Water in a frypan can be similar
by
Ratso+Baggins
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· Score: 3, Informative
Put a teaspoon of water into a well heated frypan and the water (while it is still a liquid) will generally form up in little blobs and behaves in a similar fashion. ie. moving in a circular motion.
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-- "we live in a post-ideological world..." - Billy Bragg.
Re:Water in a frypan can be similar
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 3, Informative
When it starts to do this, then it's ready for the pancake batter.
Re:Water in a frypan can be similar
by
delus10n0
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· Score: 4, Informative
I don't think that is the same thing.. what you're describing is the Leidenfrost effect.
-- Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Re:Water in a frypan can be similar
by
tsg
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· Score: 2, Informative
What makes the water skitter around the pan is the steam underneath the droplet escaping to one side. The boiling rosin vapor may be escaping from one side of the ball and creating a jet.
-- People's desire to believe they are right is much stronger than their desire to be right.
Movie (I hope NASA can handle it)
by
andfarm
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· Score: 2, Informative
As the solder heats up, a little drop of flux starts to spin rapidly around the ball of molten solder. It's a seriously weird effect.
--
TANSTAAFI: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free iPod.
Re:Why it spins.
by
Orne
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· Score: 2, Informative
You'll notice in the video he's wearing goggles.
Re:If you don't use rosin...
by
cmowire
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· Score: 2, Informative
See, that was my thought too.
I don't think that doing it in a vacuum is the world's greatest idea. Space suit gloves do a number on your manual dexterity.
Given that you are probably going to have to collect the fumes anyway, it's probably not the world's worst idea to solder in a nitrogen filled bag, which fixes that problem.
The problem, I think, is that not only are you cleaning off any of the newly created oxidation from the soldering iron, you are also cleaning off any of the existing oxidation. And, furthermore, you are also changing the surface tension to better allow the solder to flow. So you probably still need the flux.
I'm just amazed that it took folks this long to start thinking about these sorts of things and actually working on them.
Re:Why it spins.
by
shfted!
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· Score: 3, Informative
You need a forced ventilation system in space, as microgravity and a confined space doesn't create enough of a gradiant to properly mix and balance the various gases in the air (like oxygen). So yes, they have fans.
-- He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
Re:Yes but what about the ants?
by
Sgt+York
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· Score: 2, Informative
The free time comment was directed only at the thin-films link you posted. I was under the impression that the soldering was started as an official project.
You won't find much disagreement from me about wether ISS is run well. It's not. It could be used for some very good things, but currently, it's not. It is uniquely suited to physiological research on the effects of long-term microgravity exposure (needed for manned exploratory missions) and is a good testbed for manufacturing technologies and research applications. There are some things that can be done better in space; molecular biology structural research, for one (many crystals grow better w/o gravity). I'm a biochemist, so that's the only one I'm familiar with, but I have heard of technologies that would benefit from vaccuum and/or microgravity. I just don't know enough to discuss them intelligently.
ISS could be a great place to determine the feasibility of these manufacturing applications, the success of which could help draw industry and private groups into space. Granted that's a lot of "could's" and the first run of these tests should be done via automated satellite, with the second run on the shuttle (or its replacement). ISS testing should be final phase, but it should still be a phase.
The best thing about it, though, is the public image and exposure. In the absence of any other space-based industry, the thing that will draw real money there is tourism. As it grows, tourism will eventually bring the industry connected with it. This will draw more people and money up, which will reduce launch costs, which will increase flux into space (I'm talking decades to centuries here).
As for building and maintenance, I work in a research lab. The cost of keeping things going is huge. The cost of housing the animals alone exceeds the salary of two technicians. It costs more annually for me to do my work than it does to pay me (although that's not saying much), and much of that is tied up in utilities, maintenance, ventillation, and the like. ISS is a unique lab, and it is needed to determine the effects of living and working in space long-term, on both men and equipment. The shuttle can't stay up for months at a time. Any work you do on it, at all, furthers this goal. It is an expensive lab, but it is useful.
IMHO, the issue is that expensive labs need to be run well.
--
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.
I think you've got it.
by
Libertarian_Geek
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· Score: 2, Informative
To add to it, as it spins around, the leading edge is cooled more than the trailing edge, therefore keeping one side hotter than the other, letting the vapor jet propel it around vs jittering.
Slashdot Mirror
Put a teaspoon of water into a well heated frypan and the water (while it is still a liquid) will generally form up in little blobs and behaves in a similar fashion. ie. moving in a circular motion.
--
"we live in a post-ideological world..." - Billy Bragg.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/images/sol der/video_final/iss.mpg
As the solder heats up, a little drop of flux starts to spin rapidly around the ball of molten solder. It's a seriously weird effect.
TANSTAAFI: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free iPod.
You'll notice in the video he's wearing goggles.
See, that was my thought too.
I don't think that doing it in a vacuum is the world's greatest idea. Space suit gloves do a number on your manual dexterity.
Given that you are probably going to have to collect the fumes anyway, it's probably not the world's worst idea to solder in a nitrogen filled bag, which fixes that problem.
The problem, I think, is that not only are you cleaning off any of the newly created oxidation from the soldering iron, you are also cleaning off any of the existing oxidation. And, furthermore, you are also changing the surface tension to better allow the solder to flow. So you probably still need the flux.
I'm just amazed that it took folks this long to start thinking about these sorts of things and actually working on them.
Gentoo Sucks
You need a forced ventilation system in space, as microgravity and a confined space doesn't create enough of a gradiant to properly mix and balance the various gases in the air (like oxygen). So yes, they have fans.
He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
You won't find much disagreement from me about wether ISS is run well. It's not. It could be used for some very good things, but currently, it's not. It is uniquely suited to physiological research on the effects of long-term microgravity exposure (needed for manned exploratory missions) and is a good testbed for manufacturing technologies and research applications. There are some things that can be done better in space; molecular biology structural research, for one (many crystals grow better w/o gravity). I'm a biochemist, so that's the only one I'm familiar with, but I have heard of technologies that would benefit from vaccuum and/or microgravity. I just don't know enough to discuss them intelligently.
ISS could be a great place to determine the feasibility of these manufacturing applications, the success of which could help draw industry and private groups into space. Granted that's a lot of "could's" and the first run of these tests should be done via automated satellite, with the second run on the shuttle (or its replacement). ISS testing should be final phase, but it should still be a phase.
The best thing about it, though, is the public image and exposure. In the absence of any other space-based industry, the thing that will draw real money there is tourism. As it grows, tourism will eventually bring the industry connected with it. This will draw more people and money up, which will reduce launch costs, which will increase flux into space (I'm talking decades to centuries here).
As for building and maintenance, I work in a research lab. The cost of keeping things going is huge. The cost of housing the animals alone exceeds the salary of two technicians. It costs more annually for me to do my work than it does to pay me (although that's not saying much), and much of that is tied up in utilities, maintenance, ventillation, and the like. ISS is a unique lab, and it is needed to determine the effects of living and working in space long-term, on both men and equipment. The shuttle can't stay up for months at a time. Any work you do on it, at all, furthers this goal. It is an expensive lab, but it is useful.
IMHO, the issue is that expensive labs need to be run well.
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.
To add to it, as it spins around, the leading edge is cooled more than the trailing edge, therefore keeping one side hotter than the other, letting the vapor jet propel it around vs jittering.
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