Theory of relativitity help or similar conundrum's

[HellFire]

Hi,

Me and my boss have been having a chat at work about things like the theory of relativity. For example if you jump in the air on top of a train you would expect to go backwards yet inside a train you would land in the same spot?

Does anyone know any other good ones that test your brains ???



Cheers.

[andy2407]

Try a search on here for "treadmill".

But please don't resurrect the threads!

[ScoobyChris]

Schrödinger's cat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?

Chris

[swedishskoda]

Originally Posted by HellFire

...if you jump in the air on top of a train you would expect to go backwards...

But you wouldn't

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[JRHartley]

Originally Posted by swedishskoda

But you wouldn't

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especially if you were on a train in Mumbai ...you might jump up and stay up !

[andy2407]

Maybe you could do some scientific experimentation too - something like this perhaps....

Plokta Issue 23 - An Appraisal of the Utility of a Chocolate Teapot

[swedishskoda]

Here's another good one:

A Hemispherical Problem

[Bigw2069]

A good one on mythbusters recently. If a lorry was carrying a couple of hundred pigeons and all the pigeons took flight inside the lorry, Would the lorry then become lighter?

Answers here: MythBusters Episode 76: "Birds in a Truck" but I wont post it incase you want to talk about it first

[robb06210]

I've got a good one:

Why do you always open your mouth when you're poking around in your eye?

[cheezemonkhai]

How much wood, would a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

Also just delve into deep quantum mechanics... All the fun

[swedishskoda]

Admittedly slightly (but just slightly) OT - those of you who are fascinated by topology (moebius bands and the like) might enjoy
Acme Klein Bottle

[Loz]

oh no, don't start on theory of relativity,......has flashbacks of being a bit drunk in a conservatory of a hotel in Gloucester tryin to explain why time doesn't exist........

[swedishskoda]

Originally Posted by Loz

....has flashbacks of being a bit drunk in a conservatory of a hotel in Gloucester tryin to explain why time doesn't exist........

Sympathies. Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. OF COURSE time doesn't exist... well, the idea of time exists, so to say, which means that time "exists" inside our brain, but outside - nope. Unless the second law of thermodynamics somehow could be said to support the concept of time which of course it may...

But could you please explain your avatar instead? Does it begin to move after focussing on it for 15 minutes or is there a secret message hidden or...

[ScoobyChris]

Originally Posted by Loz

has flashbacks of being a bit drunk in a conservatory of a hotel in Gloucester tryin to explain why time doesn't exist........

Chris

[heresmo]

Ooh! Perfect opportunity to ask this:

I was asked recently why flames always burn upwards. It's to do with relative pressure of gases in the atmostphere, says I, (obviously feeling smart that day LOL), so same as why smoke is drawn up through chimneys.

"Yes," came the reply, "but it can't make that much difference when lighting a match?"


Mo

[stevenh]

Who was the first man to find out, that if a big dog has it's jaws clamped around your arm, all you need to to get him to let go is stick your finger up his bumhole?!

Another question on life that puzzles me - why does Kerry Katona continue to get so much exposure?

[ScoobyChris]

I found this on Google, Mo, but unfortunately it seems to be based on someone's opinion rather than a reputable source....

Oxygen is what fuels a fire, and oxygen will rise in a stable environment. Therefore, the fire will follow its source to stay aflame as long as possible.

If there is wind blowing, the fire will bend in the direction of the wind to catch as much of it as possible.

If there's an explosion underwater, the flames will go everywhere: it's surrounded by water which is filled wiith exygen.

You get the idea.

Chris

[swedishskoda]

Originally Posted by ScoobyChris

I found this on Google, Mo, but unfortunately it seems to be based on someone's opinion rather than a reputable source....
Chris

I'm no scientist, but it seems to me that truth and Google is like the proverbial needle... this explanation sounds to me as on par with "Because that's the way God wants it to be".

My spontaneous answer (not being a scientist) would have been "Because heat always goes upwards, so the hot gasses (which, after all, is what a flame consists of) also goes upwards"

But I don't know if that's correct? How hot is the flame from an ordinary kitchen match - 500 centigrades? What happens if the surrounding air is 600 centigrades? Does the flame still go upwards?

[Captain Kremen]

Yeah, and what's heavier, a ton of lead or a ton of feathers?

It's all to do with gravity, some clever bod Teefal-headed scientists think. Thats not true though, the Earth sucks.

Matches burn up because if they burnt down you would burn your fingers, obviously.

[ScoobyChris]

Originally Posted by swedishskoda

My spontaneous answer (not being a scientist) would have been "Because heat always goes upwards, so the hot gasses (which, after all, is what a flame consists of) also goes upwards"

Heat doesn't rise (heat is an abstract concept) Hot air rises! Blimey that brings back some memories from Physics. As for the flame, I have no idea, but some further googling of more reputable sources turned up this: What does a candle's flame look like when it burns in space?@Everything2.com (bucko's post)

Chris