Speaking of unusual thought experiments involving centripetal force, later found to be real products - here is a surprising old electrical device which explores the intersection of charge and mechanical spin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3EpyjATE48 It is a rotating anode tube (valve to the Brits). This is new to me but apparently it was once a commercial product. Strange device and stranger experimenter. High voltage brings out the truly weird (and truly wired(. Not to mention the peril to the guy’s puppies. A crowded HV lab and puppies – what could go wrong? Anyway – for the alternative energy enthusiast out there in Volandia, this particular device seems to explore the question of charge, spin and conservation of energy in a way that makes one wonder about the actual history of it. Was it efficient at all? One place the larger implications might come up is in automotive engineering. Imagine an internal combustion engine with a modified turbocharger spinning at near the limit of mechanical tensile strength of the rotor – say 150,000 RPM, where the spin itself can be considered “free” in a way (any extra energy derived is free). The question then becomes - can a high speed rotor be modified to also act as an electrode, providing HV electrical charge ? Jones
