Recent content by DaveE

Basically bird porn here. Sorry birds. I find your sex life fascinating, especially the extended phenotype :wink:. Watch the video with sound, it's way better as a performance than a still image. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXCnR9JP_QA/

The problem with popular science content is that it is designed to entertain, not educate. Granted many of us are entertained by education, so they aren't aren't useless. But there are many subjects you just can't really understand without putting in some directed effort that is often hard work...

I suspect people named Kowalski are more common in the Chicago area than near San Diego, for example. Of course if it's just a math problem, you can make whatever assumptions you like.

Vc1 and Vc2 are initial conditions that have not been specified. You can't really say anything about them. You might choose to specify that the circuit has settled to a steady state before t=0, in which case Vc2 = 0 and Vc1 = Vi. At t = 0+, you will have a capacitive divider (based on...

The infinite current flows in an infinitely short time. So how much charge is diverted through R with a finite current in an infinitely short time? Also, a question: What's ∞ - 2 = ? When you get these infinite solutions, just really can't proceed without fixing your model to remove them...

Because when your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail? It sure makes the math easier to model with gaussians.

At least to add Niels Bohr, he was about as famous as you can get in Physics.

How far is up from down?

Yes, as long as they exist and are unique. Otherwise you will also have to find the best one, like other min/max problems. There's also y(x) = |x| & y(x) = -1, where you have to check the endpoints and such.

Excellent! Symmetry again. What about the curves y=4-x^2 and y=(2x-3)^2? Or y^2=x and y=(x+10)^2? I've given this zero thought, but I suspect there is a transform to create symmetry since the fundamental type of curve is the same, as opposed to y=x^3 & y=(x+10)^2.

Of course. But the OP didn't specify the load on the doubler, among other things. These circuits have a significant output impedance, which matters. Also it is normal to assume that the time constants for charging each doubler capacitor is small compared to the source frequency when these...

My approach relied on symmetry and geometrical reasoning with just a tiny bit of calculus. Since these two curves are translated and inverted versions of each other, I used a shifting transform to locate the origin at the midpoint between the maximum and minimum points on each curve. Because...

I think you'll find that He is more expensive than electricity.

I wonder if you could use a diffraction grating instead of a calibration slide? The spacing will be well known and much smaller. Less than 1um should be available. https://www.edmundoptics.com/c/gratings/621/ Maybe a CD you don't like anymore, if you're cheap. They have 1.6 um tracks according...