FYI Feynman on the Papp engine and explosion

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/comments/papparticle2.html

Originally published in LASER, Journal of the Southern Californian Skeptics

quote << The engine started to go around, and there was a bit of
disappointment: the propeller of the fan went around quietly without
the noise of an ordinary engine with powerful explosions in the
cylinders, and everything- it looked very much like an electric motor.

Mr. Papp pulled the plug from the wall, and the fan propeller
continued to turn. 'You see, this cord has nothing to do with the
engine; it's only supplying power to the instruments,' he said. Well,
that was easy. He's got a storage battery inside the engine. 'Do you
mind if I hold the plug?' I asked? 'Not at all,' replied Mr. Papp, and
he handed it to me.

It wasn't very long before he asked me to give me back the plug. 'I'd
like to hold it a little longer,' I said, figuring that if I stalled
around enough, the damn thing would stop.

Pretty soon Mr. Papp was frantic, so I (Richard Feynman) gave him back
the plug and he plugged it back into the wall. A few moments later
there was a big explosion>> end quote



Harry

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