Recent content by daso

If you interpret it as a single positive (elementary) charge on the particle, the answer should be ##1.6\times 10^{-12}## N, as andrevdh wrote. If you don't know the charge nor the trajectory of the particle, it's not possible to calculate the force. And you need the force to calculate the...

Hi, Does anyone know any good Linux/Unix software for analysing optical emission spectra? I've been searching the net, but I can't find any. The software I'm currently using is old, only for MS Windows, very expensive, and pretty much useless. So any suggestions would be much appreciated...

My view is that a theory doesn't say anything about the reality. It's just used to make predictions. As long as the theory can predict some observed behaviour, it's fine. Hence, one can use eg. waves or particles to describe electrons.

No considerable effect, I would guess. In a room here on Earth, you can neglect the effect of gravity on atoms and molecules in the air, since the kinetic energy of the particles is so large. On a larger scale, gravity will lead to a pressure gradient and that will affect a soundwave, but not...

Yes, and that is my problem. I do not think that we should quit with popularisation, because it is important that the public have an insight into research, and it attracts students to science. But maybe authors of popular books should be more careful and explain these things to the reader...

Yes, the analogy with the government could work. But then what about QM? It's also just a picture to help us make predictions. Let me make an analogy with history. We want to construct a "theory" that explains some occurrence in today's society. Let's say that something that happened in the...

In my work, I sometimes try to explain what a plasma is, and how it behaves, to people not knowing much about physics. Now and then I start to think about what I am saying. I talk about electrons and ions as balls which collide and feel the elctric field, and so on. But all this is just a...