Weighty problem
Question: In 1938, while I was staying at a remote country house, I helped to
wind a suspended weight from the hall up into the roof space. As I recall, its
geared descent generated electricity which lit the sitting room throughout the
evening.
But, according to my calculations, a 1-tonne weight descending from a height
of 10 metres would provide 30 watts of power for no more than 55 minutes.
Can my recollection be correct? And does anyone have any record of such a
device and how it works?
Answer: The weighted device Mr Hill saw would have…
