Difference between revisions of "1867: Physics Confession"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
(Explanation: links to articles that introduce the topics in question (references say these are not understood))
(Explanation)
Line 10: Line 10:
 
{{incomplete|This is my first contribution it should be looked over by someone before the tag is removed.}}
 
{{incomplete|This is my first contribution it should be looked over by someone before the tag is removed.}}
  
A {{w|Theory of Everything}} is a goal of modern physics which would explain all of the phenomena observed in modern physics. The current approach to a theory of everything is to figure out how everything works on a quantum scale, and then just demonstrate how the rest of known physics can be derived from that quantum behavior. This approach, however, leaves many everyday phenomena which are not understood by modern physics. This comic lists several of those phenomena:
+
A {{w|Theory of Everything}} is a goal of modern physics which would describe the properties of all fundamental particles and all the interactions between them. The current approach to a theory of everything is to describe how at high energies different interactions, such as electromagnetic forces and the strong and weak nuclear interactions merge. It would be possible, in principle to demonstrate how the rest of known physics can be derived from that quantum behavior. This approach, however, leaves many everyday phenomena which are not understood by modern physics. This comic lists several of those phenomena:
  
 
It is unknown how ice skates work. It is thought that they develop a film of water between the skate and the ice that lubricates sliding, but scientists dispute how the film gets there. [http://lptms.u-psud.fr/membres/trizac/Ens/L3FIP/Ice.pdf Why is ice slippery?]<!--{{Cite journal | url =  | title = Why is ice slippery? | first = Robert | last = Rosenberg | journal= [[Physics Today]] | pages= 50–54 | date=December 2005 | accessdate= 15 February 2009 | doi = 10.1063/1.2169444 }}-->  
 
It is unknown how ice skates work. It is thought that they develop a film of water between the skate and the ice that lubricates sliding, but scientists dispute how the film gets there. [http://lptms.u-psud.fr/membres/trizac/Ens/L3FIP/Ice.pdf Why is ice slippery?]<!--{{Cite journal | url =  | title = Why is ice slippery? | first = Robert | last = Rosenberg | journal= [[Physics Today]] | pages= 50–54 | date=December 2005 | accessdate= 15 February 2009 | doi = 10.1063/1.2169444 }}-->  

Revision as of 07:11, 24 July 2017

Physics Confession
"You know lightning, right? When electric charge builds up in a cloud and then discharges in a giant spark? Ask me why that happens." "Why does tha--" "No clue. We think it's related to the hair thing."
Title text: "You know lightning, right? When electric charge builds up in a cloud and then discharges in a giant spark? Ask me why that happens." "Why does tha--" "No clue. We think it's related to the hair thing."

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: This is my first contribution it should be looked over by someone before the tag is removed.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

A Theory of Everything is a goal of modern physics which would describe the properties of all fundamental particles and all the interactions between them. The current approach to a theory of everything is to describe how at high energies different interactions, such as electromagnetic forces and the strong and weak nuclear interactions merge. It would be possible, in principle to demonstrate how the rest of known physics can be derived from that quantum behavior. This approach, however, leaves many everyday phenomena which are not understood by modern physics. This comic lists several of those phenomena:

It is unknown how ice skates work. It is thought that they develop a film of water between the skate and the ice that lubricates sliding, but scientists dispute how the film gets there. Why is ice slippery?

Physicists lack a clear understanding of the interactions involved in the flow of granular materials, such as sand. It is known that the behavior diverges greatly from that of a liquid, but it is unknown exactly how the flow works.PhysicsCentral:Granular Materials

Modern physics also doesn't understand what makes electrons move from one material to another when two materials are rubbed against each other (the triboelectric effect), and why the transfer takes more electrons in one direction than in the other.

Transcript

[Megan is facing Ponytail and Cueball .]
Megan: I'll be honest: We physicists talk a big game about the theory of everything, but the truth is, we don't really understand why ice skates work, how sand flows, or where the static charge comes from when you rub your hair with a balloon.


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

F1rst P0st http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/269:_TCMP 172.68.141.190 07:54, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Fuckin' ice skates, how do they work? OldCorps (talk) 11:26, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Any relation to #1489? They're both about things physicists don't understand. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1489:_Fundamental_Forces 172.68.132.5 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Explain physics: It's 'cause Randall's dumb. 141.101.104.47 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Explanation of skating

A lot of people both here and on Reddit seem to be talking about the pressure of the skates reducing the melting point. The pressure of the skates can only reduce the melting point by about 0.5C, so this is clearly not sufficient to produce a layer of liquid below -0.5C. The more correct explanation is that there is an ever-present layer of liquid on the surface of most crystals, including ice - this is the best explanation that exists right now and explains why ice skating stops being possible below around -30C (and is hard at intermediate temperatures). This is the explanation offered by most modern university courses on thermodynamics or materials science - here is an excerpt from a University of Cambridge materials science course: Excerpt Jaredjeya (talk) 13:03, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

I've just looked at the article linked in the explanation, whoever put it in didn't read the full article because it goes on to mention exactly this explanation. Jaredjeya (talk) 13:07, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
Good ol' circular reasoning. OldCorps (talk) 15:48, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

"...ice skating stops being possible below around -30C". Not true. I've skated at -40C. It's effing stupid, risk of frostbite in minutes, but still works. (Living North of 60 for 4+ decades) 162.158.74.219 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

-40C? Ha! Try -40F! davidgro (talk) 23:55, 28 July 2017 (UTC)
Ice skating works because ice is slippery and skates reduce the surface touching the ice which reduces the friction increasing how slippery it is. However, it is a special case of the question: "Why is ice slippery in the first place?" Which is not fully understood.162.158.114.16 11:27, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

A recent article discusses ice skating things here. Looks like the confined melted water film behaves oddly (viscoelastically) and unexpectedly gains ideal lubrication properties for skiing and skating. Surface hydrophobicity also affects sliding coefficients not by changing the thickness of melted films but rather the local water (complex) viscosity. However, they do not try this at -40 C (or -40 F as slyly pointed out above).