explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

183: Snacktime Rules

2024-06-25T05:54:10Z

172.71.242.69: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =183
| date =November 13, 2006
| title =Snacktime Rules
| image =snacktime_rules.png
| titletext =I am not making this rule up. Although my mom wants you all to know it made perfect sense at the time.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows Randall's mother telling [[Randall]] that he can have a snack in his room before bed only when his age is "one less than a multiple of three." This means the child starts getting snacks in his room before bed when he turns 2 years old, then stops getting them when he turns 3. Then he starts again when he turns 5 but stops when he turns 6. This cycle repeats every 3 years, so the kid can get snacks in his room before bed when his age is 2, 5, 8, 11, etc. (every 3 years). (https://www.desmos.com/calculator/wh3uqaclgo)

It's difficult to defend this policy with a reasonable argument. The first impression is that the mother made up the rule for some obscure reason. However, the title text explains that Randall's mother enforced this rule on him, and his mother claims that, at the time, there was a valid reason for it (though the reason is not explained in the comic). The caption says that Randall has figured out that his {{w|Nerd|nerdiness}} as an adult comes (at least in part) from his mother's strange rules.

Note that there is some debate about whether the privilege spoken of is to have snacks, to have snacks in his room, to have snacks before bed, or to have snacks in his room before bed.

==Transcript==
:My dad was always the one who taught me about science, but looking back, I'm starting to realize how much my nerdiness was influenced by my mom.

:[A woman and a child talk.]
:Child: Mom, can I have a snack in my room before bed?
:Mom: No, dear. You know you only get that privilege when your age is one less than a multiple of three.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Number theory]]

2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-20T08:48:05Z

172.71.242.69: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2948
| date = June 19, 2024
| title = Electric vs Gas
| image = electric_vs_gas_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HYDROGEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE RUNNING A GENERATOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Internal combustion engines (ICE) are the most common technology used to propel motor vehicles. In US vernacular, the most common motor fuel is known as "gasoline", or "gas" for short, leading to these engines being referred to as "gas engines". Gasoline is a product of petroleum refinement, leading to the name "petrol" being used in other dialects. (The word "gasoline" does not actually refer to any gaseous state, but derives from the brand-name fuel "Cazeline" or "Cazelline" sold by a man called John Cassell, and "Petrol" has also been a registered brand name for another business's motor-fuel product.)

Electric motors would seem the more obvious method for propelling a vehicle, and as early as 1885 were an actual form of motor car engine with which the fledgling internal combustion engine had to compete. Despite this early popularity, over most of the 20th century electric motors were sidelined in everyday car design, as supplying the electricity was considered to be impractical for most forms of transportation. Modern forms are rapidly rising in popularity, and now constitute 18% of all global vehicle sales. [[Randall]] has long been a strong proponent of electric vehicles.

In this strip, [[White Hat]] claims to be comparing the pros and cons of electric motors and gas engines. The joke is that every point he makes goes in favor of electric motors. Despite it being posed as a dilemma, it may be very clear which side of the debate White Hat is promoting. On the other hand, it may indicate that one of the things we might consider a pro in electric motors (the instantaneous power now available, exceeding that of many non-electric engines) he would consider a problem — perhaps more accurately, a problem with the ''drivers'' of such vehicles — recklessly using the enhanced capabilities to accelerate to high speeds at all opportunities, whether safe to do so or not.

The strip offers the following points in favor of electric motors:

* "Cleaner and more efficient". Internal combustion engines produce and vent harmful combustion products and toxic chemicals, while electric motors produce no emission byproducts at the point of use. The efficiency of both gas and electric motors vary, but the typical ICE vehicle in the US converts around 25% of available energy into motion, while the typical electric vehicle is in the neighborhood of 80%. It should be noted that all of this refers to the motors only, and ignores how the fuel and electricity are produced. Even when considering inefficiencies in the source production and transmission and storage and release of energy, battery driven electric vehicles are generally more efficient than internal combustion propelled vehicles[https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/electric-vehicles-contribute-fewer-emissions-than-gasoline-powered-cars-over-their-lifetimes/].

