Keels: Lead v Iron?

[Ric]

In the first case, your yacht would fall into it and in the second it would explode once removed from the neutron star's gravitational field.

Not if you put a blob of anti-matter on top of the mast. You would then have infinite righting moment and an uncomfortably stiff boat, admittedly.

 

[dunedin]

Not if you put a blob of anti-matter on top of the mast. You would then have infinite righting moment and an uncomfortably stiff boat, admittedly.

Do I detect a tiny bit of thread drift ? But fascinating science lesson.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Not if you put a blob of anti-matter on top of the mast. You would then have infinite righting moment and an uncomfortably stiff boat, admittedly.

Are you presuming that anti-matter has negative gravity? Not proven, I think (though I agree it is likely!). It would have to be of comparable mass to the black hole, as well.

 

[lw395]

Are you presuming that anti-matter has negative gravity? Not proven, I think (though I agree it is likely!). It would have to be of comparable mass to the black hole, as well.

May need some tidal corrections...

 

[JumbleDuck]

In the first case, your yacht would fall into it and in the second it would explode once removed from the neutron star's gravitational field.

<pedant mode on>

There is no more reason for a yacht to fall into 1000kg (say) of black hole than into 1000kg of lead. The problem with black holes is not being sucked into them, but in holding them in position. The tunnels would make a teredo worm attack look trivial.

<pedant mode off>

 

[lustyd]

many things are slightly radio active

Cornwall for instance...

 

[oldsaltoz]

Cast iron is stiffer and stronger, so it can be cast into thinner fin keels.

We made our own lead keel (with help from an ex foundry worker) we used stainless steel thick wall tubing with slots cut to allow the lead to be run through them to fill the mold and tubes.

The whole arrangement was a welded structure that gave the lead keel extra stiffness.

So, making a lead keel rigid is not too difficult.

Mind you, heating the lead in an old bathtub and observing that some of the lead was used isotope containers had me a bit concerned at the time.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

<pedant mode on>

There is no more reason for a yacht to fall into 1000kg (say) of black hole than into 1000kg of lead. The problem with black holes is not being sucked into them, but in holding them in position. The tunnels would make a teredo worm attack look trivial.

<pedant mode off>[/QUOTE

<pedant mode on even more>

But wouldn't such a light black hole dissipate extremely rapidly through Hawking radiation? I'm no physicist, but I thought there was a size below which black-holes evaporated fairly rapidly.

</pedant mode>

 

[JumbleDuck]

<pedant mode on even more>
But wouldn't such a light black hole dissipate extremely rapidly through Hawking radiation? I'm no physicist, but I thought there was a size below which black-holes evaporated fairly rapidly.
</pedant mode>

I'm not a physicist either (I can make eye contact with people) but that's a good point. I think the evaporation rate is quite slow, though, so a black hole keel might, if you're lucky, last a season. Which would save on antifouling costs.