physics

Not sure if this should be in Sports rather than Science and Math, but I'm looking for some input from some of our resident physics experts pertaining to the sport of curling, specifically how the friction between the rotating stone and the pebbled (bumpy) ice surface causes the stone to curl...

If anyone has been following along since Stephen Hawking died. Black Holes Finally Proven Mathematically Stable There is still much work left to be done as: If some one would care to produce a 200 page summary, it may help my lay comprehension as: :boggled:

Here's a simple appearing and yet impossible physics problem that you can give to people that have trouble understanding that all motion is relative. You awake to find yourself in a box. Inside the box with you are a stopwatch, a compass, and a laser range finder. The box has a small slit set...

1.Prove that the following phrase is wrong. “If a logical system is consistent, it cannot be complete.” Proof: Choose as a logical system the system consisting of: 1. a coin, 2. a lifeform on earth whose purpose is to flip the coin and try to guess which side the coin ends up facing the...

I have only a popular science understanding of quantum physics, so pardon me if my questions are misphrased. In the famous two-slit experiment (let's say using electrons), a stream of particles are aimed at the barrier between two vertical slits. The characteristic interference pattern shows up...

I came up with this while driving home yesterday and being annoyed by a fly. You are driving down on a straight country highway at 100km/h (60mph) relative to the ground. A fly on the back window takes off and starts to fly towards the windscreen at about 10km/h (6mph) relative to the car...

The main problem I see with the idea of the soul (as a conscious entity that can survive the death of the physical body) is how this soul would interact with the physical body while eluding the observations of physicists and neuroscientists. If the soul interacted with the body via a very weak...

One thing I have trouble understanding in physics is the principle that information is never lost. Sean Carroll explains the principle like this: But as far as I can see you couldn't do this even in principle. If you could capture all the information every bit of light and ash and then work...

The universe may be conscious, say prominent scientists Is this real?

This question may be poorly posed, but what I'm looking for is an understanding based on some deeper underlying principle that would lead to it. As far as I understand the universe as a whole isn't spinning. If it were that would seem to mean that it's not isotropic, right? And it is...

In many of these casual discussions, I see many posters in MMA forums use F = ma and simply plug and chug, but I think that's an equivocation. Even the phrase "punching power" seems to suggest something it's not. I suspect that the more important relation is Impulse and Momentum. I remember...

This post has me wondering. Without question, everything that goes into a coin flip is physical and measurable - force, air currents, uneven weight of the sides, etc. In theory, it could all be modeled. Could we do it in practice? Is it foreseeable that we would ever be able to measure...

New particles about to be discovered? Why bother? We already have dozens of them but how about a new fundamental force of nature? http://www.nature.com/news/has-a-hungarian-physics-lab-found-a-fifth-force-of-nature-1.19957

I have been revisiting the pre-Socratics and have been pleasantly surprised at how 2,500-year-old ideas still have some resonance for me. In particular, Zeno's paradoxes of motion. Here's a version that captures my query: If you had an arrow sitting in front of you, motionless, and someone shot...

Thought one of our physics guys would have posted on this by now....: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-heck-pentaquark-180955942/ Evidently this particular combination of 5 quarks has been hypothesized for many years, but never observed. The Large Hadron Collider has provided proof...

The Quantum Cosmology Inverse Theory Juan (Jay) Sadie Abstract This theory postulates an inverse way to look at what is large and what is small. When we talk about quantum mechanics we automatically presume that things are smaller at this level. What this theory proposes is that as we drill...

I'm going to start back from the latest experiences that happened and work back to childhood. This is really minor, it was 6 + months ago. I was coming out of my house and my neighbor was getting gravel bags out of her trunk for her landscaping. She drives a Toyota Corolla and left the trunk...

Physics experts unite and debunk this. White oak tree, 24" at the base, 60' tall, a Bigfooter said that a 700 pound Bigfoot running along a branch toward the tree trunk, 45' up the tree, at 20mph, could break the tree trunk at 2' from the ground. Said something about moment of inertia...

My memory of college physics is that a Faraday cage works by the fact that all parts of the cage are at the same potential, including all the parts surrounding the interior, so there will be no electric field gradient in the interior. But the actual potential of the cage doesn't matter, so it...

Anybody know anything about this guy, or his works? http://www.amazon.com/Trevelyan/e/B006X2QT54/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 I've encountered him in other discussion fora, and he's handy with the references to contemporary physics journals -- mixed in with references to journals on ancient...

Okay guys this is my journal that I am working on for proving the existence on phenomena that has occurred, and how it is likely to have happened it is 35000 words and it is still growing and being edited. I am honestly probably not 20% done. <SNIP> Paper is here -...

http://www.livescience.com/29111-speed-of-light-not-constant.html Cue YECs yelling they've been vindicated. But any rational thoughts on this?

So, this black hole is rotating at a shade under the speed of light. Would this mean that its mass is increased via relativistic effects? If so does that affect its gravity? Perhaps its event horizon has a larger radius than it would if it were not spinning so fast? Which leads me to a query...

If I understand basic geophysics correctly, the inner parts of the Earth can be divided into the mantle, consisting of rock, and the core, consisting of iron and nickel. The reason that the iron and nickel form the core is simply that they're a lot heavier, so they've sunk the deepest. What I...

You probably know the tractor-beam-thingy from Star Trek? Well, a duo of physicists has replicated just that in small-scale: http://phys.org/news/2012-10-physics-duo-tractor-dual-bessel.html Fascinating! :D Greetings, Chris

Coooooool. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/09/12/higgs-boson-discovery-has-been-confirmed/ Shouldn't there always be? :D Seriously though, I agree. They would not want to make a mistake on something this important. Those 2 linked papers are entitled: Observation of a new...

At one time I thought I had a pretty good handle on the fundamental forces in physics. There was a nice, orderly hierarchy where the weaker forces had a longer effective range than the stronger ones, but at closer range they stronger forces always won out. Therefore, electromagnetism...

The apparent confirmation of the Higgs Boson pose an interesting set of, conclusions. On one hand we have sort of a "resurrection" of aether, which is uncomfortable on its own. I'm interested in what knowledgeable members think in regarding this discovery and the implications for GR. AFAIK, both...

Despite the fact that I hate the headline ("God particle" :rolleyes: ) I am very, very interested to see what this is all about. Looks like a big announcement coming on Wednesday... Scientists find evidence of 'God particle' Anyone here got an inside scoop on this? :popcorn1

I have a unique problem that I cannot find an answer to. In the diagram, Ex. A shows a simple balance, with the weights on both sides attached to the cross beam with string. To simplify the problem, both strings are attached equidistant to the pivot point, lets say at 40 centimeters. When...