Answer: Turns out that the explosive force needed on the surface of ISON to send a chunk towards Earth is far beyond reasonable limits. At 1000km/hr, The chunk might achieve a separation of a million miles or more around Mercury's orbit, but at perigee when the comet is 30X closer to the sun...
Exploding fragments from ISON could hit Earth
Can someone show the results of a simulation that has a chunk exploding off of ISON such that it will encounter the sun around twenty degrees offset (counterclockwise) from the original path? This will direct the chunk into the plane of the ecliptic...
OK. I think I get it. Here's the way I'll probably state it in my book:
It is better to visualize the fundamental particles as waves- that's the reason why Schroedinger's equation is called a wave function. When the wave function collapses, it becomes a particle. Particles have arbitrary spins...
Thanks again for the quick response. I'm writing a book and in one chapter I want to convey the concept of electron spin within the context of quantum considerations in a qualitative way- no math. I did the research you recommended. I know you physics guys tend to be perfectionists, so I just...
Thanks!
If a beam of electrons is subjected to a magnetic field, will they individually diverge in many directions on account of their undefined spin orientations that are collapsed by "measuring" with the magnetic field? Are these divergencies a continuum of angles?
Also, consider two...
Homework Statement
Can someone tell me if the spin on an electron can change orientation as it flits around in our universe? Is the spin confined to specific orientations. or can it the axis shift around in a continuum? For entangled particles, is the spin locked into a specific orientation...