Recent content by cucumber

thank you, this is really helping me a lot! one thing i don't understand yet: that stuff about the pivot "moving out of the way" and "dropping" the gyroscope... what makes the pivot move out of the way, and how does this cause the gyroscope to droop? is what you mean the opposite of the...

just a couple of things; 1. where does the 2pi come from in that equation? 2. if you use force and moment arm, would it only seem different, or would it be different? oh, and 3. how relevant is the angular momentum which the precession contributes? say, my bicycle wheel on my string is...

thanks cookiemonster. i'm unsure about a couple of things, though... what are the "s" and the theta in [theta]*r = s what are the alpha and the "a" in [alpha]*r = a what are the "r"'s in both the above equations (just to be sure...) and finally, what are those two other equations...

i wonder, if i was in a constant state of happiness, would i notice at all? isn't happiness when something is better than usual, or than it used to be? if everyone was happy all the time, there would be no way of appreciating ones happiness as there would be no comparative sadness. then...

hi. not sure if this belongs in here, so sorry in advance for any trouble caused. i am in a bit of a predicament with a physics assessment of mine; i need to know the mathematical relationships between the precessional frequency, the couple (or torque, as i have read it called) and the angular...

good day to you, good sir or madam! i am in a bit of a predicament with a physics assessment of mine; i need to know the mathematical relationships between the precessional frequency, the couple (or torque, as i have read it called) and the angular momentum of a gyroscope, and (here comes the...

i'm not sure if this is obvious, but i believe there is a flaw in the invisibility-suit approach; depending on where the observer is standing, the background behind the "invisible" person will be different. this would mean that your little light-emitters would have to send different pictures to...

hello. the question is: if i have an exact model (and i mean EXACT) of, say, a glider (you know, those whaddamacallits, white things, long, thin wings, those ones), if i have one of those, why will it not fly as well as a proper one? (the model is a lot smaller than the real thing) i was...

what about force-carrier particles?? is there not some sort of particle transmitted between for eg two magnets or something? something like gravitons for magnets (if gravitons do exist...) what would be the force-carrier particle for charged objects? and how do these force-carrier...

thanks a lot. here's another; do dendrites (those tree like shapes formed when a metal solidifies) only occur in alloys, or in any metal, pure or not? can they be explained in terms that an A-level student could grasp (i mean, why does the metal not crystalise in the same way salts do? why...

i agree: i used to live in Rwanda when i was little as my mom and dad were development workers (i am not sure what the job is called) and they told me how the church actively propagated the rumor that condoms did not prevent you from getting aids (as they had "little holes through which the...

would like to know several things; 1. what exactly is the stuff that i keep reading about called "cementite", and what does it do to steel on an atomic scale to make it harder and more brittle? 2. how does heat-treating and quenching (ie. heating a steel blade, let's say, and then...

just a general question: does anyone here think that a woman should be allowed to abort because she does not want a baby?

so how do you explain length contraction?? i can sort of picture time dilation, due to the constancy (is that a word?) of c, but i can't see how this could influence the size of an object... oh, and what about the mass increase?? would you "experience" an increase in mass, or is it like...

the problem is, that i do not see how time can be slowed down for both at the same time (no pun intended); time dilation should only occur for the one moving at near c, but if there is no reference frame, who experiences time dilation? do both guys see the other guy moving in slow-motion? if...