Science Trivia Questions

Discussion in 'Science' started by HereWeGoAgain, Jan 29, 2018.

  1. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Not General Relativity
    Not walking
    One cubic Chuck
    And not peanuts. we already answered that one - transistors!

    Funny thing about Einstein, he never got a Nobel Prize for Relativity. His was for the photoelectric effect - the core principle behind solar cells. And he had to give the money to his ex wife. She is rumored to have helped develop Relativity. No one knows for sure.

    Also rumored: Einstein slept with Marilyn Monroe - a man after my own heart in more ways than one! :D
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  2. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Another Question: If you hold a coffee cup out in in front of you and drop it, there is a very slight chance that for a fleeting moment - a small fraction of a second - the cup will not fall.

    What effect or "force" makes this possible?
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  3. camp_steveo

    camp_steveo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2008
    Messages:
    23,014
    Likes Received:
    6,601
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Mt Washington
    https://www.mountwashington.org/about-us/history/world-record-wind.aspx
     
  4. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
  5. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    27,293
    Likes Received:
    4,346
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Inertia
     
  6. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    27,293
    Likes Received:
    4,346
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Commuter train
     
  7. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    27,293
    Likes Received:
    4,346
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Well, you don't want wind speeds of 100-200 mph for a wind turbine. It's too damaging (because of the high amount of power involved).
     
  8. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Not if they're designed for winds that high.

    Not a commuter train. :)
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  9. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Good guess. I mean it actually stalls for a very brief time.
     
  10. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    27,293
    Likes Received:
    4,346
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    None are designed for such high winds. The extra engineering/weight, etc. to get them to work at that velocity would take away any.

    Ok, then, intercity train.

    https://www.afdc.energy.gov/data/10311
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  11. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    27,293
    Likes Received:
    4,346
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Not unless you're pushing it up. Inertia would cause such a stall.
     
  12. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Inertia determines the rate of acceleration, not when it begins to accelerate.
     
  13. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Wind turbines can be designed for wind that high. And with as much as 100 times the yield as compared to a standard turbine. That would actually make wind power practical.

    People have been working on this application for some time now.

    Not trains.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  14. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Question: What common household product or substance would you want to mix in similar proportions with Muriatic Acid [driveway cleaner], if you had a sore throat and were going to gargle with it?
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2018
  15. truth and justice

    truth and justice Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2011
    Messages:
    25,732
    Likes Received:
    8,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Jet stream though the wind turbine would be going at the same speed unless "tied"
     
    HereWeGoAgain likes this.
  16. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Haha, bingo! The Jet Stream. They are called Flying Electric Generators - FEGs.

    Interestingly, in one of the sequences in the 1936 HG Well's movie, Things to Come, they show flying electric generators.

    Part of what makes this practical are very high voltage electric generators, which allow for lightweight parts and a relatively small and light transmission wire to carry the power back to earth. A bunch of engineers and I did the calculations for this and it certainly appears to be feasible using today's technology. And by using ideal locations like the top of the pacific coast mountain range, you can launch from 10,000 feet or more, meaning a 15,000 foot tether puts you right in the heart of the jet stream.

    While the long-term potential of very high altitude generators excites me, engineers are working on more immediate and smaller, low-altitude technologies, as shown in the first video. The second video show one high-altitude concept.

    http://www.123seminarsonly.com/EE/Flying-Electric-Generator-Feg-Technology.html



     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2018
    truth and justice likes this.
  17. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Questions and answers so far:

    What genetically-inherited disorder [in humans] can prevent death from a common disease? - Sickle Cell Anemia [by perdidochas]

    Where are you if a dimension of space, and the dimension of time, have reversed roles? - No Answer

    What didn't exist in the early 1900s, but now almost everyone [in the developed world] has millions and even billions of them? - Transistors [by WillReadmore]

    Name at least one time machine in common use. - Satellites, cars, bicycles, skateboards... Any machine that allows motion. Motion slows down time. [by WillReadmore]

    What scientific theory has correctly predicted more than all other theories combined? - NA

    What common form of transportation gets the equivalent of 300-600 miles per gallon of gas, for one person? - NA

    Where would you have to locate a wind turbine for generating electrical power, if you want typical wind speeds of 100 - 200 mph?
    - The Jet Stream [by Truth and Justice]

    If you hold a coffee cup out in in front of you and drop it, there is a very slight chance that for a fleeting moment, for a small fraction of a second, the cup will not fall. What effect or "force" makes this possible? - NA

    What common household product or substance would you want to mix in similar proportions with Muriatic Acid [driveway cleaner], if you had a sore throat and were going to gargle with it? - NA
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2018
  18. truth and justice

    truth and justice Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2011
    Messages:
    25,732
    Likes Received:
    8,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Newton's third law?
     
  19. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Newton doesn't solve this one.

    If you heat the object, the effect could be stronger.
     
  20. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I'll give this one away since it's rather unfair and one of my favorite bits of science trivia. I've stumped dozens of Physicists with this one. It's a subtlety of the math that a lot of people don't catch. But I had a professor who made a point of it.

    The answer is, you're inside of a black hole [actually a specific kind of black hole]. When you traverse the event horizon, using the Schwarzschild Metric,
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_metric
    we find that the roles of the dimensions have changed. So for example, if you hit your thrusters [assuming you haven't been spaghettified] you change your position in time, and not space.

    A couple of other favorites:
    If the earth was compressed into a black hole, it would have a radius of about 9 millimeters.

    According to Michio Kaku, if you want to know what it looks like inside of a black hole, look around your room. We could be in one. The universe meets all of the criteria for being a black hole.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
  21. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2010
    Messages:
    78,717
    Likes Received:
    19,868
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Epsom salt

    edit: Since one is an acid, the other may be a base. Baking soda.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
    HereWeGoAgain likes this.
  22. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Muriatic acid is just another name for hydrochloric acid - HCl.
    Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate - NaHCO3

    HCl + NaHCO3 --> NaCl + H2O + CO2 - Salt water and carbon dioxide. :)

    My favorite answer is lye - Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH - which is the active chemical in most products like Drano and other drain openers.

    HCl + NaOH --> NaCl + H2O

    Mix lye [Drano] in the proper proportions with driveway cleaner and you have pure salt water. [not to be done at home! You have to know what you're doing]
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
  23. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Question 10: On what moon is it possible, in principle, to run and jump off, and escape the gravity of that moon?

    It might be tough to do running but you could certainly do it on a bicycle. You could take a jump and land on the nearest planet. What a ride that would be!
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
  24. HereWeGoAgain

    HereWeGoAgain Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2016
    Messages:
    27,942
    Likes Received:
    19,979
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Question 11: Where might it one day be possible for a tourist to put on a set of wings, and fly like a bird?
     
  25. mamooth

    mamooth Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2012
    Messages:
    6,422
    Likes Received:
    2,186
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Deimos has an escape velocity of about 12 mph, so that might qualify. That's the best known small moon. There are also many small moons around Jupiter and Saturn that might also qualify. Though running and biking would be difficult, as friction is required for traction, and some gravity is needed for the friction. A special bike tied to some kind of rail would work.

    Titan is a good guess. Low gravity, a thick calm atmosphere. You just have to keep from freezing solid.

    Or, like in the Heinlein Story "The Menace from Earth", an air-filled lunar cavern might work.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
    HereWeGoAgain likes this.

Share This Page