Physics

My father who is a mechanical engineer seems to think that something cannot come from nothing but I think that he is wrong because my father evidently never heard of virtual particles and quantum field theory. Another thing my father believes is that mathematics doesn't really exist in nature but again I think he is wrong on that one because the evidence shows that mathematical relations and functions are an integral part of physics and that physics cannot really be done without the mathematics. So in other words mathematics is part of reality but my father who is not a physicist does not seem to grasp that.

Is it true that if you throw a ball west, with the same power as a ball east, that it will travel further? If so what % distance difference would there be? Does a ball thrown in a straight line north or south actually curve. What's the mathematical function of that line? Would it be variable by altitude and lattitude due to increasing circumference of the rotational circle? How would throwing a ball in an arc or parabola compare to thrown as straight as possible? How does this apply to aviation? How does it affect ballistics. Are nukes programmed to compensate? What about artillery, is the ranging different? If you throw a ball straight up and…

Okay so im quite curious as to the test's performed and theory behind actually "entangling" two particles. All i know so far is that the dual split experiment acts differently depending on whether its being measured or not, such that when it is, we observe a particle going through a slit and when we dont, the particle acts as if it were a wave giving out the distribution that would be expected of a wave. I think this has already been equated to some law of probability that describes how the particle would distribute regardless of its form and by measuring it we are simply capturing an instance of that probability. Or the fact whatever we use to measure interacts with …

Given the strong force keeps protons together in the nucleus, why would the protons not be held in place by the electron orbiting (or existing within an orbital zone) anyway?, i know they are opposite charges so the electron would attract the protons, but because they move so quickly in a very small area, given the probability of it being anywhere within that orbit is equal then the protons wouldn't move anyway, such that by the time its attracted to once place, the electrons moved to the other side and its reversed direction etc etc. (I dont know much about the standard model other than the primary classes, no idea about interaction) Also what stops the electron stic…

How did the earth acquire it's rotation? How fast was it originally spinning and does the suns gravity slow it down. If earth slows down, how does this effect measurements, will GPS need to account for any difference in 100 million years. How does the reduction in speed influence the coriolis effect and how has/will wear the patterns change as a result? Wouldn't a faster spinning earth have a smoother climate/be more uniform or at equilibrium than a slower turning one? Since less rotation would slow the coriolis mixing of the atmosphere, enabling greater areas of variation/ steeper temperature gradients? How does the moons gravity effect the earth's spin?…

I was reading up on dark matter and it is just molecules of energy that made up space. I was wondering if anyone knew if matter could be transfered to dark matter and back.

I need the molar absorption coefficient for sodium chloride at 600 nm... Any help?

Hi. I am not sure whether to put this topic in physics or mathematics, since it's kind of both. I used to take physics courses back when I was an undergraduate student and unfortunately I didn't like them much. Mainly because of how the mathematical models were treated 'poorly'. By that I mean that we lacked rigorous definitions and I wasn't even sure of for instance how regular the functions that we employed were. I once stumbled upon a book whose name I have unfortunately forgotten, but I remember it was about special relativity and it was really written for people with my mindset. To give you an example, it defined a material point as a couple (gamma, m) with gamma …

How hot can be pure energy?

http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/

I want to hear oppinions and your idea of the science behind warp drive. Any idea about it that comes to mind can be disscused.

Forewarning, some of what I am going to say is speculative, but I am not postulating any of it's true, it's for the purposes of my questions. Regardless, if I rant too much feel free to move this thread. 1. Does anyone else have a problem with sharing "space" mentally between the concepts of locality and infinity? To me, the two ideas seem almost mutually exclusive. In an infinite universe the theory of locality implies that there are flat out information disconnects throughout the universe, because you can have empty regions of space so large, the expansion rate is faster than light and no information enters the region or leaves. Places where no information is or eve…

This is a general question really. What is the limit for things we can measure? for example we can see single atoms through a powerfull microscope i believe but we cant see the electron valence orbitals as described by schrodiners equations, i mean we take the math behind it and test it by how chemicals react and form shapes based on what would be expected from the equations but we cant see a single instance of an electron can we? I dont know maybe the guys at CERN can and if they can is it for a temporary moment? And what do they use to capture an electron moving? Im guessing camera's dont have that good a lens or frames per second so it must be electro magnetic right? s…

Hello all. To maintain a 'fluent' conversation with a Martian colonization, the propagation delay would make it very different from what we are used here. Would the delays be different using lightwaves instead of radiowaves ? If a straight theoretical rod, (unbendable, uncompressible, unstretchable) extending between Mars and Earth is mechanically end-pushed to mean 'one' and pulled to mean 'zero' as method of archaic 'modulation'... What would be theoretically the transmission delay ?

