Need a scientist?

[vector7]

Hello Elizabeth,
I appreciate that this is not exactly in your field but if you could give your educated opinion, which will no doubt be far more informed than mine, I would appreciate any input. So, here's the thing. In my next book I have a solar system with only one very large planet and one primary. All of the other planets have been smashed to rubble. Now, the way I've written it, because there is only one planet, that is a couple of AU's from the primary, all of the rubble from the smashed planets has been attracted to the planet. This has caused the planet to be totally surrounded by an enormous asteroid field.
So, is this theoretically possible? Thanks for your time.

I guess, by primary, you mean the sun. If thats the case, then it will be very tough for something like that happen. It depends on the size of the plant compared to the sun and the total distance. If its very large, say like Jupiter or Saturn, it may happen. But, also the sun must be far away and comparatively smaller.

The thing to remember is the gravitational field. It decreases with increased distance. One best example is a cloth held tight over a bowl with a stone weight in the middle. I don't know how to explain it. But, it might happen. The variables which come into play are so many.

The size of the planet with respect to the size of the sun, the size of the asteroids in the belt, the distance between the planet and the sun. If your planet is inhabited, then you can not increase the distance without the planet getting very much reduced amounts of heat leading to mass extinction. I think Chris might have a better explanation.

However, I think it might be theoretically possible and plausible if you explain it clearly with respect to the detail we know about gravity.

Regards,
V7

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for that V7. Hmmm, could this be time for a bit of writing bs? I've already established that this space locked region of space has many anomolies not found elsewhere in the galaxy. Soooo, perhaps I can tweak it into sounding plausible. The distance from the sun is the real killer because the planet must be capable of supporting life. Anyhooo, thanks again and I'll think on it. Anyone else feel free to jump in. Cheers, T.

 

[chrispenycate]

The debris will be in orbit round the primary (which can be a bit hotter than Sol without any problems) but any fragments in the same orbit as your life-bearing planet will either be in orbit around it (being either classified as "moons" or "a ring", depending on size and number) or have been swept up during the first few million years of the planet's existence.

Your main asteroid belts will be inside the planetary orbit; more or less the same proportion as our asteroid belt to the orbit of Jupiter, and outside, roughly on the Bode distribution. The few remaining bits in the habitable planet's orbit will be at the Trojan points, thirty degrees ahead of and behind the planet, and directly behind the star.

With only one major planet in the system, your moon/satellite system can be as complex as you like; no perturbations. But the rest of the planet's orbit will be vacuumed out.

 

[goldhawk]

Hello Elizabeth,
I appreciate that this is not exactly in your field but if you could give your educated opinion, which will no doubt be far more informed than mine, I would appreciate any input. So, here's the thing. In my next book I have a solar system with only one very large planet and one primary. All of the other planets have been smashed to rubble. Now, the way I've written it, because there is only one planet, that is a couple of AU's from the primary, all of the rubble from the smashed planets has been attracted to the planet. This has caused the planet to be totally surrounded by an enormous asteroid field.
So, is this theoretically possible? Thanks for your time.

Are you thinking of something similar to Larry Niven's The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring but before the rubble is smashed into gas?

What you are trying to explain is a theory which states that the universe will continue to grow and die out in future time. So, you might know of Hubble or may not. What he put forth was that the distant galaxies were accelerating with velocities that were higher apparent velocities than previously thought. So, it points to the fact that those galaxies were the first matter to come out of the so called "Big Bang".

What you are talking about is the density parameter, which is given the Greek letter Ω. If Ω = 1, then the universe expands forever but at the slowest possible rate. If Ω < 1, then expansion will eventually stop and then start to shrink. If Ω > 1, then it will expand forever. To date, measurements of it place it at slightly greater than 1 but the margin for error is big enough so that it can still be less than or equal to 1. In other words, we don't know for certain.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks Chrispy and Goldhawk for taking the time. Yes, it seems that I have written myself into a corner with this one. But, this is science Fiction after all so I shall take another look at it and see what I can do to justify the unjustifyable. Thanks again. Cheers.

 

[Droflet]

Howdy Chrons.

I don't write tech. I write character and conflict. However, my MS is military SF so...

You can't have a decent space battle without energy beam weapons. Right.

My ebw is called a Pulsar. Yes, I know, it can be misinterpreted, so the question is since, lazer, phaser, grazer etc have been used to death, any ideas.

It should be noted that the ebw can fire a continuous focused beam that can penetrate shields and armor at close range. It can also fire pulses of energy (globules of energy if you will) that drain shield power and prepare for the big stuff; you know torpedoes, missiles etc.

Any thought or comments welcomed.

 

[J-WO]

How about Pulsescythe? Or just scythe for short.

 

[J-WO]

Or on a similar tip, Fusionlance.

 

[alchemist]

Plasma lance?
Pulsar definitely doesn't work because it suggests something pulsed, rather than intermittent.

