How to Make a Scientists Head Explode - 4 Things that Drive Scientists Mad
Posted: Thursday, June 25, 2009
by Connor Davidson
I'm sure that you don't seriously think I would tell you how to destroy all of the science community -do you? Anyway, what I wanted to explain to you is the four things that everybody seems to get wrong and drive scientists mad in the process. These are:
The Light year is a distance not a time
It makes sense that someone may think that: as it has the word year in it.
But, the light year is a measure of the distance light travels in one year. It is not a long period of time as it is often used in colloquial conversation. Understand?
If so; how many years are in a light year? None of course. When you think foot pound you are obviously going to be inclined to think that it is a pressure or force. However it is not.
A foot pound is actually a measure of work done (or energy expended) when carrying out a task. This is worked out by multiplying the force applied by the distance moved.
Vanishing Energy
POWERSTATIONS NEVER MAKE ENERGY AND YOU NEVER USE ENERGY, EVER! If you think I am crazy fine. But let me explain:
There are multiple forms of energy:
- Light
- Chemical
- Sound
- Heat
- Kinetic (movement)
- Strain Potential (i.e. in a spring)
- Electrical
- Chemical
Scientists use a rule called the conservation of energy law that states that energy can never be created or destroyed. So when talking about energy keep this in mind.
Weight or Mass
As you may know weight and mass are totally different and for very good reasons. Weight and mass are represented by this little formula:
W(weight) = m(mass) X g (gravitational field strength)
So m(mass) = W(weight)/ g (gravitational field strength)
This means that mass is a measure of how much matter is in something and is a constant – if you are on earth the ISS (international space station) or the moon it does not automatically change. Whereas weight will change depending on gravity. For example if you had a truck of weight 10000N (weight is measured in Newtons) it would weigh 260000N on Jupiter.
I would advise you to follow these around scientists as most of them have a knowledge sharing "problem" and will have to explain it to you.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to neuroscientists for depriving them of brains to study.
Connor Davidson 06/25/09
This Article has been viewed 964 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsConnor, great article! The scientific community thanks you. If only you had written it light years ago!Arrrr... Kaboom!Thanks for the comment.
Connor, if you were my science teacher, I wouldn't have gotten a D.Excellent explanations. Blessings to you! TeresaThanks for that!Oh, and thanks for the comment.
thanks for the informationThanks for the comment.
Interesting point on the consumption of energy or lack thereof.Thanks for the comment.
This helped makes things clearer for me - please help me understand how I will use it...I have been into maths and physics for a long time and the question always is when and where will I ever need this?The best answer is not very often - it is not likely anyone will correct you. However, it is one of these things which are worth knowing. If for nothing else it is some great trivia.Thanks for the comment.
Impressive as always, Connor. You make concepts so easy to understand. Isn't that the mark of a true genius?Wow what a compliment. I find it fun to take complex issues and principals and simplify them. You may have read my Anatomy for Beginners series where I do the same thing.Anyway thanks for the comment.
Interesting factoids but it would benefit from a a good editing for grammar, punctuation, etc., and more in-depth explanations of these quirky definitions.OK.Thanks for the comment.
Very creative and inspires lots of thinking. It was like an inside look into the mind of a scientist.Thanks for the comment.
Very interesting article and quite informative. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.Thanks for the comment.
Found it fun - thought you were a school teacher - only to find an aspiring writer.I am working on a book now- will be out soon.Thanks for the comment.
More comments
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.