How far apart do I need powered rail to get up a 1 block ledge and maintain speed
I know that to maintain 8m/s (7.9something) on flat ground I have 37 rails between powered rails.
What distance do I need to maintain the same speed if there is a 1 block ledge between powered rails?
Best Answer
Ok I think I figured it out.
On the Minecraft wiki for Minecarts under Loss of Speed says
One unit of kinetic energy could be defined as the energy gained by a cart going down a one block slope, and lost by a cart when it goes up a one block slope.
Later it says
...an initial height of 60 blocks will result in a final height of 40 blocks, a loss of 20 units of potential energy. But if 20 sections of flat track are inserted between the slopes, the final height will be 35. This implies that one unit of energy is lost for every 4 sections of horizontal track traveled...
So to get the same result you need to bring the powered rail 4 blocks closer i.e. 33 blocks between powered rails with a ledge in between.
This can be extended for any number of ledges by subtracting (ledges x 4) from 37.
Hope this helps anyone else who wonders.
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How many blocks apart should powered rails be?
To maintain top speed, place one powered rail every 38 blocks. An empty plain minecart will only travel eight blocks at top speed after passing over three powered rails. If you'd like to save resources, you can space out your powered rails, but your minecarts will lose speed.How far can powered rails be apart uphill?
How far can a Powered Rail push you uphill? A. A powered rail cannot do much on its own. One powered rail going uphill will only push you about four or five blocks uphill.Minecart Rail Efficiency [Minecraft Myth Busting 83]
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