how much power does the zpm produce?

[valha'lla]

Actually I had to go back and watch that episode "Zero Hour" Where Baal wanted "Camelass" (I already miss those quips).
And also where the plant was taking over. "Attack of the killer Ferns"

I went straight to that Episode and Carter Said Verbatim "I was reading Dr. Lee report about the tainted ZPM, I think he may have underestimated the explosive potential. It could have destroyed the entire solar sysem" Jack said "Whats the differance? Sam "Well my point is if we figured it out, so could Baal, he could use it as a weapon against us"....

I think that ZPM was like at half power or less at the time so it could blow over solar system up twice over at least . Also can any one rember how often they had to be changed round in order to keep the shield in atliantis from falling as soon as we arrived from earth that might help with the estimation.

[_Owen_]

Well, I am not sure how much power it had but they made it seem like it was full. The ZPMs where rotated at intervals of approximatley every 3.3 thousand years. I don't think they were fully charged, it is highley unlikley that they were.

Owen Macri

[jaden10]

I think that ZPM was like at half power or less at the time so it could blow over solar system up twice over at least . Also can any one rember how often they had to be changed round in order to keep the shield in atliantis from falling as soon as we arrived from earth that might help with the estimation.

3.3 thousand years.

[jaden10]

Well, I am not sure how much power it had but they made it seem like it was full. The ZPMs where rotated at intervals of approximatley every 3.3 thousand years. I don't think they were fully charged, it is highley unlikley that they were.

Owen Macri

Aw common Owen, we know the Ancients had ego's bigger then the Goa'uld, they most likely kept a damned Generator hooked up to them to keep it juiced up.

But seriously, We all know that the ZPM is one of the most powerful power supplies in the (now) universe. However there is something in one of the spoilers that mentions something even more powerful, and of course this will feed into McKays already bloated Ego, I wonder if he is a Ancient reincarnate....

As for the taining (I am responding to multiple posts here) I doubt it was Naquida, cause even those Naquida is powerful, it isn't powerful enough to assist the ZPM in detonating a force strong enough to cook the entire terran solar system to a singe. If you remember the episode "failsafe" carter mentioned that the asteroids core is made up of Naquida and that something that size exploding would be like a small nova and that Asteroid was at least 100 km long, and we are talking about something the size of a human lung. It was never mentioned how "Camelass" tainted it, but it must have been good like altering the molecular structure of the device where it refocused the energy back into the ZPM causeing a massive overload of ungodly proportions.

And finally, I have a sneaking hunch that they will find a few more ZPMs (fully charged ones) this season.

[Col. Newman]

Aw common Owen, we know the Ancients had ego's bigger then the Goa'uld, they most likely kept a damned Generator hooked up to them to keep it juiced up.

But seriously, We all know that the ZPM is one of the most powerful power supplies in the (now) universe. However there is something in one of the spoilers that mentions something even more powerful, and of course this will feed into McKays already bloated Ego, I wonder if he is a Ancient reincarnate....

As for the taining (I am responding to multiple posts here) I doubt it was Naquida, cause even those Naquida is powerful, it isn't powerful enough to assist the ZPM in detonating a force strong enough to cook the entire terran solar system to a singe. If you remember the episode "failsafe" carter mentioned that the asteroids core is made up of Naquida and that something that size exploding would be like a small nova and that Asteroid was at least 100 km long, and we are talking about something the size of a human lung. It was never mentioned how "Camelass" tainted it, but it must have been good like altering the molecular structure of the device where it refocused the energy back into the ZPM causeing a massive overload of ungodly proportions.

And finally, I have a sneaking hunch that they will find a few more ZPMs (fully charged ones) this season.

actually it was mentioned, he sprayed it with a substance that when exposed to an electrical current is extremly extremly explosive

[aironoeus]

You guys need to get it through your head that using something as a power source is totally different than using it as a bomb.

For example I can take a brick of thorium and put it in a steel can and that can will stay hot because of the neutrons being shot out of the thorium causing heat in the can as they collide with the atoms in the steel.
I can then slap a stirling engine onto that can and it will sit there and use the heat to run a motor or generator by continouosly pumping the heat away to the environment.

So the power output of it as a generator is totally different and far far less than if I can somehow get the thorium to go "supercritical" and convert into total energy.

Furthermore, plutonium and uranium are only 2 of a whole cra*load of radioactive substances.

Also, there are a lot of things that will flouresce or "glow" in the presence of a radioactive substance which can be made into a paint and coated onto something.

Whenever the ZPM is treated as a battery that is bad writing or a characters flaw or your misunderstanding. Subspace is a stupid star trek word. The only thing it could mean that would make sense in this case is that down on an atomic level when the element goes from decaying back to normal it is totally unknown to us as to where the energy comes from that lets it revert back to normal. Atoms have been studied in detail by humans and if a character on a show uses the term "subspace" they are basically saying "it's accessing energy in some space that we can't see because as far as we know we've seen everything."

I appreciate owens enthusiasm but he's not an authority. Neither am I.

The ZPM doesn't deliver energy to its environment. Keeping in mind that this is a fictional device we are talking about here, it probably induces a normally non-radioactive element to go into a beta decay and then uses this beta decay by sucking electrons off of it and then something being called "subspace" is furnishing the energy to let it revert back to normal.
The term "subspace" is another way of saying it's somewhere in the environment but we can't see it and don't know where it is.
In fact that is what ZERO POINT means. Zero point means there is something existing in all space even when it is a complete vaccuum and we can't see it or measure it yet so it has a "zero point". We are saying that it has no dimension because it can't be measured. It is only a temporary term that someone came up with. Don't get stuck on the term "Zero Point."
Eventually we'll figure out what the heck is really going on and the term ZERO POINT will seem silly.

