Recent content by Drakkith

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?

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

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

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...

Thread locked for moderation.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

Non-GHG's CAN radiate energy away. They just can't do it the same way that GHG's do. Asymmetric molecules like GHG's can directly absorb and emit IR radiation like that emitted from the Earth's surface. Symmetric molecules like N2 and O2 cannot do this, but they can radiate some of their kinetic...

I'm not sure what this last part means. Greenhouse gases absorb IR radiation that would otherwise be radiated away from the planet and into space. This heats the GHG's which then pass the heat to the rest of the surrounding air or radiate it away. Of the energy radiated away, about half of it is...

Hey all. Looks like my 15 year anniversary of joining PF happened yesterday (while my internet was down). Just wanted to say thanks to everyone, staff and non-staff, for helping make PF such a wonderful community over the years. Here's to everyone at PF, current, past, or future. Cheers!

Got some 6 ft ramps from a local store. Works perfect.