* "More powerful". Electric motors are able to deliver a lot of power from a small motor '''if''' an ample energy supply is available, and can do so 'on demand', often far quicker than a fuel-powered engine that has to put its power through a gearbox in order to service a wide range of road velocities, from standstill to the eventual top speed. Due to battery limitations, short or partial runtime use cases, such as dragsters, hand tools, yard tools, toys, and electric scooters net the most benefit from the small size of a high-powered electric motor.

* "Annoyingly loud". Internal combustion engines, by their nature, produce significant noise. Despite noise attenuation measures (such as mufflers), they contribute significantly to urban noise. Properly designed electric motors are nearly silent. In particular, turbo-charger blow-off valves make particular noises that are completely lacking in an all-electric vehicle being driven under a similar performance level. This might legitimately be considered a problem, though, when everyone is used to a rapidly approaching vehicle providing a very noisy warning of its approach. EV makers have sometimes added [https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-fake-engine-sound-hyundai-dodge-toyota-2023-7 fake ICE noises] to appeal to older drivers and {{w|Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds|warning sounds}} for bystanders.

* "WAY less torque available at standstill". Internal combustion engines need to continually operate within a specific range of rotational speeds, which means that a complex system of transmission gearing is needed to convert this motion into the specific speeds needed at the wheels. When starting from a stand-still, this means that torque must be applied to the wheels relatively gradually to avoid stalling the engine. Electric motors, by contrast, generally produce their peak torque when at a standstill. This results in electric vehicles having significantly better acceleration and engine responsiveness. Again, this could cause a legitimate problem with drivers changing from ICE to electric motors, because the new cars accelerate more than the driver is used to and provide different feedback. The audible clues of gear-changes, whether from automatic or manual systems, are part and parcel of what many people have grown up with and come to rely on in anticipating what might need paying attention to.

It should be noted that White Hat is deliberately confining his arguments to electric vs gas ''motors'' rather than electric or gas-powered ''vehicles''. Doing so ignores the basic reason why internal combustion vehicles have long dominated transportation: hydrocarbon fuels are a very dense and fairly easy to handle form of energy ''storage''. Providing electrical power to a moving vehicle requires either that the vehicle remain in contact with a power line, like a train does, or a high-capacity battery and the ability to recharge that battery in a reasonable amount of time. More popular in the USA is a hybrid system, where a combustion engine provides at least some of the power to an electric motor, which was impractical until comparatively recently. Other methods, such as hydrogen fuel cells (a form of "combustion" that can be used more directly to form electricity), have been proposed, but remain experimental.

A more comprehensive comparison would include the cons of electric vehicles, including:

* Higher cost of purchase (primarily due to the cost of batteries and, in the USA, now a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs), although partially offset by lower costs of operation
* Long charging times compared to refilling a gas tank (there are some approaches which mitigate this by operating a battery swap model, rather than charging in-car, but these are not widely adopted)
* Relatively limited range
* Shortened range in hot weather and significantly shortened range in cold weather (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Limited charging infrastructure in some places (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Higher vehicle weight, and resulting higher particulate emissions (from tires and while breaking, although recuperation reduces the need for breaking)
* Reliance on various mineral and metal extraction industries in the building of batteries
* Issues disposing of/recycling batteries at end of life
* Increased demand on electricity production

Advancing technologies may change how serious these cons are, but they currently remain genuine issues.

Other pros of electric vehicles aren't mentioned
* Lower costs of operation (partially offset by higher costs of purchase)
* Higher reliability
* Lower maintenance and repair costs
* Lower carbon footprint

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, with his palm raised, is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Electric motors and gas engines each have their pros and cons.
:White Hat: On one hand, electric motors are cleaner and more efficient. On the other hand, electric motors are more powerful.
:White Hat: So it's hard to say which is better overall.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Climate change]]

2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-20T08:47:29Z

172.71.242.69: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2948
| date = June 19, 2024
| title = Electric vs Gas
| image = electric_vs_gas_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HYDROGEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE RUNNING A GENERATOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Internal combustion engines (ICE) are the most common technology used to propel motor vehicles. In US vernacular, the most common motor fuel is known as "gasoline", or "gas" for short, leading to these engines being referred to as "gas engines". Gasoline is a product of petroleum refinement, leading to the name "petrol" being used in other dialects. (The word "gasoline" does not actually refer to any gaseous state, but derives from the brand-name fuel "Cazeline" or "Cazelline" sold by a man called John Cassell, and "Petrol" has also been a registered brand name for another business's motor-fuel product.)

