Editing 857: Archimedes
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This comic references a famous quote made by {{w|Archimedes}}: [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Archimedes δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω], which could translate as "Give me a long enough lever and a place to rest it, and I will move the Earth". Archimedes was illustrating the power of {{w|force}} | + | This comic references a famous quote made by {{w|Archimedes}}: [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Archimedes δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω], which could translate as "Give me a long enough lever and a place to rest it, and I will move the Earth". Archimedes was illustrating the power of {{w|force multiplication}} by stating that, in theory, even a mass as immense as the entire planet Earth could be moved by a single human being using a simple {{w|lever}}. |
While Archimedes is theoretically correct, in practice the lever would need to be millions of light years long, and the person operating it would need to push it by several light years to move the Earth even a microscopic amount. In fact, a much simpler way to move the Earth, which achieves similar distances, is to jump in the air - by Newton's third law, the same amount of force that is applied to you will also be applied to the Earth. | While Archimedes is theoretically correct, in practice the lever would need to be millions of light years long, and the person operating it would need to push it by several light years to move the Earth even a microscopic amount. In fact, a much simpler way to move the Earth, which achieves similar distances, is to jump in the air - by Newton's third law, the same amount of force that is applied to you will also be applied to the Earth. |