[~Thor~]

I tought zero point refered to 0K.

You guys need to get it through your head that using something as a power source is totally different than using it as a bomb.

Not really, using it as a power source, is just controlling the reaction. Using it as a bomb is inducing an uncontrolled reaction, which releases the energy over an extremely short period of time, as opposed to a long stretch of time. So they are essentially the same, just one happens a lot faster, and is uncontrolled. The total energy output it the same, it just happens over different time span.

Keeping in mind that this is a fictional device we are talking about here, it probably induces a normally non-radioactive element to go into a beta decay and then uses this beta decay by sucking electrons off of it and then something being called "subspace" is furnishing the energy to let it revert back to normal.

I read a theory, which seems a lot more likely as it fits witht the evidence show in the show a lot more, which I will try to explain as best as I can:

In the self contained region of subspace, there is a constant creation/destruction of virtual particles (pairs of matter/antimatter which destroy themself upon creation), this releases energy, which can be captured and used. This energy supply is unlimited, as this is happening all the time. However, sometimes one of these particle can bury out of the bubble, and the other remains inside, with nothing to destroy it. After time these particles will build up and eventually clog up the bubble, stopping it ability to generate energy. To 'recharge' it one simply needs to inject the right amount of matter/antimatter to destroy the clog.

I also think that there is a time dialation device, stored within the ZPM, which increases/decreases the rate of time (and therefor eht reaction speed) of the bubble. Or the ZPM has some other way of increasing/decreasing the speed of the reaction. What camulus did, was some how modified the device to withdraw heaps of energy in a short period of time.

[_Owen_]

Well, it is very possible but when they have all that power it seems stupid to just keep them hooked up to generators. Also, if the generators could generate power fast enough to replace the used power, it was probably extremley powerful. Besides, have a generator constantly hooked up defeats the point of using a Zero Point Module. A ZPM harnesses power that we didn't even know was there, Zero Point Energy from a self contained region of subspace-time. If you want to recharge it all you have to do is lock it onto a new region, Zero Point Energy will probably be recharged in the region that you had used.

Owen Macri

[_Owen_]

Aw common Owen, we know the Ancients had ego's bigger then the Goa'uld, they most likely kept a damned Generator hooked up to them to keep it juiced up.

But seriously, We all know that the ZPM is one of the most powerful power supplies in the (now) universe. However there is something in one of the spoilers that mentions something even more powerful, and of course this will feed into McKays already bloated Ego, I wonder if he is a Ancient reincarnate....

As for the taining (I am responding to multiple posts here) I doubt it was Naquida, cause even those Naquida is powerful, it isn't powerful enough to assist the ZPM in detonating a force strong enough to cook the entire terran solar system to a singe. If you remember the episode "failsafe" carter mentioned that the asteroids core is made up of Naquida and that something that size exploding would be like a small nova and that Asteroid was at least 100 km long, and we are talking about something the size of a human lung. It was never mentioned how "Camelass" tainted it, but it must have been good like altering the molecular structure of the device where it refocused the energy back into the ZPM causeing a massive overload of ungodly proportions.

And finally, I have a sneaking hunch that they will find a few more ZPMs (fully charged ones) this season.

Well, it is very possible but when they have all that power it seems stupid to just keep them hooked up to generators. Also, if the generators could generate power fast enough to replace the used power, it was probably extremley powerful. Besides, have a generator constantly hooked up defeats the point of using a Zero Point Module. A ZPM harnesses power that we didn't even know was there, Zero Point Energy from a self contained region of subspace-time. If you want to recharge it all you have to do is lock it onto a new region, Zero Point Energy will probably be recharged in the region that you had used.

Owen Macri

[Col. Newman]

Well, it is very possible but when they have all that power it seems stupid to just keep them hooked up to generators. Also, if the generators could generate power fast enough to replace the used power, it was probably extremley powerful. Besides, have a generator constantly hooked up defeats the point of using a Zero Point Module. A ZPM harnesses power that we didn't even know was there, Zero Point Energy from a self contained region of subspace-time. If you want to recharge it all you have to do is lock it onto a new region, Zero Point Energy will probably be recharged in the region that you had used.

Owen Macri

owen it's called "edit" use it *cought*spaming*cought* lol

[mightydefiant]

I tought zero point refered to 0K.
Not really, using it as a power source, is just controlling the reaction. Using it as a bomb is inducing an uncontrolled reaction, which releases the energy over an extremely short period of time, as opposed to a long stretch of time. So they are essentially the same, just one happens a lot faster, and is uncontrolled. The total energy output it the same, it just happens over different time span.

Just like if it was a car engine slowly burning gas. But if it burned all the gas at once, it would blow up.

[_Owen_]

Ya, but if it harnessed the energy you could launch your car incredibly fast in a huge burst of power. Why are we talking about this?

Owen Macri

[~Thor~]

Look at the top of this page, and last post of previous page.

[_Owen_]

Lol, sorry, ya, I didn't see the quote in your post, for some reason, it just wasn't there.

Owen Macri

[mightydefiant]

Its ok, humans make mistakes (you are human right, this is a stargate forum after all)