The intuition tag has no wiki summary.
4
votes
4answers
349 views
Is it intuitive that the conserved quantity from time symmetry is what we know as energy?
Is there an easy (aka intuitive) way to understand that the conserved quantity from time translation symmetry is just what we call energy?
In other words, we use two definitions of energy. One is ...
0
votes
2answers
96 views
Internal/Rotational angular momentum
I have some difficulties to understand the relation between the internal and the rotational angular momentum of a rigid body which is also known as König's theorem, so what physical intuition lies ...
-3
votes
0answers
90 views
Esotic quantities and Visualization [closed]
I alwasy challenged my self to visualize something that has an esotic misure in other words, a physical quantity that can't be represented as a natural number.
When we talk about negative, and ...
7
votes
3answers
168 views
How do I intuit viscosity in a rotating fluid?
Suppose I have two plates with a viscous fluid in between. I slide them in the same direction (a direction in their own plane), one at $5 \,\text{m/s}$ and the other at $6 \,\text{m/s}$. Due to the ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views
Intuition behind Work
I have a doubt in understanding the intuition behind the concept of work. First of all, I think this isn't duplicate, I've searched on the site, and the closest thing I've found was this post which is ...
10
votes
2answers
319 views
Using photons to explain electrostatic force
I am trying to understand the idea of a force carrier with the following example.
Let's say there are two charges $A$ and $B$ that are a fixed distance from each other. What is causing the force on ...
14
votes
5answers
895 views
Is there an intuitive explanation for why Lorentz force is perpendicular to a particle's velocity and the magnetic field?
The Lorentz force on a charged particle is perpendicular to the particle's velocity and the magnetic field it's moving through. This is obvious from the equation:
$$ \mathbf{F} = q\mathbf{v} \times ...
5
votes
3answers
102 views
What is the physical difference between states and unital completely positive maps?
Mathematically, completely positive maps on C*-algebras generalize positive linear functionals in that every positive linear functional on a C*-algebra $A$ is a completely positive map of $A$ into ...
8
votes
2answers
830 views
What's the interpretation of Feynman's picture proof of Noether's Theorem?
On pp 103 - 105 of The Character of Physical Law, Feynman draws this diagram to demonstrate that invariance under spatial translation leads to conservation of momentum:
To paraphrase Feynman's ...
3
votes
1answer
114 views
What is the physical meaning of a flux of gravitational field in classics?
I've stumbled upon an answer to a question about square power in Newton's law of gravity. After reading it I got a question whether the flux of gravitational field has actually any physical meaning.
...
6
votes
5answers
291 views
Intuitive explanation of the inverse square power $\frac{1}{r^2}$ in Newton's law of gravity
Is there an intuitive explanation why it is plausible that the gravitational force which acts between two point masses is proportional to the inverse square of the distance $r$ between the masses (and ...
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Where does the energy flow differ between a forward and reverse process?
Mathematically ($W=\int PdV$) and by the First Law, I understand that $1 \rightarrow 4 \rightarrow 3 \rightarrow 2 \rightarrow 1$ and $1 \rightarrow 2 \rightarrow 3 \rightarrow 4 \rightarrow 1$ are ...
10
votes
0answers
141 views
Hypersingular Boundary Operator in Physics
This has been a question I've been asking myself for quite some time now. Is there a physical Interpretation of the Hypersingular Boundary Operator?
First, let me give some motivation why I think ...
13
votes
6answers
2k views
Can Noether's theorem be understood intuitively?
Noether's theorem is one of those surprisingly clear results of mathematical calculations, for which I am inclined to think that some kind of intuitive understanding should or must be possible. ...
5
votes
1answer
331 views
Intuition for multiple temporal dimensions
It’s easy, relatively speaking, to develop an intuition for higher spatial dimensions, usually by induction on familiar lower-dimensional spaces. But I’m having difficulty envisioning a universe with ...
12
votes
3answers
998 views
How does non-commutativity lead to uncertainty?
I read that the non-commutativity of the quantum operators leads to the uncertainty principle.
What I don't understand is how both things hang together. Is it that when you measure one thing first ...
5
votes
0answers
181 views
Intuition for when the replica trick should work and why it works
I am a graduate student in mathematics working in probability (without a very good background in physics honestly) and I've started to see arguments based on computations derived from the replica ...
