there was this topic along time ago about a strange device (invented way back in time, like hundreds of years). it looks like a big plum, has some ingenious things inside and is able to bring the water from a small river uphill. not too much, but still uphill.

does anybody remember it ? i have no idea what keywords to search for

thanks

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!

Quote
jaffar
i have no idea what keywords to search for

"Snake oil".

Quote
Ferdinand

Quote
jaffar
i have no idea what keywords to search for

"Snake oil".

I know that's slippery stuff but can it actually reverse the effects of gravity

c'mon, it's a real thing.

LE: ok, i found it. it's called hydraulic ram.

[en.wikipedia.org]

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2009 11:09AM by jaffar.

Quote
jaffar
c'mon, it's a real thing.

LE: ok, i found it. it's called hydraulic ram.

[en.wikipedia.org]

That's actually kind of cool

I immediately started thinking of ways to harness the energy of the water that had been lifted. When enough has been lifter to a reservoir or storage tank, it could be released to power some sort of electric generator or even a water wheel.

I didn't read anything about flow rates so don't know if it the throughput of the ram could be made efficient enough to lift the volume of water needed for any useful energy generation.

Certainly if this device was tapped into the city water mains supplying your house, you could make use of the energy for free

Quote

The ram is quite inefficient. Usually 8 gallons of water must pass through the waste valve for each 1 gallon of water pumped by the ram. That is acceptable for a creek or river situation, but may not be a good option for a pond that does not have a good spring flow.

[www.clemson.edu]

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!

Quote
jaffar

Quote

The ram is quite inefficient. Usually 8 gallons of water must pass through the waste valve for each 1 gallon of water pumped by the ram. That is acceptable for a creek or river situation, but may not be a good option for a pond that does not have a good spring flow.

[www.clemson.edu]

Well then, in the absence of a fast flowing stream, the city water pipe sounds like the logical source

Quote

The ram is quite inefficient. Usually 8 gallons of water must pass through the waste valve for each 1 gallon of water pumped by the ram. That is acceptable for a creek or river situation, but may not be a good option for a pond that does not have a good spring flow.

Well then, in the absence of a fast flowing stream, the city water pipe sounds like the logical source