WEBVTT - Torque Me Out of It 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:07.400 Brought to you by Toyota. Let's go places. Welcome to 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:16.200 Forward Thinking Hither Everyone, Welcome to Forward Thinking, the audio 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:18.560 podcast that looks at the future and says, do you 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:20.560 want to kick it in the front seat or sit 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.640 in the backseat. I'm Jonathan Strickland, I'm Lauren voc Obama. 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.200 I'm Joe McCormick. Can you tell I don't share these 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.520 before I go into them. We wanted to talk a 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:35.040 bit today about Torque, which was a phenomenal movie about 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.280 motorcycles going really fast. Yeah, I didn have ice Cube. 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.280 I don't know, I haven't seen it. I really didn't 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.400 prepare for this podcast very well. You know what. In fact, 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:47.760 scrap it, We're going to talk about Torque the rotational 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:50.920 force insteady Joe, Well, we can't talk about that because 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:56.200 at least one of us has seen it, Okay, So uh, 0:00:56.560 --> 0:01:00.480 we started thinking about this because we saw that video 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.880 of pickup truck towing a Space shuttle. Yeah, which is huge. 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:08.320 I mean you're literally huge. You're talking about literally literally huge. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:10.680 Literally what you're talking about. You're talking about a standard 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:16.039 pickup truck pulling the Space shuttle, which is enormous and heavy, 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.640 and the fact that a standard truck could do it, Like, 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.880 how could it? How could it generate the force necessary 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.480 to do that? Um? And what is that force? Yeah? 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.360 Of course the force is something the force. Of course. 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.320 The force, of course is something you've probably heard about 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:38.880 with relation to cars, like it's torque. Sure, yeah, but 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.880 what is torque? Um? And I didn't actually know when 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:47.119 I had to look this up. Yeah, we're not pretty embarrassing, right, Um, 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.920 But torque is really fundamental. It's something we should know. 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:56.200 It's rotational force. Um. So if you just imagine that 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.120 you have like a screw or a bolt with a 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:03.520 nut on it. Came and say ice cube has a 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.840 bolt with the nut on it on his motorcycle, right, 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.800 and he wants to unscrew the nut. Um. So he 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:13.200 gets a wrench out and he puts the wrench on 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.080 the nut and he pushes the wrench. What the force 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.600 he's generating there is called torque. It's rotational force. So 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.799 it's force going around a fulcrum involving a lever. Got you. 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:27.639 And the way you'd calculate um torque is by multiplying 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.480 the force you're applying to the wrench by the length 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.680 of the wrench so by by changing the length of 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.040 the wrench, you change the amount of rotational force, even 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.400 if you are pushing the same amount. So if you 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.680 have a shorter wrench and you're pushing a certain you're 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.040 exerting a certain amount of force on it. Versus a 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:46.480 longer wrench and exerting uh, that same amount of force 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:48.920 on it, it's a different amount of tork. Right. If 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.320 you can let's say ice cube can apply two pounds 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:54.160 of pressure to the wrench. Um, if he has a 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.040 one ft wrench, that's two foot pounds of pressure of 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.640 torque that he can put on that nut. But if 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.520 he has a nine foot wrench, that's eighteen foot pounds 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.280 of guts that he can of torque that he can 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.880 apply to the nut. Um. So obviously having a longer 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.640 lever gives you a great advantage I see. Um. And 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.840 this actually comes in when you're talking about transmissions and 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:22.160 gears in cars. Um, So how does torque figure into 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.200 a car? All? Right? So, torque in the sense of 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:28.359 a vehicle. Uh, you know, vehicle's engine is all about 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.760 generating torque, and it doesn't in a very kind of 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.680 indirect way in a sense because you know, you've got 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:38.080 an engine going. You've got a combust internal combustion engine going. Uh, 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.040 the main energy, the main power that you're generating. You're 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.280 moving these pistons in and out of cylinders, right, That's 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:48.000 what's called a reciprocating motion. So it's just going up 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.720 and down. But you have to translate this into rotational motion. 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.880 So those pistons are connected to a crank shaft, and 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.840 a crank shaft its job is to rotate. It takes 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.160 that reciprocating motion and translates into the rotational motion that 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.480 is what powers the rest of the drive train, and 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.000 that's ultimately what's going to make the wheels turn. But 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.560 to get there, we have to go through some interesting 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:15.800 turns here. So the crankshaft connects to something that's called 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:20.760 the the flywheel. The fly wheel is connected to a 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:25.479 clutch plate, and the clutch plate is connected to handbone, 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:27.760 and the handbone is connected to think about no, no, no. 