TheGreatScott 02:00, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] AfD Nomination: Lasagna cell

An editor has nominated the article Lasagna cell for deletion, under the Articles for deletion process. We appreciate your contributions, but the nominator doesn't believe it satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and has explained why in the nomination (also see What Wikipedia is not and Deletion policy). Your opinions on why the topic of the article meets inclusion criteria and what should be done with the article are welcome: participate in the discussion by editing Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lasagna cell. Add four tildes like this ˜˜˜˜ to sign your comments. You can also edit the article Lasagna cell during the discussion, but do not remove the "Articles for Deletion" template (the box at the top of the article), this will not end the deletion debate. Jayden54Bot 20:58, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Street Light Interference

Thanks for your comments. See my reply on my talk page and my complete overhaul on the article Street Light Interference. --Doug ^talk 00:50, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Levitron

Hello William, first let me express to you what a big fan of your excellent site I am! I've perused your site now and again since it's eskimo.com days way back when. Your site inspired me to purchase some thick heavy aluminum and copper tubing and experiment with the Lenz's law. Anyways I'm writing to you about this contentious article. Your site is being used as a source for certain versions of the article. How do you view your site in terms of Wikipedia:Reliable sources? As great as your site is it is a kind of personal blog, no? By the way your Youtube videos are excellent. I just watched this one and was duly impressed. I'm not sure if you've seen it before but you can observe a similar (although no where near as spectacular) effect using two cylindrical neos polarized through the length laying side by side by placing a pencil lead in the cleft. Anyways, looking forward to your response. Cheers! (→Netscott) 00:50, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Having rewatched that video you mentioned about the magnet being repelled from the ends of the cylinders (so long as there isn't steel bearings there) this actually happens on the above cynlindrical magnet / pencil lead setup as well. (→Netscott) 01:50, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Another thing, I updated the physics portion of the article. If you could review my update and see if it needs work, that'd be great. ;-) (→Netscott) 01:02, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Mr. Beaty (I suppose my earlier usage of "William" was a bit informal but you seem like the kind of guy to accept that ;-), I haven't mistaken amasci.com for a "personal blog" but like a personal blog you are the only one exercising editorial control over it, no? This is actually what I was originally intending to say and did a poor job of making the "personal blog" analogy. I agree with you that the reliability of given content hinges upon the credibility of the content's authors and sources. The problem on Wkipedia is (and has been) who establishes a given source's credibility? This article covers a significant Wikipedia event and its difficulties in this area (please do not take that to mean I'm comparing you to the individual in that story). I for example don't see a conflict of interest on your part in the usage of your site as a source for the article. But obviously my view isn't what's going to carry a decision about such a thing. I 100% agree with your that "the other side" should be expressed for balance and I've made a request of one of the editors suppressing the story about that hoping for a response. At this point what I am thinking is that we should just create an article about Spin stabilized magnetic levitation which in all honesty merits its own article as a physical phenomenon and then just include the details of Roy Harrigan's discovery and his and Joseph Chiefo's inventions there with a Wikilink leading from the Levitron article. What do you think about that idea? On another note, being that you make efforts to ensure that Physics principles don't become watered down over time (particularly in regards to electricity) is it wrong in your view to talk about "gyroscopic forces"? (→Netscott) 23:16, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Mr. Beaty, I've updated the Levitron article and started the spin stabilized magnetic levitation article. I've been in communication with Marin Simon and hopefully we'll be able to get a bit of assistance with him as this article is developed. Looking forward to seeing you on the article. :-) (→Netscott) 07:07, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your response. I don't have an argument against what you are saying. The only thing that I can imagine that could be done is to demonstrate that your website has been used by reliable sources as a source itself (which seems awfully redundant). Regardless though it is going to be a challenge keeping the "hidden history" of the Levitron top device in the article without some balance.

