Larry,Larry Cottrill wrote:Ah ... of course, you're right about the distinction between the wave energy and the molecular motion. I just never think of it in the terms of electromagnetics.
The only thing that bothers me now, though, is the question of whether such a phenomenon has a direct link to the pressure waves.
L Cottrill
I think I need to clarify. This is not RF even though we normally think of high frequency oscillation as RF. RF radiation requires that an electron be passed from atom to atom thru a conductor. A conductor is an atom that has a loose hold on its outer electron and has an open slot in its electron orbits to hold a spare electron even tho it does not have the positron to balance its hold on it. This propogation of electrons is at the speed of light bouncing electrons from one atom to the next.
What we have here are basicly non-conducting gasses that have a firm hold on all their electrons. They are not losing electrons but the electron orbits are swinging wildly out of their normal orbits and oscillating at a high frequency. Electrons are negativly charged, so bring an electron of one atom out of its normal orbit in close proximity of the electron of a nearby atom will alter its orbit and pass on the vibration. Since the electrons are not able to break free, you can only effect nearby electrons and the speed with which they can interact is the limited to the speed of sound.
BTW, the speed of sound is just the speed at which atoms can pass on energy to nearby atoms. So if you energize atoms so they bounce off each other faster in a hotter invironment, the speed of sound changes.
The mechanical vibration of the molecule IS heat. The vibration can tear apart the bonds of a molecule, O2 becomes 2 Os, CH4 becomes C,H,H,H .... ect. Now the atoms merge back together to form different molecules such as CO, H2O, CO2, C2. This break down and merger gives off more energy due to the electron orbits having to re-align themselves with the newly aquired atoms electrons causing more vibrations (HEAT). The reactant molecules hold together MUCH MORE strongly, its harder to break them back apart.
Back to your question about the pressure wave. There is a direct releationship with the pressure wave. The mechanical vibrations cannot pass from molecule to molecule faster then the speed of sound. Once a wave reaches the walls it reflects off. The waves are just the atoms that are clustored together that are vibrating with the most energy before they can pass off the excess energy. They can only pass it to near by atoms or molecules.
As they increase in heat energy, they move faster. They start slamming into each other and imparting momentum. I believe the pressure waves you refering to are the momentum emparted with cooler molecules at the boundary of the expansion areas. Molecules are being piled up as the ones behind them start slamming into them. Think of breaking a rack on a pool table.
So what Im saying is that the Energy waves that are vibrating the most are bouncing the hardest off each other, they are the source of the pressure wave.
Now in my CC design, i am driving the energy waves directly down the same course that the pressure waves are propogating adding heat to drive the expansion faster.
Acceleration and magnitude of the pressure wave = thrust. Leaving the energy waves inside the CC to bounce arround aimlessly is a waste of energy that only goes into heating the walls of the CC.
You guys havent believed me when I stated that the heating of the walls was due to wave interaction. Im not talking about pressure wave interaction but energy wave interaction. Well it is true that random molecules are striking the walls passing off little bits of heat, but orders of magnitudes more heat is transfered when a wave hits the walls.
I hope this helps you to understand better.