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.560 The clutch plate is connected to a pressure plate, and 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:34.800 that's where we are allowed to shift gears without everything 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.640 grinding to a halt. Right in a manual transmission car, 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.600 that is where the clutch connects when you when you depress, 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:42.520 when when when you press it on the clutch, that 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:47.280 is actually disconnecting the engine from the entire transmission right right, 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.000 It lifts that pressure plate so that you no longer 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.679 are getting power from the engine delivered to the drive train, 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.560 because otherwise, all those gears that are in the rest 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.120 of what I'm about to describe would be turning and 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.200 uh and the shifting would be very messy to the 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.919 point where you could cause huge amounts of damage to 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:06.160 your vehicle. That's why you know, using the clutch and 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.160 a manual transmission is so important. Automatic transmissions it all 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.000 takes care of that for you, assuming everything's working correctly. 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.279 All right. So you've got the flywheel and you've got 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.599 the clutch plate and everything that that it's in turn 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.000 is connected to what's called the gear shaft, which continues 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:25.640 transmitting this rotational force, or the lay shaft is connected 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:27.880 to the gear shaft. So you've got gear shaft going 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.440 into lay shaft. The lay shaft has lay shaft gears 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.480 on it. UH. These are gears that are directly connected 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.200 to the lay shaft. And you start off with some 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.920 small gears on the lay shaft and they get progressively 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.360 larger as you go down the lay shaft. Keep in mind, 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:47.560 I'm just kind of describing a typical manual transmission vehicle here. 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:51.240 They are. They do come in different variations. But so 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:53.400 you've got that small gear on the end and they 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.880 get progressively larger as it goes on. You have a 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:00.080 second shaft that's near this lay shaft. It's called the 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.560 main shaft, all right. The main shaft also has gears 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.800 on it. The gears go from large too small, and 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:11.640 they interconnect with the the lay shaft gears. Now here's 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:13.600 the thing. If all of those gears were turning at 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.240 the same time, you wouldn't have any way of shifting gears, right, 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.160 they would all be speed would be a single speed, yeah, 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.600 you would. You would have one single range of motion 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.240 you go in before you start to burn out your engine. 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:29.280 So in order to have those gears turn freely without 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.159 necessarily turning anything else in the vehicle, those gears are 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.920 all mounted on ball bearings, right, so they can turn. 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.159 The lay scheft gears can turn and turn and turn. 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:41.839 The main scheft gears will turn, but they're not turning 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:45.280 the main shaft itself. The main shaft can remain completely 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.320 still while those gears are turning around and around because 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.040 they're just mounted on it. Yeah, exactly, they're floating it, 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.800 thank you, Lauren. And then you have what is called 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.960 the dog clutch or dog collar, which engages the side 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:01.360 of these uh main cheft gears. There, the main scheft 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.280 gears have these holes along the side of the gear. 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.479 The dog clutch or dog collar has these teeth along 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.000 the side of it. And when that connects to the 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:12.560 gear uh the MOE, the turning motion of the main 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:16.480 shaft gear translates over into turning motion on that dog 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.120 clutch or dog color, which then provides the rotational force 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.240 necessary to move further down the drive train, ultimately ending 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.080 at the tires. Right. Uh yeah, These these dog collars 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:29.720 are what are connected to your gear shift in for example, 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.720 a five speed manual car um and and that's that's 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.720 what you're engaging with two right to to connect all 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.120 of the shafts together and get that power out. And 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:43.000 only one dog clutch or dog collar is engaged at 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.280 any one time. Right, So if you're in first gear, 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:50.600 that a dog clutches in that first main shaft gear. 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.200 And because the main shift gear is large and the 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.239 lay shaft gear is small that lay shaft gears, turning 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:00.680 it more rotations per minute, and that's quite a bit 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.800 of speed. But it's then translating that to a larger gear, 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.960 which decreases the speed. You get fewer rotations per minute, 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.040 but it increases the torque. That's where you get the 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:14.440 torque in those low gears. And the important part of 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.360 the torque at low gears is that you're trying to 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:20.800 move a vehicle from a still position to being in motion, 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.000 and that takes a lot of force. It's like it's 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.880 like using a longer handled lever exactly. Yeah, if you've 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.120 got a really heavy vehicle, then you're gonna need a 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.400 good amount of force to get it moving. But once 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.839 it gets moving, and once it starts to UH to hit, 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:36.640 it's its top speed in that gear, you need to 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.120 shift to a higher gear in order to make sure 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.960 you're not making the engine work too hard. It's just 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.680 gonna start burning out otherwise, And so that's when you 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:47.840 would in a manual transmission car press on the clutch. 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.079 You would disengage the drive train from the engine. You 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.440 would be able to then shift from one to two. 