• starman2112
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    A boat with a fan on it can work, because that air bounces off the sail and ends up going backward

    • EunieIsTheBus@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      11 months ago

      In that way it does not. You can move a boat wirh a fan if you use it to blow the air away from the boat to create thrust like a plane. If you direct the fan onto the sail the force of the forward motion will be canceled out by the backwards thrust (if the sail has 100% efficiency which it does not)

      • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        Blowing a fan into the sail does work; but it’s nowhere near as efficient as normal airboats. You’re not gonna move very fast, and it takes a helluva lot of force just to go like 1/16 the speed you could if you just point the fan behind you.

        The magnet thing might work the same way; but you’d need a super powerful magnet. Like probably an electromagnet. And at that point, an electric engine is just a more efficient use of the energy.