Electric motors would seem the more obvious method for propelling a vehicle, and as early as 1885 were an actual form of motor-car engine with which the fledgling internal combustion engine had to compete. Despite this early popularity, over most of the 20th century electric motors were sidelined in everyday car design, as supplying the electricity was considered to be impractical for most forms of transportation. Modern forms are rapidly rising in popularity, and now constitute 18% of all global vehicle sales. [[Randall]] has long been a strong proponent of electric vehicles.

In this strip, [[White Hat]] claims to be comparing the pros and cons of electric motors and gas engines. The joke is that every point he makes goes in favor of electric motors. Despite it being posed as a dilemma, it may be very clear which side of the debate White Hat is promoting. On the other hand, it may indicate that one of the things we might consider a pro in electric motors (the instantaneous power now available, exceeding that of many non-electric engines) he would consider a problem — perhaps more accurately, a problem with the ''drivers'' of such vehicles — recklessly using the enhanced capabilities to accelerate to high speeds at all opportunities, whether safe to do so or not.

The strip offers the following points in favor of electric motors:

* "Cleaner and more efficient". Internal combustion engines produce and vent harmful combustion products and toxic chemicals, while electric motors produce no emission byproducts at the point of use. The efficiency of both gas and electric motors vary, but the typical ICE vehicle in the US converts around 25% of available energy into motion, while the typical electric vehicle is in the neighborhood of 80%. It should be noted that all of this refers to the motors only, and ignores how the fuel and electricity are produced. Even when considering inefficiencies in the source production and transmission and storage and release of energy, battery driven electric vehicles are generally more efficient than internal combustion propelled vehicles[https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/electric-vehicles-contribute-fewer-emissions-than-gasoline-powered-cars-over-their-lifetimes/].

* "More powerful". Electric motors are able to deliver a lot of power from a small motor '''if''' an ample energy supply is available, and can do so 'on demand', often far quicker than a fuel-powered engine that has to put its power through a gearbox in order to service a wide range of road velocities, from standstill to the eventual top speed. Due to battery limitations, short or partial runtime use cases, such as dragsters, hand tools, yard tools, toys, and electric scooters net the most benefit from the small size of a high-powered electric motor.

* "Annoyingly loud". Internal combustion engines, by their nature, produce significant noise. Despite noise attenuation measures (such as mufflers), they contribute significantly to urban noise. Properly designed electric motors are nearly silent. In particular, turbo-charger blow-off valves make particular noises that are completely lacking in an all-electric vehicle being driven under a similar performance level. This might legitimately be considered a problem, though, when everyone is used to a rapidly approaching vehicle providing a very noisy warning of its approach. EV makers have sometimes added [https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-fake-engine-sound-hyundai-dodge-toyota-2023-7 fake ICE noises] to appeal to older drivers and {{w|Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds|warning sounds}} for bystanders.

* "WAY less torque available at standstill". Internal combustion engines need to continually operate within a specific range of rotational speeds, which means that a complex system of transmission gearing is needed to convert this motion into the specific speeds needed at the wheels. When starting from a stand-still, this means that torque must be applied to the wheels relatively gradually to avoid stalling the engine. Electric motors, by contrast, generally produce their peak torque when at a standstill. This results in electric vehicles having significantly better acceleration and engine responsiveness. Again, this could cause a legitimate problem with drivers changing from ICE to electric motors, because the new cars accelerate more than the driver is used to and provide different feedback. The audible clues of gear-changes, whether from automatic or manual systems, are part and parcel of what many people have grown up with and come to rely on in anticipating what might need paying attention to.