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:57.560 The dog clutch would disengage from the first main shift 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:01.000 gear and engage the second main shift gear. Uh. Now 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.800 you have a dog clutch between every couple of gears, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:05.839 So between one and two, between three and four, and 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:09.280 between five and reverse. Reverse is a little different because 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.600 you actually have to have a third smaller gear in 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:14.480 between the main shift gear and the lay shaft gear 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:19.440 to reverse the rotation direction. And you also have another 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.240 set of gears further down the drive train that that 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:26.840 changes the rotational direction for the tires to work. Otherwise 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.520 you would be trying to put trying to turn the 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.880 tires in a direction that's not aligned with their actual uh, 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.960 the way they're mounted in a car. So you have 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.880 to use differential too. That's exactly I have to move independently. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.120 That's true as well. Yes, all of that is important 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.720 for it to work. And what we just described really 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:51.320 is a manual five speed, manual transmission rear wheel drive car. 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.680 But there are lots of different variations of this that 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:59.240 have different layouts, and in fact, an automatic transmission is 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.920 different in that all of these different gears. These gears 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:03.599 and when you're talking about the small gear to the 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.200 large gear, that's what we're talking about. Gear ratios with 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.640 an automatic transmission, all those gears are located within one 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.520 device essentially, and it is a little difficult to describe 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:18.240 without visual representation, but it's the same process that more 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:20.360 or less that's going on with a manual transmission. It's 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.760 just that they're all those gears are located in this 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:26.320 one thing. It's really awesome the way it works, but 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:30.000 it's almost impossible for me to describe without pictures that 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.360 the furthest dig out was that it kind of looks 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.240 like that thing from Event Horizon, and then I just 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.199 my brain shut. That's I think that's I think that's 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:39.440 important for everyone. And if you don't recognize that, you 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.080 need to go out and watch Event Horizon in the 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:47.040 dark by yourself, preferably. It's amazing that the entire drive 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.120 train of a car, with all of the complicated parts 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.360 it has in it, is just taking a twisting motion 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.400 from one place to another, and it's also having to 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:01.000 translate that twisting motion to different directions, right because because 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.480 you'll have rear differentials, right, Yeah, you get to a 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:05.400 point where, yeah, you get a white where you need 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:09.120 to translate that rotationary force so that it will turn 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:11.600 tires in such a way that will move the vehicle, 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:15.640 and that means actually shifting the direction of the road 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:19.520 the rotating motion. What you do with more gears, it's 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.000 just a different alignment of gears to uh make sure 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.439 that the tires are are turning properly. Otherwise they would 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.280 uh they you, your car would just not work. It 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.719 would't it wouldn't turn, the wheels wouldn't turn because the 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.480 rotational force would not be in the right direction. So 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:42.240 I've heard people make the distinction between torque and horsepower, um, 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:46.080 And apparently that's kind of a gearhead distinction to make, 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.400 but essentially the way it comes down to in practical uses, 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.400 you would often describe like a very powerful truck or 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.400 something like that as being torque heavy, having strong torque 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:59.680 because it it's good at um getting the ball rolling 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:05.160 like initial huge load to a slow roll. Um. Whereas 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.800 I think and correct me if I'm wrong, But usually 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:12.120 you'd hear horsepower more often talking about like a very 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.840 powerful engine like in a sports car or something. Yeah, 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.920 that's not unusual at all, that can deliver work over 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.680 time and distance. That's accurate, I would say, I think 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:26.080 that I think you summed it up well. Yeah, now, 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.120 I feel free to write in if you know more 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.160 about cars than I do, they're gonna be writing in 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.640 about my uh my summary because I I oversimplified and 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:36.800 I think I probably use crankshaft at least once when 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:41.240 I met gear shaft. But that's because I was glancing 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.839 at my notes hurriedly, right, and I'm not and I'm 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.960 not a car. Also also technically that the gear shaft 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.600 is usually called a laft. That's true, It's a lay shaft. 