Recent content by WarrickF

So I should clarify that I'm not asking this to try and understand any deeper concepts like wave duality etc, simply so that I have a better understanding of the basics. I guess in my mind I still don't feel like I'm seeing the whole picture. Let's take an experiment as an example. 9V DC...

Hi All, I'm trying to visualize the flow of electrons in an AC circuit. DC is pretty simple as I can imagine the electron moving from point A to B. AC on the other hand confuses me. If there's a constant switch of polarity one would imagine that the electron would move forward as the...

mmm ... thanks. So what you're saying is that given a box of resistors there's no way of knowing?

Hi Guys, Given a resistor, I understand how to use the bands to calculate the resistance, but how does one tell what the resistor is able to handle. For example, I have a 51ohm resistor that I connected to a DC power supply. At 5V all was fine, but when I increased the voltage to 10V the...

Flow meters are pretty expensive and require you to break the circuit if it's not pre-connected. This is more about, can it be done than a, is it the best solution question.

Hi All, A friend and I were recently considering the idea of measuring water flow in a fire hose, buy measuring the flux generated by the water moving through the hose. Neither of us are scientific by any means, but I've been trying to research the idea and have not gotten very far. I...

Good point, I hadn't thought of the moon as a satellite. Much of this came about due to an argument a friend and I were having about getting to Mars. Thought was that it's not that much harder to send something to Mars than it is to send something to the moon. My view was that once you've got...

Thanks Janus, That's very helpful. It looks like the highest satellites that we put into orbit are GPS satellites and fall somewhere between 6,000 - 12,000km above the Earth surface. At what distance does gravity become so week that the it stops falling around the Earth? One would...

Hi Guys, I'm trying to gain a basic (and I say basic because I'm not much of a math buff) understanding of what kind of force it takes to launch a rocket \ satellite into space. From my basic reading - "space" is classified as 100km above Earth's surface. What I'm trying to figure...

Hi Guys, I was hoping someone could explain why commercial satellite uplinks (like those used in TV broadcast) are able to achieve such high bandwidth rates vs. radio uplinks like HAM OSCAR uplinks. I don’t completely understand how digital modulation is done onto radio wave, but at 1st...

Obviously the results of what I found and the history of what he has achieved is what impressed me. But thanks the the invaluable input :)

Wow, good choice. I'd never heard of the guy, but a quick Google has earned Dr. Yunus a lot of respect in my eyes.

If you had the option of donating $1M to any cause you liked in the hopes of making a real difference. Which cause would you choose and why?

Hi All, I'm not much for world politics, but I was wondering if someone could tell me in blunt terms why Iran would start a nuclear program when they clearly know it's going to cause these kinds of problems. Is there some alternate reason other than weapons that I don't know about, or are...

And another http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050905/handlight_print.html