It should be noted that White Hat is deliberately confining his arguments to electric vs gas ''motors'' rather than electric or gas-powered ''vehicles''. Doing so ignores the basic reason why internal combustion vehicles have long dominated transportation: hydrocarbon fuels are a very dense and fairly easy to handle form of energy ''storage''. Providing electrical power to a moving vehicle requires either that the vehicle remain in contact with a power line, like a train does, or a high-capacity battery and the ability to recharge that battery in a reasonable amount of time. More popular in the USA is a hybrid system, where a combustion engine provides at least some of the power to an electric motor, which was impractical until comparatively recently. Other methods, such as hydrogen fuel cells (a form of "combustion" that can be used more directly to form electricity), have been proposed, but remain experimental.

A more comprehensive comparison would include the cons of electric vehicles, including:

* Higher cost of purchase (primarily due to the cost of batteries and, in the USA, now a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs), although partially offset by lower costs of operation
* Long charging times compared to refilling a gas tank (there are some approaches which mitigate this by operating a battery swap model, rather than charging in-car, but these are not widely adopted)
* Relatively limited range
* Shortened range in hot weather and significantly shortened range in cold weather (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Limited charging infrastructure in some places (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Higher vehicle weight, and resulting higher particulate emissions (from tires and while breaking, although recuperation reduces the need for breaking)
* Reliance on various mineral and metal extraction industries in the building of batteries
* Issues disposing of/recycling batteries at end of life
* Increased demand on electricity production

Advancing technologies may change how serious these cons are, but they currently remain genuine issues.

Other pros of electric vehicles aren't mentioned
* Lower costs of operation (partially offset by higher costs of purchase)
* Higher reliability
* Lower maintenance and repair costs
* Lower carbon footprint

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, with his palm raised, is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Electric motors and gas engines each have their pros and cons.
:White Hat: On one hand, electric motors are cleaner and more efficient. On the other hand, electric motors are more powerful.
:White Hat: So it's hard to say which is better overall.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Climate change]]

2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-20T08:46:52Z

172.71.242.69: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2948
| date = June 19, 2024
| title = Electric vs Gas
| image = electric_vs_gas_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HYDROGEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE RUNNING A GENERATOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Internal combustion engines (ICE) are the most common technology used to propel motor vehicles. In US vernacular, the most common motor fuel is known as "gasoline", or "gas" for short, leading to these engines being referred to as "gas engines". Gasoline is a product of petroleum refinement, leading to the name "petrol" being used in other dialects. (The word "gasoline" does not actually refer to any gaseous state, but derives from the brand-name fuel "Cazeline" or "Cazelline" sold by a man called John Cassell, and "Petrol" has also been a registered brand-name for another business's motor-fuel product.)

Electric motors would seem the more obvious method for propelling a vehicle, and as early as 1885 were an actual form of motor-car engine with which the fledgling internal combustion engine had to compete. Despite this early popularity, over most of the 20th century electric motors were sidelined in everyday car design, as supplying the electricity was considered to be impractical for most forms of transportation. Modern forms are rapidly rising in popularity, and now constitute 18% of all global vehicle sales. [[Randall]] has long been a strong proponent of electric vehicles.

In this strip, [[White Hat]] claims to be comparing the pros and cons of electric motors and gas engines. The joke is that every point he makes goes in favor of electric motors. Despite it being posed as a dilemma, it may be very clear which side of the debate White Hat is promoting. On the other hand, it may indicate that one of the things we might consider a pro in electric motors (the instantaneous power now available, exceeding that of many non-electric engines) he would consider a problem — perhaps more accurately, a problem with the ''drivers'' of such vehicles — recklessly using the enhanced capabilities to accelerate to high speeds at all opportunities, whether safe to do so or not.

