Portal logic problem

[Shemming]

Well while playing portal me and my freind thought up this,well he did but anyway:
you get two portals one on the roof one on the floor, then you get a iron bar the lenth of from roof to floor and place it in the portals.Next you drop the bar a bit and weld it to itself because its the exact lenth from roof to floor. You then drop the iron bar so it indefintly falls.

What happens when you move one of the portals?

 

[-=Spy=-]

Presumably, it would snap. Or bend.

 

[Joe Deadman]

Presumably, it would snap. Or bend.

Either this or the same, but to the universe instead of the bar.

 

[johnzaku]

That's a good point I agree though, it'd be severed

 

[Alipax]

If you want the logical answer:
Won't happen 'cause portals can't exist in our dimension.

If you want the non-ligical answer:
The same thing that happens when you divide by zero.

 

[grimsprice]

As the portal closes on its 2D plane, it shears the metal.

Simple really. See, in this particular fiction, the portal is a 2D aperture connecting two planes of space. Making them overlap, generating a wormhole. The apertures expand from a single point, and close to the same point as the wormhole collapses.

Now here is a really good one. If you put a portal on the ceiling and on the floor, and got a heavy thing to fall through them perpetually, would the planet you are standing on start to move towards you?

Remember, gravity is two objects mutually pulling on each other, accelerating towards each other. When the two objects hit each other, they impart the force back on to each other... So what if they never hit? Can you drive a planet with a series of perpetual falling portals?

Can you use the falling object to produce dynamo energy to power the portal device? Gravity powered perpetual motion machine anyone?

Answer those.

 

[Ekit]

The bar would crash into the floor? Maybe break when it it hit the ground.

 

[XzarTheMad]

As the portal closes on its 2D plane, it shears the metal.

Simple really.

QFT.
Exactly this. This is an old question, by the way, for some reason everyone loves to ask this as if it's some huge mystery.

 

[insectoid]

As the portal closes on its 2D plane, it shears the metal.

This. Isn't this why you die if you are standing in a portal when creating a new one?

 

[grimsprice]

As the portal closes on its 2D plane, it shears the metal.

This. Isn't this why you die if you are standing in a portal when creating a new one?

Yeah, and if you don't, then you should.

 

[Lyri]

Well while playing portal me and my freind thought up this,well he did but anyway:
you get two portals one on the roof one on the floor, then you get a iron bar the lenth of from roof to floor and place it in the portals.Next you drop the bar a bit and weld it to itself because its the exact lenth from roof to floor. You then drop the iron bar so it indefintly falls.

What happens when you move one of the portals?

You'd just have a bit of a pole poking out of the other side.

If it's already "The length of roof to floor" and welded to itself, it would never fall to begin with.
It would just be there.

 

[grimsprice]

You'd just have a bit of a pole poking out of the other side.

If it's already "The length of roof to floor" and welded to itself, it would never fall to begin with.
It would just be there.

I beg to differ, gravity wouldn't just say "well fuck that" and give up.

 

[Lyri]

You'd just have a bit of a pole poking out of the other side.

If it's already "The length of roof to floor" and welded to itself, it would never fall to begin with.
It would just be there.

I beg to differ, gravity wouldn't just say "well fuck that" and give up.

The portals are just windows, there is no "space in between".

The pole wouldn't fall because it would already be together.
There is no where for it to move.

 

[grimsprice]

The portals are just windows, there is no "space in between".

The pole wouldn't fall because it would already be together.
There is no where for it to move.

What do you mean there isn't any space in between? That wouldn't matter, an object sitting on a table exerts pressure on the table which can be measured. Gravity generates pressure, so what happens to the pressure that gravity generates in the metal pole?


So you could stand on your own head and not fall? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[Lyri]

What do you mean there isn't any space in between? That wouldn't matter, an object sitting on a table exerts pressure on the table which can be measured. Gravity generates pressure, so what happens to the pressure that gravity generates in the metal pole?


So you could stand on your own head and not fall? That doesn't make any sense.

Because of how the portals work.

The new ceiling and floor surfaces would become the pole, once the portals are there.

Once one of the portals is moved, yes it would drop.

 

[Paksenarrion]

Can you use the falling object to produce dynamo energy to power the portal device? Gravity powered perpetual motion machine anyone?

Hmm...a very dense magnet continuously falling, driving a generator built around it? That would definitely solve the world's energy problems.

The question is, how many portal pairs can there be in existence? If more than one pair can be created, we can have one of these perpetual dynamos in each city. If not...?

 

[AyrSuppli]

Holy shat. Don't try that at home.

 

[VladShadeu]

@Grimsprice: Reading your post incorrectly (as i did) my best response is "Yes, you can stand on your own head and not fall. It's called breakdancing."

My question is similar to Paksennarions: Who's to say we can even have ONE portal pair beyond the first? Chell was the only known operator of a portal gun in the game and a portal was closed for every one opened. So I imagine if two guns existed, someone opening a blue portal would close the other guys blue portal.

Also, since the only thing established as necessary for a portal is a flat surface, could one be opened on, say, a piece of plywood? Then what happens if the portals touch?

EDIT: Oh, I'd also like to make clear my stance on the initial issue: Yes, it would just shear the metal, if you look VERY closely as a portal closes, it actually shrinks. When it got smaller than the pole, it would just cut it. Or would it fuse into the original surface the portal was on?

 

[Kpt._Rob]

If you do that then you anger the portal god, who will probably use the now welded metal bar to somehow impale you.