There are many types of waveforms that exist in the today. Longitudinal waves Transverse waves Surface waves Is there any machinery that can capture any of these waves more specifically these types SoundWaves SquareWaves SineWaves ElectroMagnetic Waves Anything that you guys know of that can capture or see how these waves look in action. All in the name of science! thanks in advance!

Hello all, I spend a LOT of time learning random bits of science, math, etc. But this is my form of entertainment, not a hobby or profession. But that leaves tons of gaps. So I decided to finally start asking some of the weird questions I have in my head. I am sure some will be dumb or have obvious answers but whatever. So the main 2 that compelling me right now. First one is: If (and I know this is entirely impossible) I was able to pick a direction and start traveling BILLIONS of time the speed of light WITHOUT traveling backwards in time, (maybe through a warp funnel or something), and I was able to continue forever, at a rate of movement faster than the expansion …

Sorry for the ignorant question, as you can see science is not really my strong side. I wanted to know if enough concetration of light could cause an explosion ? There's a fiction character that has light powers, he's practicaly light, the only problem is, that despite him claiming to be true light, he can generate explosions by shooting beams of light - http://kissmanga.com/Manga/One-Piece/Chapter-508?id=250947#10 http://kissmanga.com/Manga/One-Piece/Chapter-507?id=250946#16 Yeah, I know you're probably asking yourself why the hell does it even matter, it's fiction...But go figure, some people just don't understand the definiton of the word "fiction".

Hello reader, According to general relativity mass curves space-time giving the effect of gravity... I have a challenge for you. Think of (a) reason(s) why mass causes space-time to curve. I have tried...You people are more qualified than I. So you should try too. There is no prize. Why am I making this thread? ...Because I haven't seen anyone attempt to answer this question of why. If you think of a reason you like I encourage you to make our own thread in the speculations section. I don't like equations...Try to not use them. You can add them to your post in the speculations section later. ...And the challenge begins in...1...2...3...Now...Enjoy! I will …

Is their an equation for an LDR that can convert the value of resistance obtained into the incident light intensity?

I am currently working on Flooded VRLA battery. I applied a current profile on the battery in which its SOC moves from 50 % to 80 % SOC range in every cycle. Its a constant profile for 440 hours. But in every new cycle terminal voltage is increasing ( or we can say expanding in both upper and lower side ). Also if we notice the OCV after 30 mints of resting is increasing. Now i need to estimate the SOC of this profile. As the current is same in every cycle but OCV and terminal voltage is increasing , so SOC estimation is different for every next cycle while it should be same as current is same. I would be really thankful if someone help me by telling the reason of this ph…

Edit: mixed up Bohr radius with diameter, fixed some numbers (sort of), as other posters have pointed out the estimate of number of atoms placed side by side the length of a millimeter was wrong, and was based on Bohr radius. If we keep the length of a meter in mind for comparison when looking at units expressed in scientific notation, it starts to dawn us that lengths such as the Bohr radius of a hydrogen atom, (5.2x10-11, which is 52pm) are really not that small.. not very small at all. In fact, it's large enough we can visualize it mentally: If put in a straight line side by side, there'd only be ~10 million hydrogen atom diameters in a millimeter. Looking at a…

Hello, This is a very odd question that I was wondering if anyone could share some insight on. So I've been reading about the history of science lately in particular how Joseph John Thomson discovered the electron / cathode rays. The discription of the device(s) he used is that he basically had an evacuated glass tube (vacuum tube) with a spark gap in it, and if you apply a potential difference across that gap electrons are ejected out of the material comprising the spark gap creating a "cathode ray". This effect is enhanced if the metal comprising the spark gap is hot. My question is what would happen if the metal was instead cold, like extremely cold, to the poi…

How many joules of energy is needed to go 99% the speed of light?

I don't seem to understand this no matter how many explanations I look at online. I've heard different numbers over the years as to how fast you need to get into space. So I think I have it right now. It's 18,000mph to get into low earth orbit, and 25,000mph to break free of earth's pull entirely. I don't understand how these numbers are useful however. So i have many questions are: 1. If I could design a rocket with adequate fuel that maintained an upward speed of 1mph, it would just keep going would it not? And if so, how far away from earth do I need to maintain a 1mph thrust until I can shut off the engine and not get pulled back to earth? 2. As I understand i…

I am a retired engineer studying physics as a retirement project and my question concerns special relativity. Einstein was able to produce his time dilation and mass/energy equivalence equations entirely from the posit that C is invariant. The maths is not hard and experimental evidence confirms time dilation occurs of the order of the calculations. Now it occurs to me that if the particles in the atom are spinning with a tangential velocity of C then the vector velocity of the particle is the combination of the spinning motion within the atom and any motion of the atom itself, This velocity would be always be greater than C whatever the direction of motion of the atom. …