 

[alchemist]

Whoops. I meant to say "rather than continuous."

 

[Droflet]

J-WO and Alchemist, thanks for that. Food for thought. Cheers.

 

[Rider of scaled wing]

So... we can ask any kind of scientific question here, and perhaps get an informed reply? (sorry, just back from a long absence.)

 

[goldhawk]

So... we can ask any kind of scientific question here, and perhaps get an informed reply? (sorry, just back from a long absence.)

You're far more likely to get an opinionated reply. But go ahead, ask away.

 

[Arkose]

So... we can ask any kind of scientific question here, and perhaps get an informed reply? (sorry, just back from a long absence.)

That is the general idea.

I am finishing my degree for Environmental Science (Water specialization). If I don't know the answer I can point you in the general direction if you have water ecosystem/quality questions.

 

[Rider of scaled wing]

Right, ok. *Ahem*

My question concerns Mining and metallurgy, which is an important factor in any Medieval fantasy story i suppose.

Anyway, I know bronze, that durable alloy, is created from a blend of Copper and Tin. what i don't know is how much of one or the other is needed to create a proper, sturdy alloy, and not just be a slightly tinted version of one or the other metal.

Secondly, The region this story is taking place in is very cold, sub arctic region, kind of like scandanavia. And i know that tin, at least relatively pure tin, is known to have a kind of rather alarming corrosion at low temperatures known as Tin pest. However, I can't find many specifics about this phenomenon. So would a cold region Tin mine be totally unrealistic, or is there some kind of mechanism that would keep the ore from destroying itself in that type of environment?

 

[Arkose]

I don't know much about the erosion of pure metals but if its true that Tin erodes quickly in cold temperatures than exposing Tin to air that is colder than what is in the ground (at a certain depth all soil temperatures are the same) will cause it to erode quickly. I have no idea though about it just making a guess.

Now something I do know more about it Acid Mine Draining but I have never heard of a case in a sub-arctic regions. If your land had some defrost and melting though than the exposed rock/tin could develop Acid Mine Drainage, which would have huge impacts on the surrounding environment.

 

[Liz Bent]

Sorry I've been away from this thread for so long, I haven't been getting notifications of posts in my email and I don't often have time to surf this site and see who's posted what. It seems like there are enough folks with expert knowledge (or at least, interesting opinions) that may have answers to questions that this thread still has some value, for which I'm grateful.

Now, to remember to set the notification thing... (still getting used to this site)

 

[chrispenycate]

Right, ok. *Ahem*

My question concerns Mining and metallurgy, which is an important factor in any Medieval fantasy story i suppose.

Anyway, I know bronze, that durable alloy, is created from a blend of Copper and Tin. what i don't know is how much of one or the other is needed to create a proper, sturdy alloy, and not just be a slightly tinted version of one or the other metal.

Secondly, The region this story is taking place in is very cold, sub arctic region, kind of like scandanavia. And i know that tin, at least relatively pure tin, is known to have a kind of rather alarming corrosion at low temperatures known as Tin pest. However, I can't find many specifics about this phenomenon. So would a cold region Tin mine be totally unrealistic, or is there some kind of mechanism that would keep the ore from destroying itself in that type of environment?

Tin might have corrosion problems at low temperatures, but tin oxide (cassiterite, the principal tin ore) could be considered as corrosion already; extraction of the metal involves high temperatures and charcoal, anyway, so your tingots would start hot; you just don't need them to get too seriously frozen before alloying them with the copper. Keep them indoors (heats the house too), or go straight or have your copper ready and waiting.

There are several different bronzes; the tin one we're talking about is about 10 - 15% tin, the rest copper. But there are zinc bronzes, arsenic bronzes, silver bronzes… just about anything alloyed with copper, they didn't have sophisticated analytic techniques.

Would there be enough forest for charcoal in the cold conditions, or would they be exporting the ore? Since copper and tin rarely occur in the same region, there's going to have to be trade with one or the other of the metals, either smelted or as ore.

 

[Rider of scaled wing]

It's a pretty heavily forested area, but backed by mountains (on the other side of which is a highland tundra), so there'd be plenty of wood for making charcoal. especially since the people in this story mostly live in wood houses.

Also, isn't Zinc and copper actually brass?

 

[chrispenycate]

If the zinc is the dominant impurity, yes. But the word "bronze" is very loose; the people who were making it would chuck in a bit of this, bit of that; as long as the basis was copper, it got classed as bronze. Then there are all the modern ones like phosphor bronze, magnesium bronze, which I don't think contain any tin at all.

But you'd want hardwood charcoal for the smelting, not the conifers that are most likely to grow in those conditions. Oh, there are deciduous trees that could survive, but they'd be replaced pretty slowly, probably leading to mobile charcoal burning camps in the summer, and mass transport of prepared charcoal on sledges come first snow. Or you could have them own a coal mine and produce coke as a reducing agent.