Magnetic Motors - The end of gasoline?

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Aren't trains and roller coasters and things that use magnets on rails powered by electro-magnets? Electricity controlling the magnets.

I know nothing about all this physics stuff, I failed that class in High School, but I do find it interesting and I thank you all for your insight, good or bad.
 
65s said:
Aren't trains and roller coasters and things that use magnets on rails powered by electro-magnets? Electricity controlling the magnets.
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Yep. Electromagnetic roller coasters possess the smoothest acceleration I've ever experienced. It defies description. I haven't looked into the specifics of how it works, but I'd assume that the rate is controlled by changing the offset/alignment between poles.

I hope something like this is proven to work as stated. I built something like the magnetic motor in my head in the late 80s/early 90s and it looked great... until I put everything down on paper. Once it was all laid out in a more linear fashion, it turned out I had devised a very involved generator.
 
needsaresto said:
Many great inventions are "stumbled" upon while the inventor is working on something else.

I hope this is the end of slavery to the oil companies...
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We've already got electric motors that are over 90% efficient, so there isn't much room for improvement there even if these are more efficient. The trouble with electric cars is with the batteries.

The maglev trains and electromagnetic roller coasters need electric power to drive them, just like their wheel or chain driven counterparts. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the electromagnetic coasters store their energy in some sort of ultracapcitor. Now those are a technology that might get some useful results, as they can store a lot more energy than a same sized battery.
 
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