The strip offers the following points in favor of electric motors:

* "Cleaner and more efficient". Internal combustion engines produce and vent harmful combustion products and toxic chemicals, while electric motors produce no emission byproducts at the point of use. The efficiency of both gas and electric motors vary, but the typical ICE vehicle in the US converts around 25% of available energy into motion, while the typical electric vehicle is in the neighborhood of 80%. It should be noted that all of this refers to the motors only, and ignores how the fuel and electricity are produced. Even when considering inefficiencies in the source production and transmission and storage and release of energy, battery driven electric vehicles are generally more efficient than internal combustion propelled vehicles[https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/electric-vehicles-contribute-fewer-emissions-than-gasoline-powered-cars-over-their-lifetimes/].

* "More powerful". Electric motors are able to deliver a lot of power from a small motor '''if''' an ample energy supply is available, and can do so 'on demand', often far quicker than a fuel-powered engine that has to put its power through a gearbox in order to service a wide range of road velocities, from standstill to the eventual top speed. Due to battery limitations, short or partial runtime use cases, such as dragsters, hand tools, yard tools, toys, and electric scooters net the most benefit from the small size of a high-powered electric motor.

* "Annoyingly loud". Internal combustion engines, by their nature, produce significant noise. Despite noise attenuation measures (such as mufflers), they contribute significantly to urban noise. Properly designed electric motors are nearly silent. In particular, turbo-charger blow-off valves make particular noises that are completely lacking in an all-electric vehicle being driven under a similar performance level. This might legitimately be considered a problem, though, when everyone is used to a rapidly approaching vehicle providing a very noisy warning of its approach. EV makers have sometimes added [https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-fake-engine-sound-hyundai-dodge-toyota-2023-7 fake ICE noises] to appeal to older drivers and {{w|Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds|warning sounds}} for bystanders.

* "WAY less torque available at standstill". Internal combustion engines need to continually operate within a specific range of rotational speeds, which means that a complex system of transmission gearing is needed to convert this motion into the specific speeds needed at the wheels. When starting from a stand-still, this means that torque must be applied to the wheels relatively gradually to avoid stalling the engine. Electric motors, by contrast, generally produce their peak torque when at a standstill. This results in electric vehicles having significantly better acceleration and engine responsiveness. Again, this could cause a legitimate problem with drivers changing from ICE to electric motors, because the new cars accelerate more than the driver is used to and provide different feedback. The audible clues of gear-changes, whether from automatic or manual systems, are part and parcel of what many people have grown up with and come to rely on in anticipating what might need paying attention to.

It should be noted that White Hat is deliberately confining his arguments to electric vs gas ''motors'' rather than electric or gas-powered ''vehicles''. Doing so ignores the basic reason why internal combustion vehicles have long dominated transportation: hydrocarbon fuels are a very dense and fairly easy to handle form of energy ''storage''. Providing electrical power to a moving vehicle requires either that the vehicle remain in contact with a power line, like a train does, or a high-capacity battery and the ability to recharge that battery in a reasonable amount of time. More popular in the USA is a hybrid system, where a combustion engine provides at least some of the power to an electric motor, which was impractical until comparatively recently. Other methods, such as hydrogen fuel cells (a form of "combustion" that can be used more directly to form electricity), have been proposed, but remain experimental.

A more comprehensive comparison would include the cons of electric vehicles, including:

* Higher cost of purchase (primarily due to the cost of batteries and, in the USA, now a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs), although partially offset by lower costs of operation
* Long charging times compared to refilling a gas tank (there are some approaches which mitigate this by operating a battery swap model, rather than charging in-car, but these are not widely adopted)
* Relatively limited range
* Shortened range in hot weather and significantly shortened range in cold weather (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Limited charging infrastructure in some places (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Higher vehicle weight, and resulting higher particulate emissions (from tires and while breaking, although recuperation reduces the need for breaking)
* Reliance on various mineral and metal extraction industries in the building of batteries
* Issues disposing of/recycling batteries at end of life
* Increased demand on electricity production

Advancing technologies may change how serious these cons are, but they currently remain genuine issues.