5
votes
5answers
408 views
Is time fundamentally different from space?
Note: This is a rewrite of the original question, which was titled What would time be for 2D beings?
In my current, non-physicist's understanding, every instant of our three‑dimensional world ...
5
votes
4answers
194 views
Intuitive explanation to why superconductivity breaks at high temperatures
I was recently caught up in a situation where I tried to explain to someone with only vary basic knowledge of physics (notion of atoms and electrons, etc.) what causes superconductivity. One thing I ...
5
votes
3answers
273 views
What is a completely positive map *physically*?
I am sure this question is really stupid, but I could not refrain from asking it in this forum. This can be considered as a continuation of this question.
...
5
votes
1answer
108 views
Apparent contradiction between calculations and intuition?
I am rather confused because it would seem that mathematical conclusions I have drawn here goes against my physical intuition, though both aren't too reliable to begin with.
We have a potential step ...
2
votes
1answer
134 views
Euclidean Geometry in Classical Thought - Realization or Representation?
First post! :]
This has been bothering me for a while now:
[Taken from John J. Roche's "The Mathematics of Measurement: A Critical History"]
When physico-mathematicians in the seventeenth ...
5
votes
2answers
129 views
Superconductivity reasons (Intutitive)
Superconductivity
I read in a book "Physics - Resnik and Halliday" the explanation of Type-I Superconductors{cold ones} that:
The Electrons that make up current at super-cool temperatures move in ...
5
votes
5answers
1k views
Why does work equal force times distance?
My 'government-issued' book literally says:
Energy is the capacity to do work and work is the product of net force and the 1-dimensional distance it made a body travel while constantly affecting ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
How do kinetic energy and linear momentum relate?
It took me quite a long time to click my gears in place and even then I'm not sure it's completely correct.
The problem is that I need to understand these concepts (physics concepts; not just these ...
2
votes
2answers
288 views
Intuition behind the concept of heat
Even if elementary, I'm afraid I am still not comfortable with the concept of heat. I can picture heat as some kind of incompressible fluid that is transferred from a body to another in such a way ...
-1
votes
1answer
217 views
Which areas of physics are most demanding of good intuition or physical insight? [closed]
I'm a beginning graduate student, and I have 2 years before I have to pick a specialization. I would like to know which areas of physics call for the most intuition or physical insight. If this sounds ...
0
votes
2answers
173 views
Question Concerning Position Of A Particle At Any Given Time
After years of procrastinating i've decided not to "move ahead" with physics without getting this ridiculously trivial question clear!*I know i had asked a similar question as silly and stupid as this ...
2
votes
2answers
293 views
Question Based On Galileo's Law Of Falling Bodies
Galileo discovered that the distance fallen is proportional to the square of the time it has been falling.Why is it proportional to the square of the time and not just time?
i.e $d \propto t^2$ why ...
6
votes
1answer
253 views
Circular motion when F=ma'
I apologize in advance if this question is deemed too general or too similar to this and this question.
How would mechanics be different if $F=mx'''$ instead of $F=ma$? I feel like I have ...
1
vote
0answers
88 views
Knowledge needed to study and understand general and special relativity theory [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are the prerequisites to studying general relativity?
I'am 27 now and i have a burning desire to study math and physics from the ground up and I strongly prefer ...
4
votes
3answers
404 views
“Seeing” the solution
I often hear people say that so-and-so [some famous physicist] can see the solution without calculation. What exactly does this mean? Is it an intuition? But how does one have intuition when it comes ...
5
votes
6answers
971 views
Why F=ma and not F=ma'?
What would happen if instead of $F=m*d^2x/dt^2$, we had $F=m*d^3x/dt^3$ or higher?
Intuitively, I have always seen a justification for ~1/r^2 forces as the "forces beeing divided equally over the ...
8
votes
2answers
361 views
Shaking a jar of balls
A jar is filled with two types of balls, red and green. Red balls have radius $r_1$ and mass $m_1$, green balls have radius $r_2$ and mass $m_2$.
If initially the balls are randomly placed throughout ...
3
votes
4answers
314 views
Is a periodic force capable of transporting a particle to large distances?
I have a particle at rest. At $t = 0$ a periodic force like $F_0 \sin\omega t$ starts acting on my particle. Can such a force transport my particle to infinity when $t \to \infty$? Please answer this ...
