CapnManx wrote...
MyChemicalBromance wrote...
It's a good theory and I like the initiative, but I'm not so sure it's feasible.
From a narrative standpoint, solving the discharge problem would have been beneficial to military operations even with the relays, so I find it unlikely no one would have found a solution that we can see.
From a technical standpoint, remember that a current must be run through the core to induce a Mass Effect field. Just adding charge wouldn't do anything; the charge is left behind by the current. The excess charge was incidental, not intentional.
To remove electrons from a charged surface, that surface must be exposed to an object with less or opposite charge. This creates an electric potential difference (voltage), which is rectified when the electrons flow (creating a different current) between the surfaces and balance the charge. If the electric potential is great enough (can overcome the permeability of free space), the current can run without direct contact. This is the spark you see from static discharge. The Eezo core doesn't automatically ground out to the ship because it isn't touching anything. It remains to be seen how the Eezo core is suspended, but there are two likely possibilities, the first being that the Mass Effect Field affects the Eezo also, or that Eezo is ferromagnetic and could be suspended by magnetic fields. I would guess a combination of the two.
Your idea for repurposing the charge is good, but the problem comes down to removing the charge in the first place. The charge would have to be removed, as the only way to get Xenon to remove it would be to flood the core with Xenon itself. This would make the prospect of preventing a grounding even more complicated.
Ultimately, we would also need more information on the electrostatic properties of Eezo to make any sound design anyway. Funneling the charge to Ion drives could work, and ion drives would be a great means of long-distance travel with low fueld concerns (They wouldn't be as fast, but still extremely fast with Mass Effect Fields).
Surely if it needed to be removed, then it couldn't discharge into the ship at all?
The charge has to jump from the core to someplace or it would just sit there forever; and it'll always jump by the easiest and most conductive route. Surrounding the core with conductors that will carry the charge to the ion beams (which are positively charged and will thus act as an attractant) would prevent it from jumping anywhere else.
Or am I overlooking something?
The idea is somewhat sound, I was just pointing out (electrical) conceptual errors. As I said though, we can't know for sure without more info on Eezo.
The biggest problem will be the transfer of charge.
It is not obvious how Element Zero becomes charged at all. An atomic number of zero implies that it has no protons, and thus really isn't made of anything.
"Element One" (Hydrogen) consists of one proton and one electron. If you remove that proton, all you have is an electron (and electrons are not Eezo
, which would not attract more electrons.
A force that could bind electrons to electrons would be extremely strong, and it is likely that we could not create a strong enough potential difference (within the confines of a ship) to facilitate a current that would discharge the core in any meaningful way. This is likely why they must discharge into planets, as nothing smaller would allow that great of a potential difference. It is also stated that it takes longer to discharge into smaller planets, which is consistant with the "low current" scenario I described.
It may not be impossible to solve this problem (The Citadel never discharged, and the Reapers apparently didn't have to), but we couldn't solve it without more info on Element Zero and the forces involved in Mass Effect fields. I'm guessing it's beyond 2186 tech as well, since it is definitely something they would have solved if they could.
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