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.400 The gear shafts attached to the lay shaft, which has 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.320 the lay shaft gears. Yeah, so we're but we're here 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.520 to talk about the future, okay, right, Yeah, this is 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.559 this is all. This is all how and have been 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:05.120 basically working since the early right. I thought this topic 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:07.679 was kind of funny because I started to think about it, 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.800 and what on earth is the future of torque. I mean, 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:15.480 engines in the future will be so strong they will 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:19.120 turn the wheels really hard, bigger. I think I think 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:20.640 that's part of it, though, I mean, you look at 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:24.440 some of the enormous vehicles that we have we have 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.040 designed over the years, like some of the truly enormous ones, 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:32.120 things like the stuff that has to move rockets and 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.600 space shuttles like the the the huge ones that go 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.320 at a snail's pace, crawling towards the launch pad carrying 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.240 an entire launch vehicle on them. These things have to 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.880 generate huge amounts of torque in order to be able 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.680 to move across the ground, you know, So we wouldn't 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:50.640 have been able to do that a hundred years ago. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.040 And part of that is not just I mean, the 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.520 very the very nature of torque is not going to change, right, 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:01.200 That's a fundamental things. But but it's but it's our 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:05.160 ability to generate that that changes, and that's based upon 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:10.600 making stronger engines and building stronger materials that can withstand 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.240 this huge amount of force that we apply to them 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.120 in order to translate that into torque. So there is 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:20.080 a future, it's just we're talking about improving mechanical processes 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.840 rather than like the torque itself remains unchanged, because that's 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.760 just a fundamental thing, right. It's also about the efficiency 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.080 of an engine because um, you know, right now automatic 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:35.360 transmissions might have um up to up to eight gears, 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.240 up to eight speeds working in them, and and they're 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:42.520 constantly developing these more and more complex automatic transmissions right now, 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:45.560 nine and ten speeds are the next big thing that's 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:50.000 being expected to debut in uh or so, And that's 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.560 that's important because it does keep the engine from having 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.440 to work too hard. Uh. And it also makes those 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.400 those transit transitions from one speed to the next much 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.760 more smooth, right. It just it allows the engine to 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:07.520 work within its optimal parameters. Excellent, it's happy place, happy place. Yeah. So, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:11.200 so that way, the engine is always operating exactly where 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.880 it best works and not. It doesn't have to do 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.640 too much work to go from one gear to the next, 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:20.000 you know, it doesn't. It doesn't have to operate in 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.000 the red for too long in order for it to 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:23.760 switch from one gear to the next. Could it could 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.520 wind up saving gas mileage by five to ten showing 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.440 up one gear. That's that's fantastic, not only for a 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.640 person's checkbook or whatever, or their wallet, but also for 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.920 the environment. So so I was curious. I asked a 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.200 friend of mine, who works on cars and who does 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.400 know about cars, what some of these advances might have 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.080 been in the you know, in recent decades, or maybe 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.400 not even that reason, but just in the history of 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:51.960 cars that have made them generate more torque UM, and 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.680 he gave a couple of examples that I thought were interesting. 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:59.280 One thing he suggested was possibly a fuel injection okay, sure, 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:06.840 the way the it injects fuel like ionized or atomized, yeah, 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.320 atomized fuel that helps the pistons generate more torque when 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:17.400 they explode. UM and internal combustion, external combustion. Right. He 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:22.600 mentioned UM more more precise machining tolerances, and that was 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.480 interesting to me, just the idea that UM. You know, 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.800 as as our factories get smarter and our ways of 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.640 making engines get more and more precise, you're having a 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:36.640 tighter fit between the piston and the cylinder. UM, just 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.240 because I guess we're better at make yeah right, right, 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:43.680 we're their machine operated, our machine made, rather than human made. 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.840 And the computer design can be far more precise than 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.680 what a person would be able to at this point. 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.960 And this really close fit apparently enables the engine to 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:59.240 generate more force, and we could see other applications of 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.640 torque UH in the future. One of the things we 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.760 talked about were space elevators. This idea of a vehicle 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.240 that climbs a ribbon that reaches all the way out 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.840 into space. Clearly, you would have to have a vehicle, 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.399 some sort of climbing vehicle that would be able to 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.760 generate quite a bit of torque to climb such a ribbon. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:22.560 So that would be another future application of it. It's uh, 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:26.560 not necessarily that we don't have the the climbing technology 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.280 right now that could do this. We might very well 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.680 be able to make such a vehicle. It's the tether 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:33.960 that's giving us the real sticking problem with that one. 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.200 But the whole other episode about that. Yeah, but that's 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.520 a but that's a possible uh you know, future use 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:45.600 of or application of torque. Well, it's just, um, right now, 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.040 when we go to space, we only have one way 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.040 to do it. And it's funny because when you think 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.119 about it, there aren't really all that many different ways 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.480 we know about to make something go right well, and 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:58.960 once we get into space there are a few more 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.840 options we have. But getting to space is you know, 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:03.680 it's pretty much you need a you need a rocket. 