How the ZPM works

[jastewa]

Okay I have been thinking long and hard I think that the ZPM works off the lighting bolts that are produced on the planet. When the storm comes then the lighting goes through the city into the ZMP and charges them up. If this is not the case I think they should try and recharge the old ZMP them find and see if it works. Writers for stargate hear my plea!!!!!

[spg_1983]

the ZPM generates energy by drawing energy from subspace. inside the ZPM is a self contained region of subspace and the ZPM draws energy from this the actual proccess as to how it does this or how the Ancients made them is unknown to us. as far as charging one goes, we are talking about containing portions of subspace in a device the sive of a toaster, until we know exactly how the ancients managed that in the first place there is no way we are gonna managed to recharge one, if thats even possible

[gallywag]

the zpm basically uses zero point energy that is contained within space but the ancients uses it in sub space but what the diferance is dunno concidering zpe is suposto be unlimited in its power i a zpm shouldnt run out but zero point energy is only background radiation as for recharging 1 from lightning i dont think its possible

rodney had a therory about creating a feed back loop from the gate to power a dummy zpm but thats slightly diffrent

[Crazedwraith]

Basically As far as I can tell the ZPM isn't a power generator at all just a whack off interdimensional battery.

The ZPM creates a sort of unbalance between its self and subspace. Thus energy pours through. This is similar to the potential difference in a battery that makes current flow.

Eventually the PD of a battery evens out and becomes 'flat' and thus no current flows. The maximum entrophy of the ZPM is the same thing. Whatever property makes enrgy pour into the ZPM from subspace evententauly degrades until its equal to that of the subspace domain. Thus no more energy flows into it for use.

[Heaven]

the ZPM generates energy by drawing energy from subspace. inside the ZPM is a self contained region of subspace and the ZPM draws energy from this the actual proccess as to how it does this or how the Ancients made them is unknown to us. as far as charging one goes, we are talking about containing portions of subspace in a device the sive of a toaster, until we know exactly how the ancients managed that in the first place there is no way we are gonna managed to recharge one, if thats even possible

yup, as i understand it the stargate works on the same principle, it draws energy from a power source in the dialer (or in our case generator room) and then uses this initial energy to tap energy from subspace and create the wormhole.
the gate is also a huge superconductor and so it would absorb any energy fed into it, and allow for manual dialing at least once as some leftover energy would remain in the superconducting material. i belive the device oneill built in "the fifth race" that he hooked to the power grid also works on the same principle, it used the power source from t'ealc's weapon to draw energy from subspace, thats how the gate got the huge power boost and had enough power to dial to another galaxy. now the problem with this technique is it takes initial energy in order to tap into subspace and it seems the amount of energy you can draw from subspace is limited by the amount of initial energy you are able to generate which seems unreliable for long periods of time.
now as mckay explained it the ZPM draws energy from a self contained region of subspacetime i.e self sustaining subspace link, and so its possible to draw huge amounts of energy at a time, and also provides reliable power generation for very long periods of time. the downside is energy in that region would eventually be depleted.
now as for recharging ZPMS thats quite impossible for us unless we figure out how to create a self sustaining subspace link. remember recharge is not like reboot, you will only be able to draw as much energy from a "recharged" ZPM as u put into it (assuming it worked like a battery).

[_Owen_]

I think that you got that idea from the two parter "The Storm" and "The Eye." However this is not the case as the previous posts state.

As for recharging the ZPM, from what we know the ZPM is constantly locked onto a region of subspace, then it draws energy from that region, when the energy in that region is expended, the ZPM is dead, now there are no facts to back this up but, I think that normally the energy in subspace would be replenished but since the region of subspace is contained by the ZPM it can't be replenished, so when the ZPM dies you just need to lock onto a diffrent area in subspace, then your ZPM would automatically be recharged, the region of subspace that was depleted would be replenished with energy, so you could keep doint this for ever.

And yes, I know, there are no facts to back this up, so please don't point this out to me.

Owen Macri

[Jprime]

Hey you know I was thinking about this the other day, when a friend asked me how the guys in 'Sphere' planned to use a black hole as a source of energy. The idea is pretty much the same with a ZPM, just on a smaller scale:

My idea is that you'd use the sucking forces as a source of kinetic energy and convert it into something you can use, like electricity. Its like smashing a pezio disc with a hammer and coming up with a thousand volts, exept the 'disc' is some space-age Ancient material and the 'hammer' is a miniature black hole.

[_Owen_]

Kinetic energy can easily be converted into heat energy and other forms of energy, this could be an idea for another power source, however I do not belive that this is how the ZPM works. The ZPM uses vacum energy which is very much diffrent from your idea, however there could be a way to draw power directly from a black hole. Maybe using its gravity.

Owen Macri

[SmallTimePerson]

you will only be able to draw as much energy from a "recharged" ZPM as u put into it (assuming it worked like a battery).

well no. If you had something in the Z.P.M that can be replaced, all it needed was a zap, then you could generate more power. This can be related to nuclear fusion (or controlled H-bombs)

[Three PhDs]

Okay I have been thinking long and hard

Did it hurt?

I think that the ZPM works off the lighting bolts that are produced on the planet. When the storm comes then the lighting goes through the city into the ZMP and charges them up.

If you think that, you've clearly missed all significance of the title "Zero Point Module".

If this is not the case I think they should try and recharge the old ZMP them find and see if it works. Writers for stargate hear my plea!!!!!

Yeah, I might just try charging my car battery with a lightning rod.

[iLemon]

What exactly is subspace?

[Three PhDs]

What exactly is subspace?

A *completely* fictional concept of sci-fi where the laws of physics can be thrown out of the window for dramatic licence. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Ollock]

A *completely* fictional concept of sci-fi where the laws of physics can be thrown out of the window for dramatic licence. Nothing more, nothing less.

I think that term was thrown in there either as a tribute to Star Trek or a badly-advised attempt to make it sound 'scientific'. In this case, I think the 'region of subspace' would be better described as a finite 'bubble universe

[freyr's mother]

the ZPM generates energy by drawing energy from subspace. inside the ZPM is a self contained region of subspace and the ZPM draws energy from this the actual proccess as to how it does this or how the Ancients made them is unknown to us. as far as charging one goes, we are talking about containing portions of subspace in a device the sive of a toaster, until we know exactly how the ancients managed that in the first place there is no way we are gonna managed to recharge one, if thats even possible

How about creating a new self contained region of subspace time to power the zpm from.

[spg_1983]

How about creating a new self contained region of subspace time to power the zpm from.

how? we dont know how the Ancients managed to do it in the first place, let alone try to do it ourselves.