I've added a video to the Levitron article. Perhaps you can view it and give me a critique? (→Netscott) 07:21, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] John G. Cramer

Mr. Beaty, do you know this man? His work on "retrocausality" is extremely interesting... (→Netscott) 10:42, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Optical levitation

Thought you might be interested in contributing to this article I've just started. Cheers. :-) (→Netscott) 23:48, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Are you aware of...

this article: How_a_transistor_works? It looks like a cut and paste of your material but I don't see you as an editor in the history. Alfred Centauri 16:22, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

(reply to reply). You're welcome. I hear you and understand but I haven't thrown in the towel just yet. I'm down to watching a few dozen articles for experiments and outright nonsense. BTW, have you visited scholarpedia? Alfred Centauri 22:42, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Schumann resonance

You wrote that the ninth overtone to 7.8 Hz is ~60 Hz. Did you mean the ninth observed resonance is around 60 Hz? Strictly speaking, an overtone falls near an integer multiple of the fundamental freq; the first overtone of 7.83 would be very near 15.66 and the ninth overtone would be very near 78.3 Hz. The ELF article uses the word resonance, not overtone. Binksternet 15:15, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How a Transistor Works

Hi, I see you've had some comments on this article. I've rewritten it but I gave up electronics many years ago. Perhaps you could give it the once-over in case I've left any glaring howlers, & particularly the Talk page, where I've put some rationale & scope for what's been done. Thanks.--Rodhullandemu (talk - contribs) 23:02, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] RfD nomination of "Electronic charge"

I have nominated "Electronic charge" (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) for discussion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at the discussion page. Thank you. Floaterfluss ^{(talk) (contribs)} 04:34, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] An invitation to Circuit idea wikibook

How do we transform imperfect passive circuits into almost ideal active ones?

Wjbeaty, I was deeply impressed by your ideas and the manner of presenting them when I had the good fortune to make myself familiar with your "electricity" articles. As I can see, you have your own philosophy about electric phenomena and you are bold enough to show it. I have noted there are very few people in electronics who are interested in revealing circuit ideas and who have their own philosophy about circuits; regretfully, we might find such people mainly in the fundamental subjects as physics and math. I have the feeling there is no place in this world for revealing basic circuit ideas. Nobody shows what we, human beings, actually need to understand circuits - what basic circuit ideas are, where new circuit ideas come from and how they have been evolving through years.

About me. If I have to describe myself by using only a few words, I would say that I do in the area of circuitry what you do in the area of physics. As I can see, both we work on the same problem - how to reveal and explain electric phenomena in the best possible way and both we use the same heuristic teaching approach based on human intuition, imagination and emotions.

Circuit idea. Wjbeaty, now there is a unique opportunity for you, me and other creative persons to join hands in our common pursuit; this is the great wikibooks idea. A year ago I started Circuit idea wikibook with the purpose to reveal once and for all the true, pure and real fundamental ideas behind circuits. Figuratively speaking, I have designed it as a philosophy of circuitry.

Circuit idea gives a unique chance for each one of us to work independently on his/her site and, at the same time, to create an incredible, imaginative and exciting joint work on this common place. Note that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia where you may publish separate ideas, which are not connected to each other. Wikibooks is more adequate for people as you and me that have chains of ideas; in a wikibook, you can expose them in a set of pages that are hierarchically connected to each other.

Contents. Circuit idea is divided in three main parts: an organizational part (how to arrange the book), a methodological part (creating heuristic tools for understanding, presenting and inventing circuits) and the very circuit part (applying the created tools to concrete circuits and phenomena). As you can see, I have used a livelier than usual entitling of the circuit stories - the titles represent rather meaningful actions than conventional circuit names.

Of course, everyone can contribute this wikibook; only, I would like the contributors to be creative people that can say something new and original. I suppose you will join with the greatest of pleasure the more "physical" stories e.g. about time-dependent circuits: capacitive, inductive and mixed circuits (e.g. LC tank). Also, I am sure you will contribute with no less pleasure the introductory methodological pages. But maybe my last "open student wiki project" will be the most interesting part for you.

Investigating transistor circuits during Lab 3.

