Magnetorquer's Power

[acealeam]

Would a magnetorquer work in the atmosphere, and close to the ground? And if so, how powerful would it be? This would be used to hypothetically dampen a bow's movement and increase it's stability as a bow stabilizer.

Now, you may all me shoot me down.

[diomedea]

It would. As a magnetorquer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetorquer) works because of the interaction of its own electromagnetic field with the ambient magnetic field, and due to the conformation of the Earth's magnetic field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field), it would be more efficient where the latter is most intense, that being close to the magnetic poles and less efficient near the equator. On the contrary, high orbits that bring a vessel far from an environmental magnetic field will render a magnetorquer useless. That is the case with geosynchronous orbits.

However, the force provided by this device is quite faint, useful only with objects in space. In your example as a bow stabilizer (e.g. talking of a ship), the forces that are exerted on the bow from the environment are many orders of magnitude greater than what even a very large magnetorquer could generate.

[acealeam]

It would. As a magnetorquer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetorquer) works because of the interaction of its own electromagnetic field with the ambient magnetic field, and due to the conformation of the Earth's magnetic field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field), it would be more efficient where the latter is most intense, that being close to the magnetic poles and less efficient near the equator. On the contrary, high orbits that bring a vessel far from an environmental magnetic field will render a magnetorquer useless. That is the case with geosynchronous orbits.

However, the force provided by this device is quite faint, useful only with objects in space. In your example as a bow stabilizer (e.g. talking of a ship), the forces that are exerted on the bow from the environment are many orders of magnitude greater than what even a very large magnetorquer could generate.

Thought so. The typical three coils wont work then, hah.