Ok Thought experiment time...

[BrainsTracy]

You know the spinning disc in the electric meter? well the more you use the faster it spins, right? So logically there must be some amount of consumption that, arithmetically at least, would induce it to spin faster than c, so we must rely on the time dilation standard equation and possibly physical factors to avoid violation of what is currently understood, but leaving those aside for the purposes of this discussion what would prevent the speed of the disc exceeding c?. Your thoughts?

[BrainsTracy]

sorry I'm new to this site so forhive me is I've misunderstood this category but this is in science for a serious answer, surely there are other categories for the intellectually challenged.

[jake-the-peg]

Mass increase

As a body increases its speed its mass increases

the new mass M= m/Sqrt(1-(v^2/c^2))

The closer you get to c the more massive it becomes and the more energy is required to accelerate it faster

At c its mass would be infinite

[factor-fiction]

Well suppose suppose the radius is ~4.5 cm so the circumference=~4.5 x2 x pi= ~30cm.

If it does 2 revs a minute normally then that's 60cm a minute travelled by a given point. Thats 1 centimetre (0.01m) per second

Multiply that by ~6 billion people in the world and that 60 million metres per second.
So if you multiply that by 5 to allow for business use too then that brings you up to the speed of light is~300 million m / s.

So yes in theory, just using the maths, it could happen. (Though as i'm also making a soup while I type i could easily have got my decimal points wrong)

But I'm too busy cooking to think through the physics at teh momment

[wildwood]

factor30 "(Though as i'm also making a soup while I type i could easily have got my decimal points wrong) "

lol Was it alphabet soup?

[scotman]

The main supply fuse would blow at 500A

[beso]

The meter uses electromagnets. At some current the iron core of those magnets saturates with magnetic flux and the meter response is no longer linear.

BTW. The meter does not measure based on current but real power.
Voltage X Current X PowerFactor

[factor-fiction]

^"BTW. The meter does not measure based on current but real power.
Voltage X Current X PowerFactor "

I assume you meant to type Voltage x Current = Power, beso.

Was the word Factor a reference to my post? I don't think I mentioned current did I?

[beso]

With Alternating Current, the power is not simply Voltage X Current. PowerFactor is the ratio of the Real Power to Apparent Power (Voltage X Current or VA as in kVA).

The difference is the Reactance of the circuit. Resistive loads such as a heating element have a Unity Power Factor. The apparent power and real power are the same.

However loads such as motors have Inductive Reactance. The current in the windings lags behind the applied voltage. This is due to the time it takes for the magnetic field to build up in the iron core after the voltage is applied.

Indeed it is possible in a AC circuit (such as an electromagnet) to have the current lag almost a 90 degree phase angle behind the voltage. The Current can be very large yet very little real power is dissipated. Only the energy lost in the resistance of the windings and the eddy currents of the core actually consume real power while most of the current does no actual work.

The power factor is the cosine of the phase angle between the voltage and the current.

Power Factor can also be leading. This happens when the load has Capacitive Reactance. The current flows up to 90 degrees ahead of the applied voltage.

Capacitors are typically fitted to inductive loads to neutralise most of the inductive reactance so that the supply current is moved back into phase with the voltage and substantially reduced.

Definitely not having a go at anyone and the Factor word is just a coincidence.

I used to work in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and my work intimately involved power factor control circuitry. It is really quite interesting stuff once you get your head around it.