Recent content by Drakkith

  1. Drakkith

    Paul Hinds has passed

    I am saddened immensely by this news. Phinds and I both joined within a few months of each other and he was one of my favorite and most memorable members of this forum for the last 15 years. He will be missed greatly.
  2. Drakkith

    Undergrad Galaxy MoM-z14 - furthest observed object

    Note that some formatting was lost in the quote above. The mass of the galaxy is about 108 solar masses, not 108.
  3. Drakkith

    High School Is it a meteor or a meteorite when it makes moonfall?

    Per wiki: A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon.
  4. Drakkith

    Plumbing Clogged drain opening home remedy

    Drano already has bleach in it, so it should be safe. The main two ingredients in Drano are: Sodium Hydroxide - The strong base that eats up the clog. Sodium Hypochlorite - bleach, which apparently bleaches organic matter and provides more 'cleaning power'.
  5. Drakkith

    Undergrad What forces a magnet's field to track the rotation of the magnet?

    I guess my question on this topic would be, what determines the orientation of the orbitals in an atom/molecule? Does the nucleus have anything to do with it?
  6. Drakkith

    High School A Mind-Boggling Number Comparison

    Indeed, it is WHY the number is so big that is interesting.
  7. Drakkith

    High School A Mind-Boggling Number Comparison

    And the observable universe is about 8.8x10^23 km in diameter.
  8. Drakkith

    Undergrad Can somebody explain this: Planck's Law in action

    This is an internet forum for learning about science. The vast majority of members here, including myself, are not scientists, so you are addressing the wrong crowd. And doing it poorly. Please see the links below, which show multiple methods that do not depend on measuring the thermal emission...
  9. Drakkith

    Undergrad Can somebody explain this: Planck's Law in action

    Thread locked for moderation.
  10. Drakkith

    Undergrad Can somebody explain this: Planck's Law in action

    If you're suggesting that the plasma inside a reactor is emitting the same amount of radiation as a solid blackbody at the same temperature and size, then you are very wrong. A very, very thin and sparse medium at temp T will obviously emit less radiation than, say, a blackbody at that same temp...
  11. Drakkith

    Undergrad Can somebody explain this: Planck's Law in action

    Seeing as we've achieved 500 million C and higher your statement is obviously nonsense. Unless, of course, everyone involved in plasma research and fusion energy is outright lying. But I doubt it.
  12. Drakkith

    Any plausible non chemical rocket based space launch system on Earth?

    There are always transportation costs. Either the fully/partially assembled spacecraft and launch vehicle, or the materials to build it. But I agree with the spirit of what you're getting at in that if the launch technology favors high alititude vs low altitude launches then transportation costs...
  13. Drakkith

    Any plausible non chemical rocket based space launch system on Earth?

    Forgot to post a source for my last post: On another note, my copy of Space Propulsion Analysis and Design gives the following delta-v losses for various rockets (I'm only going to give the gravity and air resistance losses for comparison): Ariane A-44L: Gravity Loss: 1576 m/s Drag Loss: 135...
  14. Drakkith

    Any plausible non chemical rocket based space launch system on Earth?

    Not really. You need about 7800 m/s of delta V to get to orbital speed, and an additional 1,500 to 2,000 m/s to account for gravity losses, drag, etc. Of that additional delta V, the majority of it, between 1,000 and 1,500 m/s will be lost to gravity losses. So you're looking at maybe 500 m/s of...
  15. Drakkith

    High School If the Universe has a cause, what caused that cause?

    Thank you to everyone who participated in this thread but I'm afraid I'm going to have to lock it due to it attracting various problematic posts (that are now deleted) and other issues.