Here is one analogy I've heard for how the warp drive works, not sure how accurate it is since I have heard many ideas for how warp drive could work.

Imagine a cylindrical cup with an ant on the top rim of it. He looks across and sees a spot on the rim opposite him. Naturally he begins walking directly towards that spot, but in doing so, he has to crawl down the inside of the cup, accross the bottom, back up the other side, and then he's there. From his perspective taking the short route around the rim of the cup wouldn't be obvious, because he wouldn't even be aiming towards his destination, but the warp drive allows you to go that way... or something...

And yeah, when you move at some velocity, time slows down for you by a factor of gamma = 1 / Sqrt[1 - (V^2 / C^2)] where V is the velocity of the object and C is the speed of light. The length of the object also decreases by that factor. And the relativistic mass increases, which is why it is basically impossible to actually reach the speed of light (it would take infinite energy).

Relativistic mass = E/C^2 where it's useful to express E in terms of momentum:
Sqrt[(p^2 * C^2) + (M^2 * C^4)] where M is the rest mass of the particle. Where p is M*v*gamma. Ok I'm forgetting what my point of saying this was... Oh yeah so you can see from the above equation that a particle with mass traveling at the speed of light has infinite energy (you get a divide-by-zero in the gamma factor)

For something like a photon which has no mass (unless it's in plasma.... but that's a different matter) you can see you get 0/0 so they 'cancel' out and things with no mass can go the speed of light.

Does the Enterprise-E sperate like the Enterprise-D does?

Posted by Frozen Here is one analogy I've heard for how the warp drive works, not sure how accurate it is since I have heard many ideas for how warp drive could work. Imagine a cylindrical cup with an ant on the top rim of it. He looks across and sees a spot on the rim opposite him. Naturally he begins walking directly towards that spot, but in doing so, he has to crawl down the inside of the cup, accross the bottom, back up the other side, and then he's there. From his perspective taking the short route around the rim of the cup wouldn't be obvious, because he wouldn't even be aiming towards his destination, but the warp drive allows you to go that way... or something... And yeah, when you move at some velocity, time slows down for you by a factor of gamma = 1 / Sqrt[1 - (V^2 / C^2)] where V is the velocity of the object and C is the speed of light. The length of the object also decreases by that factor. And the relativistic mass increases, which is why it is basically impossible to actually reach the speed of light (it would take infinite energy). Relativistic mass = E/C^2 where it's useful to express E in terms of momentum: Sqrt[(p^2 * C^2) + (M^2 * C^4)] where M is the rest mass of the particle. Where p is M*v*gamma. Ok I'm forgetting what my point of saying this was... Oh yeah so you can see from the above equation that a particle with mass traveling at the speed of light has infinite energy (you get a divide-by-zero in the gamma factor) For something like a photon which has no mass (unless it's in plasma.... but that's a different matter) you can see you get 0/0 so they 'cancel' out and things with no mass can go the speed of light.

Ah, bullshit... all you have to do is say "engage" and it works.

Samurai

Posted by Canadian Tire Does the Enterprise-E sperate like the Enterprise-D does?

I've seen specs that suggests it does. The separation point is just fore of the forward quantum torpedo launcher.

Cool.

Oh, wow. This thread just confused the hell out of me. It goes from 11/01/04 to 11/01/05.

Oh, yeah, and I'm with Samurai's 1yr old post. Engage conquers the physics. Well, only when Picard sais it.

Posted by Samurai there just wasn't that level of emotional attachment with 1701-D. When it got dinged up in Generations, it sucked, but not 'sucked'. All I could say was that it was their first movie out and they already totalled the Enterprise! The insurance company must've been pissed.

I cried when the 1701-D got f**ked up. I screamed, I wanted to hurt someone badly. I MEAN COME ON!!! HALF A MOVIE?? WTF IS THAT??? Arg. I loved that ship.

-O.

I'm more partial to 1701 as I like the lines. (Simpler and cleaner). However, I love all the other features of 1701-D (like the holodecks).

Also, the ability to separate was available in all versions as either section could be considered a 'lifeboat' in case one section became too badly damaged to house the crew or even to safely travel with the rest of the vessel. However, the saucer section could travel only at impulse drive after separation as the main warp drive was contained in the drive section. At least the crew would be kept alive until rescue ships arrived.

I had a hard time deciding...

I'm not a huge fan of the pre-retrofit 1701, but I love the post retrofit 1701/1701-A. The 1701-B was nice too, but not as nice as a refit Constitution class. 1701-C I hate, hands down. I never liked the 1701-D... the funky shaped saucer section along with the squat engineering hull/nacells really turned me off. 1701-E is downright sexy though.

Now if we want a super sexy ship...how about the Valdore class Romulan warbird?

Posted by WarBird69 I had a hard time deciding... I'm not a huge fan of the pre-retrofit 1701, but I love the post retrofit 1701/1701-A. The 1701-B was nice too, but not as nice as a refit Constitution class. 1701-C I hate, hands down. I never liked the 1701-D... the funky shaped saucer section along with the squat engineering hull/nacells really turned me off. 1701-E is downright sexy though. Now if we want a super sexy ship...how about the Valdore class Romulan warbird?

one design that i never liked was the type the USS Reliant belonged to (Miranda?)... it looked like a 5 year old designed it.

I personally like the design of the E, but I absolutely LOVE the bridge of the A!