Students. I decided to join my students to Circuit idea a half month ago somehow "in sport"; but it turned out so successful and exciting that now I am entirely absorbed in this new web undertaking. I have told how it has begun in the discussion of the first completely finished page that my students and I have dedicated to the famous Ohm's experiment. After I saw the rapturous reactions of my students I realized the potentialities of this approach and began enlarging this educational experiment. For this purpose, I have created separate pages of all the ten student groups (64a, 65a, 66a, 67a, 68a, 64b, 65b, 66b, 67b and 68b). In these group pages, my students and I, all together, have been placing what we have done in the laboratory and the lecture hall - photos, drawings, texts, etc. During labs and lectures I record our conversations and discussions by a small solid-state recorder and make snaps by a digital camera; some students do the same. The photos show drafts on the whiteboard, screen shots, laboratory setups, the very students (and sometimes, their teacher:), etc. On returning at home I download the records and pictures to my computer and begin processing them. In order to help students, I outline briefly the structure of the future modules in the student and talk pages; then I place all the raw materials (pictures) in the pages. I add also links to useful resources and some provoking questions. Then I leave students to go on developing the stories; I only intervene in their works from time to time to edit and refine them. Finally, I expand student works by adding more explanations and use these materials to create the according modules. You can see how I have placed (on the right) links in the list of started circuit stories pointing to the corresponding student pages. Some of them are semi-blank, others are naive written but there are excellent student stories written in a lively manner.

Wjbeaty, you can imagine how powerful this approach is where students and their teacher, all together, work on the same common project! They add, edit and continuously refine it; they learn how to present what they have done to other, how to contribute a wiki project, how to communicate with people, etc. Furthermore, any web visitors (including other students and their teachers) through the world can join and enrich this open project! It is just wonderful! I have started a concrete page where to tell how I have joined my students to Circuit idea. Also, I have prepared a link to a more general story about joining students; we might discuss this idea in the talk page.

Here is a list of the most interesting circuit stories:

Walking along the resistive film <talk> This is the first and completely finished circuit story that my students and I have created during Lab 2. It reproduces the famous Ohm's experiment nowadays with the purpose of creating various popular resistive circuits. The idea is to visualize the voltage distribution along a linear resistive film that is supplied by two voltage sources connected to the two sides of the resistor. For this purpose, we have used all kinds of "resistors", some of them quite odd: resistive wires, pencil graphites, conductive foam and rubber and of course, opened potentiometers and the good old rheostats. By sliding on the resistive surface and varying consecutively the two supply voltages, we have "invented" various legendary resistive devices: movement sensors, voltage dividers, resistive summers, subtractors, Wheatstone bridge, op-amp inverting, non-inverting and differential amplifier, etc. The talk page shows some exercises in the laboratory.

Building a BJT current mirror <group 67b> Pay special attention to this student page as it pretends to reveal the secret of the famous but never explained odd circuit. In this story, my students have managed even to disprove a wide-spread misconception about the simple BJT current mirror - the possibility to set the input current by a forward-biased diode or a base-emitter junction (see for example Tony Kuphaldt's story about current mirrors).

How to reverse current direction is another finished story about the current mirror philosophy (not only BJT one). I created it two months ago as a reaction to the formal Wikipedia article about current mirror. There I have used a "negative feedback viewpoint" at current mirror; this is the unique feature of negative feedback systems to reverse (swap) circuit ports. Joining the transistor's collector and base, we apply actually a parallel negative feedback that reverses the "one-way" transistor. In this odd arrangement, the collector current serves as an input quantity while the base-emitter voltage serves as an output quantity. By the way, I had the incredible chance to exchange thoughts about this unique NFB property with Gordon Deboo, the inventor of the mystic Deboo integrator. I would be happy, if you join this discussion as well.

Building an emitter follower and Building an op-amp follower are written entirely by the very students in a lively and funny manner.

How to make perfect circuits by series NFB (Group 64b and Group 66a) and by parallel NFB are dedicated to the amazing feature of negative feedback circuits to overcome all kinds of disturbances (see also Strange things] and PNFB builder).

How do we create sinusoidal oscillations? is maybe the most incredible story that I have ever written. It reveals the philosophy of the legendary LC tank (I was inspired to write it by one of my former students - see the talk page). You can imagine how difficult it was for me to start this page, to begin writing a new story about something so simple, old, and legendary... Because it is so easy to explain complex things in this world but it is so difficult to explain the simplest things. Everybody knows how an LC tank operates in terms of electricity; thousands of writers have explained the concrete electrical LC circuit in thousands of sources down years. I realized that it is a great challenge to begin writing a story about such a great phenomenon and to pretend to say something new about the topic. But, in spite of all, I let my fancy roam and began writing this imaginative story about this great, not only an electrical but in the first place, a worldly phenomenon.

If you like to know more about me, visit my informal bio and all the materials located at my site circuit-fantasia.com.

Circuit-fantasist (talk) 16:58, 10 May 2008 (UTC)