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.520 Here on Earth, that rotational force is really the most 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.320 useful thing. Um, what whether you're talking about tires or 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.800 tank treads or well, it's so easy, yeah, I mean, 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.320 there's no reason to have a rocket powered car unless 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.360 you just want to get in the Darwin Awards. Yeah, 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.560 or you have an award winning series on Discovery yea 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:28.560 or or or or yeah, if you want to get 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.240 into the eighth dimension. Where are we going dimension next? 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:35.880 When we get there real soon? Yeah? Anyway, But um, 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.919 so I started to think about what are all the 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.800 different ways that you can make something go that you 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:46.360 can power a vehicle. Um. So, obviously there is friction 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.239 and and if we're talking about going into space, that 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.800 could be relevant in terms of space elevators, Like you 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.760 just have a climber vehicle, it rolls up a tether 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.399 or something like that, and that wouldn't necessarily be limited 0:18:58.400 --> 0:18:59.920 to Earth. You could have that coming off of a 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:05.919 moon or um space station other Yeah, anything like that. Um. 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.520 But then once you're in space, you've got trouble because 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.600 you can't roll. You have never seen me roll in space? Man? 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.400 Well you can, you know you can, you can roll, 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.920 but you can't. You can't. You can't use that's fair. 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.879 I can't drive, You're right, Um, no, you can't. So 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.280 we we have modern rockets are what's known as a 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.320 reaction drive, right, and they move by throwing something with 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.560 mass out the back of them. Right. Yeah, you're burning, 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.440 You're burning chemicals to blow stuff out the back, which 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:41.600 then pushes you forward. That equal and opposite reaction deal 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.240 where you've got the either it's liquid or solid chemical 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.560 rockets that are just burning through this fuel. Uh not. 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:51.920 I mean it will move you really quickly, but it 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:53.880 also weighs a lot, and it's hard to get that 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:59.560 stuff off the planet and still have enough to space. 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:01.480 And the nice thing about space is that once you 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:05.679 start generating a good amount of speed, nothing's really slowing 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.320 you down until you start encountering other things like gravity 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:11.199 or if there are enough particles to exert friction on you, 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:14.440 that'll make you slow over time, but much less than say, 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.640 in Earth's atmosphere. Right, So, so yeah, you've got that. 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:20.520 You also have gravity. I mentioned gravity. You can use 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:24.879 gravity to help help you propel you distances in space, 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.639 but you have to plan your trajectory very precisely in 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:32.200 that slingshot kind of action. That's exact mass driver things. Well. Also, 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:35.439 the Voiageer spacecraft use gravity. They use the gravity of 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:39.040 the outer planets to propel them toward the edge of 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.080 the Solar System, which they are still heading towards I 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.320 see what you're saying. The slingshot most Sorry I didn't 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.560 catch that first, Like you go around the Sun and 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.320 it throws you out of orbit or or yeah, you're 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:51.760 not going not going completely around really close right, Yeah, yeah, 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.119 you have to You have to plan your trajectory just 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:57.240 right so that you are going right or you're getting 0:20:57.240 --> 0:20:59.520 the influence of the plant's gravity, but not so much 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:01.960 that's actually pulling you toward the surface. It's just enough 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:04.959 to sling you a little bite direction you want to go. 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:08.800 You spend a very very short amount of time traveling 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.320 with the planet in its rotational direction, and then you 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.280 use the speed of that planet a moving through space 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:16.480 and be its rotational direction to sling shut you off. 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:20.280 And the voyager spacecraft us that in order to both 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:22.320 visit all the plants they needed to and then to 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:26.600 move toward interstellar space, which they're still heading toward. That's 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:30.199 really smart, you know. They're also their reaction drives that 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:33.600 aren't chemically based, like they're not caused by setting something 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.640 on fire and shooting exhaust out. You can have electrical 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:41.240 reaction drives that like I that are that are throwing 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:44.960 particles at the back, right, and you can have sales 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.320 solar sales. Yeah, that's an interesting one I wanted to 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:51.320 talk about. You know, they harness both the solar wind 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.879 and just the radiation pressure exerted by the sunlight. Right, 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:57.720 because the particles that the sun blasts out actually don't 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:00.200 have mass, or at least we say they are massless, 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:05.919 but they have something called relativistic mass. Yeah. Does that 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:08.520 basically mean that we need this thing for math to work? 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:11.560 So therefore no, no, no, well kind of, but it 0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:15.000 really means that that photons have momentum, and because we 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:18.760 have already defined momentum as mass and velocity, we sort 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:21.080