Any physics majors out there?

qo · Post by qo » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:02 pm

Sitting in front of a rack of equipment, the following thought just came to me. If the screws that are holding this equipment into the rack were removed, the equipment with fall to the ground (at least, this has been my experience). So, is work being done (screws holding the equipment aloft against it's natural tendency to fall down)? And, if work is being done, shouldn't heat be the result?

I press my finger against one of the screw heads knowing full well that it's not going to be burned. Indeed, the screw head is quite chilly. And, this has been my experience since first mounting a piece of gear in a rack many moons ago. But, why is this the case? Is it because:

1. No work is being done.
2. Work is being done, but the byproduct is something other than heat.
3. Work is being done, and heat is the byproduct, but there is very little heat given the amount of work, and that heat is dissipated through the rack rail and equipment.
4. Other?

Just trying to figure out how this studio stuff works.

Thanks!

qo

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:05 pm

RTFM!!!

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:19 pm

... but in case it's not in there I would say it was more the case of energy being stored, then released, rather than work being done....

by unscrewing the screw you will release stored potential energy in the screw as a little heat, a little bit of sound, and the rack unit itself will convert its potential energy into downward accelleration towards the earth (actually the earth will also accellerate a little bit towards the rack unit too) until they both meet and energy is converted again into sound (vibration) a little heat and... er... 'broken stuff'.

That's my understanding but it is 3: 17am here and it's been a long MIDI tweaking session all night ... etc

qo · Post by qo » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:24 pm

Spikey Horse wrote:RTFM!!!

I checked DP 4.5's User Guide index where "Work" would be located and see only "Word clock sync." Drat. Looking in the Getting Started Guide produced better results with "Work priority". From that section:

Some audio hardware requires the Low setting.

But, it doesn't really specify if this audio hardware is actually rack mounted. Nor, if so, if that would make a difference. Drat.

qo · Post by qo » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:31 pm

Spikey Horse wrote:by unscrewing the screw you will release stored potential energy in the screw as a little heat, a little bit of sound, and the rack unit itself will convert its potential energy into downward accelleration towards the earth (actually the earth will also accellerate a little bit towards the rack unit too) until they both meet and energy is converted again into sound (vibration) a little heat and... er... 'broken stuff'.

That sounds right to me Professor Spikey! MOTU would do well to hire you

Thanks for clearing this up! The reason I asked in the first place is because I was hoping the energy could be used in some way. But, now I see that would entail constant screwing (not that I'm opposed to that) and unscrewing and pretty high repair bills. So, not really worth it.

Timeline · Post by **Timeline** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:52 pm

You dudes dun crack me up

qo · Post by qo » Sun Dec 11, 2005 6:56 pm

Timeline wrote:You dudes dun crack me up

Wow, which is even more interesting, 'cause, work got dun (Timeline got cracked up), and at a distance too, just on account of some dudes musing about whether racked gear gets work dun.

Speaking of which, Gary, I'm taking the next couple weeks off starting Tuesday (no work getting dun here!) so, if you're heading up this way by chance, we should hook up!

twistedtom · Post by **twistedtom** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 11:22 am

One has to know what they are obseving to properly understand the physics.
Of course you are looking at this in a Nutonian way, how about relitivity or quantom? We could get deep here.

MrVideo · Post by **MrVideo** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:25 am

Matter at rest wants to stay at rest until a force greater than the force that causes matter to stay at rest, exerts itself. Friction binds that gravity action from exerting itself by(1) resting on a horizontal post (the screw) and (2) the binding action of keeping the back of the unit from falling down is the clamping of the head of the screw to the unit- to the rack ears.

As long as the clamped unit doesn't change shape, you are set.

studiodog · Post by **studiodog** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 4:28 am

E=MC2 + radioactive oatmeal(x) - (d- w2ndx)(WD-40)= no skweek + Budweiser (ie/ Samuel Jackson) =

qo · Post by qo » Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:55 pm

MrVideo wrote:Matter at rest wants to stay at rest

This implies that matter has feelings and, dare I say it, soul. I'd never suspected this to be the case until my first Les Paul (a '54 that I sold for next to nothing back in the '70s, grrr). I then went through a period of using Behringer and cheap mics and this modified my thinking back to the camp that inert matter has no soul. Then, I got a couple Distressors and a Fatso and am back in a place where I can believe you when you say that they "want." But, I don't think these boxes want to stay at rest. No, they want to dance.

studiodog wrote:E=MC2 + radioactive oatmeal(x) - (d- w2ndx)(WD-40)= no skweek + Budweiser (ie/ Samuel Jackson) =

Can we add this to the DP bug list?