Recent content by czaroffishies

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    How small for perturbation theory to be valid?

    Homework Statement A particle of mass m is in the ground state in the harmonic oscillator potential V(x) = \frac{1}{2}Kx^{2} A small perturbation \beta x^{6} is added to this potential. How small must \beta be in order for perturbation theory to be valid? Homework Equations...
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    The probability that spin will be in -x direction

    That is a fantastic idea! P = \left(\sqrt{1/2}*\sqrt{2/3}-i\sqrt{1/2}*\sqrt{1/3}\right)*\left(\sqrt{1/2}*\sqrt{2/3}+i\sqrt{1/2}*\sqrt{1/3}\right) = 1/2 Is this correct? Actually, this is the same answer I got when I used the magnitude-in-the-complex-plane method. Hrm. Coincidence, or...
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    The probability that spin will be in -x direction

    Homework Statement A spin 1/2 particle is in the state \left| \Psi \right\rangle = \sqrt{2/3}\left|\uparrow\right\rangle + i\sqrt{1/3}\left|\downarrow\right\rangle A measurement is made of the x-component of the spin. What is the probability that the spin will be in the -x direction...
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    How Do You Normalize a Quantum Wavefunction in One Dimension?

    I am very sorry that I did not use latex here. It didn't seem to be functioning properly, but I tried to make this readable. Homework Statement The wave function for a particle moving in one dimension is Psi(x, t) = A x e^[-(sqrt(km)/2(hbar))*x^2] e^[-i*sqrt(k/m)*(3/2)*t] Normalize this...
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    Fundamentally, what is an electric field?

    I didn't expect anyone to. I mostly just thought it would be nice if someone knew. Back to my gravity example, my introductory mechanics book didn't post "curvature of spacetime" everywhere when the gravity discussion came up. But really, I just like ideas. The math is great, but the ideas are...
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    Fundamentally, what is an electric field?

    I asked my professor about this and he didn't have an answer, so I don't really expect anything definite like we have for gravity. It would be nice if someone happened to know something neither my professor nor I know, but I am aware that that's not likely. Mostly I was pushing for...
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    The effect of battery in parallel

    Wonderful! A lot of things make more sense now, thanks a lot!
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    The effect of battery in parallel

    Yep, though it's probably as System said... a small current, but not enough to observe light.
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    The effect of battery in parallel

    But why is that, if you don't mind me asking?
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    Fundamentally, what is an electric field?

    I understand the definition of an electric field as a property of space surrounding a charge, but what exactly is this property? You can think about gravity as objects distorting bend-able space... but is there an analogous explanation for electric fields? Or at least some ideas?
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    The effect of battery in parallel

    Hah, yes of course. Just made the edit. :P
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    The effect of battery in parallel

    It would certainly help my understanding in class, but it's not homework... I mostly was just wondering more specifically what is happening here. Should I move it?
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    The effect of battery in parallel

    Here is a diagram of the circuit I am analyzing: http://www.sixtheorem.com/images/1.png I observe that bulb 2 does not light when the switch is closed. Could someone please explain what is happening here? And, what happens if I reverse the direction of battery B?
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