Other pros of electric vehicles aren't mentioned
* Lower costs of operation (partially offset by higher costs of purchase)
* Higher reliability
* Lower maintenance and repair costs
* Lower carbon footprint

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, with his palm raised, is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Electric motors and gas engines each have their pros and cons.
:White Hat: On one hand, electric motors are cleaner and more efficient. On the other hand, electric motors are more powerful.
:White Hat: So it's hard to say which is better overall.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Climate change]]

2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-20T08:45:55Z

172.71.242.69: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2948
| date = June 19, 2024
| title = Electric vs Gas
| image = electric_vs_gas_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HYDROGEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE RUNNING A GENERATOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Internal combustion engines (ICE) are the most common technology used to propel motor vehicles. In US vernacular, the most common motor fuel is known as "gasoline", or "gas" for short, leading to these engines being referred to as "gas engines". Gasoline is a product of petroleum refinement, leading to the name "petrol" being used in other dialects. (The word "gasoline" does not actually refer to any gaseous state, but derives from the brand-name fuel "Cazeline" or "Cazelline" sold by a man called John Cassell, and "Petrol" has also been a registered brand-name for another business's motor-fuel product.)

Electric motors would seem the more obvious method for propelling a vehicle, and as early as 1885 were an actual form of motor-car engine with which the fledgling internal combustion engine had to compete. Despite this early popularity, over most of the 20th century electric motors were sidelined in everyday car design, as supplying the electricity was considered to be impractical for most forms of transportation. Modern forms are rapidly rising in popularity, and now constitute 18% of all global vehicle sales. [[Randall]] has long been a strong proponent of electric vehicles.

In this strip, [[White Hat]] claims to be comparing the pros and cons of electric motors and gas engines. The joke is that every point he makes goes in favor of electric motors. Despite it being posed as a dilemma, it may be very clear which side of the debate White Hat is promoting. On the other hand, it may indicate that one of the things we might consider a pro in electric motors (the instantaneous power now available, exceeding that of many non-electric engines) he would consider a problem - perhaps more accurately, a problem with the ''drivers'' of such vehicles, recklessly using the enhanced capabalities to accelerate to high speeds at all opportunities, whether safe to do so or not.

The strip offers the following points in favor of electric motors:

* "Cleaner and more efficient". Internal combustion engines produce and vent harmful combustion products and toxic chemicals, while electric motors produce no emission byproducts at the point of use. The efficiency of both gas and electric motors vary, but the typical ICE vehicle in the US converts around 25% of available energy into motion, while the typical electric vehicle is in the neighborhood of 80%. It should be noted that all of this refers to the motors only, and ignores how the fuel and electricity are produced. Even when considering inefficiencies in the source production and transmission and storage and release of energy, battery driven electric vehicles are generally more efficient than internal combustion propelled vehicles[https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/electric-vehicles-contribute-fewer-emissions-than-gasoline-powered-cars-over-their-lifetimes/].

* "More powerful". Electric motors are able to deliver a lot of power from a small motor '''if''' an ample energy supply is available, and can do so 'on demand', often far quicker than a fuel-powered engine that has to put its power through a gearbox in order to service a wide range of road velocities, from standstill to the eventual top speed. Due to battery limitations, short or partial runtime use cases, such as dragsters, hand tools, yard tools, toys, and electric scooters net the most benefit from the small size of a high-powered electric motor.

* "Annoyingly loud". Internal combustion engines, by their nature, produce significant noise. Despite noise attenuation measures (such as mufflers), they contribute significantly to urban noise. Properly designed electric motors are nearly silent. In particular, turbo-charger blow-off valves make particular noises that are completely lacking in an all-electric vehicle being driven under a similar performance level. This might legitimately be considered a problem, though, when everyone is used to a rapidly approaching vehicle providing a very noisy warning of its approach. EV makers have sometimes added [https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-fake-engine-sound-hyundai-dodge-toyota-2023-7 fake ICE noises] to appeal to older drivers and {{w|Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds|warning sounds}} for bystanders.

