Warp Mechanics 101

Starfleet Academy Instructional Video on Basic Warp Mechanics.
May not be totally accurate, as my technical knowledge isn't perfect.
This was a university assignment for 3D Computer Animation.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• starfleet
• academy
• warp
• core
• mechanics
• star
• trek
• instructional
• video
• gamma
• two
• zero

[lucifersangel87]

I stand corrected in that Impulse engines are not directly powered by the Warp Core. They are, in fact powered by nuclear fusion reactors, which power a giant magnetocoil, producing thrust.

However, Impulse speed would not be possible without the Warp Drive negating the relativistic weight of the ship.

A short blast from the impulse engines before they eject the warp core will see them coast far enough away from the ejected core before it blows.

[lucifersangel87]

there's an easy and a hard answer to that. the easy one being that it had to blow up for the plot...

the hard answer is more of a guess, as there's been no official documented evidence about this incident. However, i believe that a catastrophic cascade failure ocurred, possibly overloading or fusing the ejection control system. Of course, the computer had already raised forcefields, but no forcefield is strong enough to contain an antimatter explosion!

[josda1000]

wow that was awesome... now i know why there were three arms under the enterprise in first contact, or at least i assume that's what they were... the maglocks?

[lucifersangel87]

the three arms you're referring to, maglocks, are the magnetic locking devices for the primary deflector dish. Again, more of a plot device, really. I guess they were designed for exactly this purpose - should something go critically wrong with the primary deflector, maglocks would be released and the dish would part from the ship. Obviously this would all be automatic under normal circumstances. So it has nothing to do with warp core ejection.

[jutau]

@Pooua I know. I think you agree with me about how M-AM reaction isn't 100% efficient. But you're right about neutrino 'particles'. In reading back what I wrote, I think I was trying to state that energy isn't the only product that comes out of the reaction so it can't be 100% efficient.

[Pooua]

@jutau No, matter-antimatter annihilation does not produce 100% energy. It also produces several particles. Neutrinos are particles, not pure energy. They do conduct energy away from the reaction.

[SilvaPauloRafael]

eu quero !

[jutau]

@cyllocybin Not that I read physics papers regularly on this topic, but i do recall reading something about matter/ antimatter reactions do release 100% energy but in a variety of forms. Not all the forms of energy are readily usable so its only as efficient as what we can extract and use. I do remember reading that most of the energy is released as neutrino emission and since we can't use it, it's consider a lost.

[cyllocybin]

@jutau cont, are you talking about practical physics? or are you bringing it direct from what they say on star trek? as i said before anti matter is sparse. i have never heard of neutrino emissions from scientists at particle accelerators, maybe it does happen and i just dont know about it lol. but im just stating that as far as i knew matter/antimatter annihilation was meant to give 100% energy with nothing being wasted and no bi products. but time and science changes like the wind.

[cyllocybin]

@jutau well it wouldnt be a very good energy source if you do lose half of the energy. but its like it says on the tin. 1 particle of matter + 1 particle of anti matter = particle annihilation. if neutrinos do come into it im guessing they can be syphoned off as extra energy. but the main blast is pure energy. it all comes down to einstein really, if i take what he said correctly that matter and energy are interchangeable, im not a scientist im a builder lol. so i really dont know. cont

[jutau]

@cyllocybin I thought you lose half the energy to the emission of neutrinos after matter and antimatter annihilate each other.

[dfoxx007]

Can they generate weak or decaying warp fields to get away from an exploding core? Seems like I read somewhere that they do something like that to keep their torpedoes going when fired at warp

[SirKalon]

The warp engine does NOT provide power for sub light(or impulse) speeds. The impulse engines do that and they are separate from the warp engine!