Recent content by jbriggs444

  1. jbriggs444

    Why Is Fan Suction/Intake So Weak Compared to Exhaust?

    Yes, of course. With a little bit of time to ponder, I have a different way of explaining this. "Why was there not a directional flow of air directly into the intake of the fan?" Because we did not set one up, of course. Out of all the possible configurations of air feeding into a fan, we...
  2. jbriggs444

    Why Is Fan Suction/Intake So Weak Compared to Exhaust?

    It feels like there must be a deeper reason for this. In principle, the laws of physics are symmetric and time reversible. If the input to a fan is omnidirectional, there is no reason in naive principle why the output of a fan could not also be omnidirectional. But in fact the output is...
  3. jbriggs444

    High School Does acceleration affect impact energy vs constant velocity?

    Yes. It is sometimes helpful to consider what happens when one takes the scenario to extremes. Suppose that we have this same 5 pound ball. But instead of travelling at 1000 miles per hour, it is travelling at one mile per hour. It is being pushed three inches into the steel plate by a...
  4. jbriggs444

    High School Does acceleration affect impact energy vs constant velocity?

    You have had opinions offered both ways. Both opinions are accurate. It depends on the details. Primarily on the duration of the collision. Or, almost equivalently, on the depth of penetration. Say that you have this 5 pound steel ball impacting a steel plate at 1000 mph. That is a bit more...
  5. jbriggs444

    Undergrad What is the pressure of trapped air inside this tube?

    Yes, I agree with that. Prior to correcting it, I had written about points 1 and 2. I meant to refer to points 1 and 3. In both drawings A and B, points 1 and 3 are level with the top of the hook in the J. In drawing C, points 1 and 3 are further down at the level where the water is free to...
  6. jbriggs444

    Undergrad What is the pressure of trapped air inside this tube?

    Agreed. Agreed. What increases compared to what? What specific point are you claiming does not change in pressure compared to the same point with the bubble moved? I note that points 1 and 3 moved when you changed from drawings A and B to drawing C. ##\rho g h## gives the pressure...
  7. jbriggs444

    Collection of Science Jokes P2

    I have that T-shirt.
  8. jbriggs444

    Undergrad What is the pressure of trapped air inside this tube?

    *sigh*. Now I will need to watch the video to see what it is actually claiming... Having watched the beginning of the video, I see that your original post described a transition from bubble at the top to bubble at the bottom. The video describes a transition from bubble at bottom to bubble at...
  9. jbriggs444

    Undergrad What is the pressure of trapped air inside this tube?

    Right The second part here is correct. That means that the fluid pressure at the air-water interface is sure to be one atmosphere. The pressures elsewhere in the fluid are not sure to be the same as this. You may have to work those pressures out using the ##\rho g h## formula. Pay attention to...
  10. jbriggs444

    Undergrad What is the pressure of trapped air inside this tube?

    Yes. Have you considered applying Boyle's law?
  11. jbriggs444

    Correct statement about size of wire to produce larger extension

    Why should it? Are there any specific confounding concerns that you have in mind?
  12. jbriggs444

    High School A Mind-Boggling Number Comparison

    Given a set of all sets, one can define the set of all sets not containing themselves. Then you ask yourself, does this set contain itself. That is Russell's paradox. In ZF set theory, one avoids the paradox by replacing the axiom of unbounded comprehension: "Given a predicate (a true/false...
  13. jbriggs444

    High School Limiting case for an Atwood's machine

    Right. That external agent is, of course, the tension in the rope. Right. The center of mass of the two masses is accelerating downward. So the supporting force from the pulley must not be enough to match ##(m_1 + m_2) g##. By inspection, the required supporting force must be equal to ##2t##.
  14. jbriggs444

    High School Limiting case for an Atwood's machine

    Accelerating upward at 1g is different from freely falling downward at 1g. One requires an external force. The other does not.
  15. jbriggs444

    High School Limiting case for an Atwood's machine

    Right. That was a braino in my original. Corrected now. Apparently you read it before I fixed it. If you go up with an acceleration of ##g## while weighing ##mg## then the required tension force is ##2mg##.