# All Questions

2answers
199 views

### Cosmological triangle with PLANCK results

Is there an updated version of the cosmological triangle with recent PLANCK results included?
4answers
13k views

### What is the effect of an increase in pressure on latent heat of vaporization?

What is latent heat of vaporization ($L_v$) in the first place? Wikipedia seems to indicate that it is the energy used in overcoming intermolecular interactions, without taking into account at all any ...
1answer
635 views

### What is the Lorentz tensor with a superscript and subscript index?

I have been reading about symmetries of systems' actions, e.g. the Polyakov action, and I have encountered Lorentz transformations of the form: $\Lambda^{\mu}_{\nu} X^{\nu}$. I am moderately familiar ...
2answers
238 views

### Why don't black holes within a galaxy pull in the stars of the galaxy

visit http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.html If black holes can pull even light, why cant they pull the stars in the galaxy?
1answer
620 views

### Error in Sear's and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern Physics 13th Edition (Young and Freeman)?

I was reading up on the Ideal Gas Equation in University Physics with Modern Physics by Young and Freeman when I chanced upon a seemingly illogical mathematical equation. Can anyone rectify this ...
4answers
12k views

### How do you determine the heat transfer from a P-V diagram?

I doubt this question has been addressed properly before, but if there are similar answers, do direct them to me. I am currently studying the First Law of Thermodynamics, which includes the p-V ...
2answers
1k views

### Is the de Broglie wavelength of a photon equal to the EM wavelength of the radiation?

Is the de Broglie (matter) wavelength $\lambda=\frac{h}{p}$ of a photon equal to the electromagnetic wavelength of the radiation? I guess yes, but how come that photons have both a matter wave and an ...
4answers
854 views

### Difference between electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and Electromagnetic Field?

I'm a freshly graduated electrical engineer. One course that I really struggled with was Field Theory, because it was a lovely assortment of vector calculus and things that were explained to me well ...
1answer
2k views

2answers
66 views

### A question on lewis model [closed]

Electron affinity of chlorine = -349 kJ per mole. And, first ionization energy of sodium = 496 kJ per mole while energy required for combining= 147 kJ per mole. Isn't it a contradiction against ...
1answer
2k views

### When should angles be expressed in degrees vs. radians?

I am trying to calculate the albedo of a given latitude by following the methods of Brutsaert (1982), I have copied the formula below: 3.6 Shortwave and long-wave radiative fluxes Albedo ...
1answer
796 views

### Explanation for breaking up of a stream of water into droplets

Water falling from a tap eventually breaks into droplets at a particular distance from the tap. The distance(from the tap) at which it breaks into droplets is observed to be an increasing function of ...
1answer
907 views

### Derivation of the volume element (which uses the metric tensor)?

I have often seen $\sqrt{-g}$ in integrals, especially actions, where $g=\mathrm{det}(g_{\mu \nu})$. Does anyone know of a derivation that shows that this is indeed the volume element which must be ...
1answer
410 views

### Center of mass error - calculating systematic error in change in PE

Suppose we have to calculate systematic error in change in PE. Let's suppose systematic error due to scale is 1%. I'm confused about the center of mass error. \begin{align} \Delta PE = m*g*h_1 - ...
1answer
70 views

### localized electrons in the crystals

Why electrons in low lying levels of individual atoms stay localized in their own atoms in a crystal? Doesn't this contradict Bloch's theorem?
1answer
190 views

### Critical dimension in quantization of p-branes

So I have what might be a fairly basic question, but my understanding that in the quantization of the the string, or the 1-brane, there are conditions on the number of spacetime dimensions to ensure ...
2answers
2k views

### Time period for spring connected body

Two identical springs with spring constant $k$ are connected to identical masses of mass $M$, as shown in the figures above. The ratio of the period for the springs connected in parallel (Figure 1) ...
1answer
503 views

### When a variation of a tensor is not a tensor?

In a comment about variation of metric tensor it was shown that $$\delta g_{\mu\nu}=-g_{\mu\rho}g_{\nu\,\sigma}\delta g^{\rho\,\sigma}$$ which is contrary to the usual rule of lowering indeces of a ...
1answer
130 views

### Purcell and the Magnetic Field

When showing that the magnetic field derived from the curl being proportional to current and the divergence being zero is unique, Purcell says that at some sufficiently remote enclosing boundary the ...
1answer
459 views

### How to find speed when accelerating down a slanted wire

I saw this picture on one of my social media sites with the caption, "I'd do this in a heart beat! Who's with me!" I was about to go balls to the walls and say, "I'm in! When and where??" But then ...
2answers
278 views

### Hyperopia, Far Sightedness

With hyperopia, the focal point is behind the retina, shouldn't this mean that the image is flipped on the retina itself from what is usual? I must be drawing my ray diagrams wrong. A little ...
2answers
227 views

### Frequency Modulation

If FM radios work by modulating the frequency, how is it that we can tune into a specific channel, and hear a song or station? Wouldn't the channel need to be modulated along with the varying ...
1answer
160 views

### Optics, lenses and our eyes

When we view an image, is the focal point of our eye on our retina? Shouldn't that hurt? Also, if that is how our eye works, then why don't lenses put the focal point their equivalent retina? I was ...
2answers
226 views

### Limit on velocity in Minkowski Spacetime geometry

Let A be a rocket moving with velocity v. Then the slope of its worldline in a spacetime diagram is given by c/v. Since it is a slope, c/v = tan(theta) for some theta > 45 and theta < 90. Does ...
0answers
212 views

### Solving the equation of relativistic motion

How does one solve the tensor differential equation for the relativistic motion of a partilcle of charge $e$ and mass $m$, with 4-momentum $p^a$ and electromagnetic field tensor $F_{ab}$ of a constant ...
2answers
302 views

### Redshifted from what?

We need to know two of the following three to calculate the third: redshifted color, baseline color, and velocity. The velocity is related to the difference between the redshifted color and the ...
2answers
919 views

### What happens to the energy not absorbed by a radio?

If a radio tunes to a specific frequency, where does the excess energy go? If one continues to hit the resonant frequency, shouldn't the wire begin to melt at some point from too much energy?
1answer
214 views

### Underlying physical basis of an exponential distribution

My data set of upper atmospheric cloud occurrences $N$ versus their thickness (or optical brightness, say $B$) show an exponential variation over more than two orders of magnitude - that is $N$ varies ...
0answers
170 views

### Magnetic Field versus Line Charge

Isn't a magnetic field basically an electric field originating from a line charge, but as seen in a boosted frame? I mean, that's where the relativistic explanation comes from right?

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