Nerdy "Calculation Competition"

[Klaas Bil]

Originally Posted by UniTyler

I've got a sphere that weighs 350 grams and has a diameter of 8.5 centimeters.

Prove it. Show us a photograph.

[harper]

Originally Posted by Klaas Bil

Prove it. Show us a photograph.

Yeah. How do we know Tyler is even telling us the truth? How do we know Tyler even exists?

[tobbogonist]

why must you make other people suffer your miserable maths? and its not even homework. can you juggle that sphere with two more of the like on your unicycle?

[Catboy]

Simple ratios... come on, thats like 2nd grade material.

[Naomi]

As long as the same type of material is added, which we have to assume is true, the problem is really trivial, and merely dressed up to look complex.

So: go do your own easy homework. School year has restarted, so I guess this is the first of many.

Nao

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by harper

You bonehead. Grams and kilograms are units of mass, not weight. This problem has no solution. And why do we have to give you data to begin with? Shouldn't you be giving that to us?

omfd pwned so hard.

While we're still talking in the "nerd thread", Harper are you able to explain to us why not even light can escape a black hole? I've looked on the internet for an answer but nowhere seems to even attempt to really explain it.

[tobbogonist]

hey harper! How come whenever my friend and i try to race iron's down the side of the leaning tower of piza its always a draw?

[iridemymuni]

Originally Posted by Klaas Bil

Prove it. Show us a photograph.

prove that he doesn't have a sphere that weighs 350g and has a diameter of 8.5cm.

light can't escape a black hole because the gravity is so strong. duh.

[habbywall]

I wonder where Tyler is.

[swarbrim]

Originally Posted by iridemymuni

prove that he doesn't have a sphere that weighs 350g and has a diameter of 8.5cm.

light can't escape a black hole because the gravity is so strong. duh.

Yea, but I have always been taught that light is not affected by gravity, this is because light is rays (correct me if I'm wrong here...). I asked my physics teacher and she said its because there is something called particle light which is affected by gravity. Harper, I would really like to know more...

Mike

[squirrel]

light is not rays, nor is it particles....although it behaves as both at times.

A lot of people would like to understand light better, if you do figure it out, there's probably a Nobel prize in it for you

[iridemymuni]

Originally Posted by swarbrim

Yea, but I have always been taught that light is not affected by gravity, this is because light is rays (correct me if I'm wrong here...). I asked my physics teacher and she said its because there is something called particle light which is affected by gravity. Harper, I would really like to know more...

Mike

in some times, it's easier to explain light as particles, in some times, it's easier to explain light as "waves".

it's about as easy to understand as trying to understand the fact that the only thing stopping you from falling through your chair right now is electro-magnetism.

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by iridemymuni

light can't escape a black hole because the gravity is so strong. duh.

I'm almost certain that was a joke.. it's hard to tell, because that's the answer you'd most likely get from a random person picked off the street.

[maestro8]

Originally Posted by swarbrim

I have always been taught that light is not affected by gravity

Light, as a particle, is known as a photon. Photons are particles that do not have any mass... and without mass, it cannot be affected by gravity. There, you are correct. However, gravity affects space and time in such a way as to distort the path light takes.

It's like the photon is a train and gravity is bending the track. The photon heads straight down the track... or so it thinks... when in reality the track becomes so warped that the photon never arrives at its intended destination.

If you want to learn more look for some books or websites on "gravitational lensing"... it's a similar phenomenon that causes light to bend around a planet or massive star. The effects of gravity on space and time are described by Einstein's theory of General Relativity... you might look for a primer on that topic as well.

Originally Posted by squirrel

light is not rays, nor is it particles....although it behaves as both at times

Hmm... when would light behave as both? Light can behave as a wave, such as when it is diffracted through a grating, or it can behave as a particle, such as when it interacts with the nucleus of an atom. But wave-particle behavior? I've never heard of such a thing...

Light's behavior seems to take the form of what one is looking for... look for a particle and you'll find a particle... look for a wave and you'll find a wave.

[swarbrim]

Originally Posted by maestro8

Light, as a particle, is known as a photon. Photons are particles that do not have any mass... and without mass, it cannot be affected by gravity. There, you are correct. However, gravity affects space and time in such a way as to distort the path light takes.

It's like the photon is a train and gravity is bending the track. The photon heads straight down the track... or so it thinks... when in reality the track becomes so warped that the photon never arrives at its intended destination.

So Light is *not* affected by gravity, just gravity can cause light to take a different path? As in, the gravity moves things around so the light has to take a different path?

But surely that means that light is affected by gravity, or am I taking things to literally..?

Thanks,
Mike