josh817 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 While I sit on a corner at the track, waiting for cars to spin off and go flying, I become bothered by a question posed to me a few years ago. 1) Suppose you have two computers. One is a standard computer, the other is a computer which is operated hydraulically. All calculations are done via hydraulics. Neglecting actuator speeds, which is faster when running the same computations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Difficult question without a whole lot more details, but in general I'd want to consider the compressibility of the fluid to compare the delay times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Non-compressibility of the fluid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Non-compressibility of the fluid... And therefore... it should be instantaneous (as fast/faster than speed of light?)....? I was waiting for you Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Light probably doesn't have friction to contend with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Fluids do compress. That tiny amount of compression is HUGE compared to the speed of electricity/light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Entrained gasses in fluid compress. The fact that friction does play a part.Abacus wielding Chinese beat computers in complex math calculations in recent history. A hydraulic computer would likely be faster than a human processing that abacus... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 So, which is faster - a manual typewriter or a laser printer? Pretty much the same question, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 So, which is faster - a manual typewriter or a laser printer? Pretty much the same question, correct? Are you suggesting this is a stupid question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Nooooooo - I'd never do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 In a vacuum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Manual typewriter is faster, assuming no typing mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Manual typewriter is faster, assuming no typing mistakes. Ummm.... sorry but until until somebody figures out how to do a hydraulically actuated high res display, the standard computer is going to be faster. I don't know how to make hydraulics emit light - maybe if you use flammable hydraulic fluid... Also, I didn't read all of the comments but I'm pretty sure that hydraulic pressure waves don't propagate at the speed of light, or anywhere even close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Ummm.... sorry but until until somebody figures out how to do a hydraulically actuated high res display, the standard computer is going to be faster. I don't know how to make hydraulics emit light - maybe if you use flammable hydraulic fluid... Also, I didn't read all of the comments but I'm pretty sure that hydraulic pressure waves don't propagate at the speed of light, or anywhere even close to it. Indeed, hence my original comment on the compressibility of fluids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 A manual typewriter will always produce a printed document faster the a computer/printer combination because it combines the typing and printing processes in one step. In a computer/printer combination those steps are separate. The Theres the infamous "PC LOAD LETTER" error. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5QQdNbvSGok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 The speed of light comment was prodding the flames to get your panties in a wad. But, are you trying to say an electron, which has mass, has kinetic energy, and collides with other electrons does not exhibit frictional losses? Conservation of mass and momentum? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drift_velocity http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2910 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I'm watching Office Space now.... No talent assclown... Someone stole my stapler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A939QRRSNV4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Grey 1253841 is always the fastest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I'm pretty sure with a million bucks I could arrange that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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