* "WAY less torque available at standstill". Internal combustion engines need to continually operate within a specific range of rotational speeds, which means that a complex system of transmission gearing is needed to convert this motion into the specific speeds needed at the wheels. When starting from a stand-still, this means that torque must be applied to the wheels relatively gradually to avoid stalling the engine. Electric motors, by contrast, generally produce their peak torque when at a standstill. This results in electric vehicles having significantly better acceleration and engine responsiveness. Again, this could cause a legitimate problem with drivers changing from ICE to electric motors, because the new cars accelerate more than the driver is used to and provide different feedback. The audible clues of gear-changes, whether from automatic or manual systems, are part and parcel of what many people have grown up with and come to rely on in anticipating what might need paying attention to.

It should be noted that White Hat is deliberately confining his arguments to electric vs gas ''motors'' rather than electric or gas-powered ''vehicles''. Doing so ignores the basic reason why internal combustion vehicles have long dominated transportation: hydrocarbon fuels are a very dense and fairly easy to handle form of energy ''storage''. Providing electrical power to a moving vehicle requires either that the vehicle remain in contact with a power line, like a train does, or a high-capacity battery and the ability to recharge that battery in a reasonable amount of time. More popular in the USA is a hybrid system, where a combustion engine provides at least some of the power to an electric motor, which was impractical until comparatively recently. Other methods, such as hydrogen fuel cells (a form of "combustion" that can be used more directly to form electricity), have been proposed, but remain experimental.

A more comprehensive comparison would include the cons of electric vehicles, including:

* Higher cost of purchase (primarily due to the cost of batteries and, in the USA, now a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs), although partially offset by lower costs of operation
* Long charging times compared to refilling a gas tank (there are some approaches which mitigate this by operating a battery swap model, rather than charging in-car, but these are not widely adopted)
* Relatively limited range
* Shortened range in hot weather and significantly shortened range in cold weather (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Limited charging infrastructure in some places (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Higher vehicle weight, and resulting higher particulate emissions (from tires and while breaking, although recuperation reduces the need for breaking)
* Reliance on various mineral and metal extraction industries in the building of batteries
* Issues disposing of/recycling batteries at end of life
* Increased demand on electricity production

Advancing technologies may change how serious these cons are, but they currently remain genuine issues.

Other pros of electric vehicles aren't mentioned
* Lower costs of operation (partially offset by higher costs of purchase)
* Higher reliability
* Lower maintenance and repair costs
* Lower carbon footprint

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, with his palm raised, is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Electric motors and gas engines each have their pros and cons.
:White Hat: On one hand, electric motors are cleaner and more efficient. On the other hand, electric motors are more powerful.
:White Hat: So it's hard to say which is better overall.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Climate change]]

Talk:2840: Earth Layers

2023-10-12T08:50:35Z

172.71.242.69:

Why are the seeds outside of the pith? Is there a fruit that is organized this way? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 18:01, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
:If there's one that's this way that contains pith, i can't find it, but raspberries, cashew apples, and blackberries all have their seeds on the outside [[User:SomeoneIGuess|SomeoneIGuess]] ([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk]]) 20:09, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
:The pith is the innermost part of a tree trunk. The part of a fruit is the ''pit'', which is basically the same thing as a seed.--[[Special:Contributions/172.64.236.13|172.64.236.13]] 20:19, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
::Ummm...the white, fibrous stuff within fruits that wraps around the seeds (like in oranges, for example) is called "pith", whether trees contain something by that name or not.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 21:43, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
:Clear tootsie roll tootsie pop joke miss (awwaiid) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.49|172.70.39.49]] 01:40, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Something that seemed to be excessive to edit into the Explanation, but noting here in passing, the additional issue of magnets (in a Kinder context) is the problems of ingesting them. In addition to other issues, they can attract each other/separate bits of metal across folds of the digestive system and cause problems beyond merely their passage through the system (which they might not now be able to do). I don't even know if Kinder has ever included magnets, but I think they'd be extremely limited even outwith the US. (Though, as counter-example, there are {{w|Hardware disease#Prevention|Cow Magnets}}, designed for ingestion but not further digestion. And not for humans, nor the size of either a standard Kinder-yoke or a planetary one.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.69|172.71.242.69]] 08:50, 12 October 2023 (UTC)