In reply to Jed Rothwell's message of Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:49:24 -0400: Hi, [snip] >I don't get it. I cannot imagine any material used for the tether would be >strong enough to turn a 100 MW generator. Even 1 MW seems out of the question. [snip] Because any cable needs to be able to at least support it's own weight, a maximum length can be calculated by dividing the tensile strength of the material by the density. For good steel I get 600000 lb/sq. in. divided by the density of iron (7.87 gm/mL) = 176000 ft. At that length, any extra tension (i.e. an addition "real" load), will break it.
Note however that if the cable is going to run at a shallow angle, then this doesn't imply a height of 176000 ft. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk All SPAM goes in the trash unread.
