Posted by John Colins (194.164.38.151) on April 27, 2003 at 23:56:10:
In Reply to: Re: Flywheel posted by MrTim on April 27, 2003 at 21:06:33:
JC - In answer to Mr. Tim's (?) question. It was mentioned that the speed was about 26 revs per minute when running free and about 20 under load. The assumption is that it then returned to 26 rpm once the load was removed. No a flywheel can't get its energy back once it has expended some of its potential energy, unless it gets an additional input.
John C.
And another one, if a load is put on a flywheel, wouldn't that slow it down even more? And, (maybe John Collins could help clear this point up), when the wheel was being tested by having it perform work, and the load was removed, it accelerated back up to it's maximum speed, did it not? Can a flywheel which loses potential energy by performing work do that, i.e. gain it back?