All Questions

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Why don't we need to normalize wavefunction to find probability distribution?

Consider an unormalized wavefunction of a rotor at $t = 0$, a combination of $n=0$ and $n=2$ states: $$\psi(\phi) = 3 - 2 \cos (2\phi).$$ Find the probability distribution in angle. The ...
975 views

Finding max height of a mass lanuched by a spring?

I have the following problem on my homework. The actual problem has numbers, but I figure using symbolic notation will help me understand the concept in the long run. A block of mass $M$ is launched ...
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Any recommendations for self-studying physics? [duplicate]

I'm new to this forum so I hope this post falls under the guidelines of what's acceptable. I'm currently finishing my grade 11 year of high school and I have hopes of attending one of the prestigious ...
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Understanding Poynting's Theorem intuitively

I understand that, broadly speaking, Poynting's theorem is a statement of conservation of energy. Energy density of a volume of current and charge decreases proportionally to work done on charges ...
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Hydrogen atom: potential well and orbit radii

I happened to open up an old solid-state electronics book by Sah, and in it he says: "it is evident that the electron orbit radius is half the well radius at the energy level En" The orbit radius is ...
241 views

Mass or no mass?

Do all forms of energy have a mass? We know by $E=mc^2$ that mass and energy are directly proportional, but there are massless forms of energy such as electro-magnetic waves. I am also told that there ...
27 views

Small Animal Terminal Velocity

I recently saw a cat fall probably 100 feet like in this video Cat Falls. It seemed as if the cat reached terminal velocity by the time it hit. Does this mean that cats (and other small animals) could ...
33 views

consequences of universe in which second law of thermodynamics does not hold [on hold]

What happen if second law of thermodynamics does not there for governing every day processes.Can universe exist and evolve if second law of thermodynamics does not exist ,in first place?
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Vibrational anharmonic coupling and noise-induced spontaneous symmetry breaking in a hexagonal finite mechanical lattice

Happy holidays, everyone! The following is part question, part visual gallery, and part classical mechanics problem. Inspired by snow over the weekend I began simulating the vibrations of the ...
61 views

Cylindrical Fresnel Lens Focus Problem

How to focus beam from the fresnel lens on a flat surface. In my case, instead of producing the light beam, I am receiving the light beam. So, the beam comes from the right and then focuses at a ...
53 views

What do the latest FERMI results say about dark matter?

There was an announcement at a recent UCLA symposium on dark matter by the FERMI collaboration which hints at some evidence of dark matter. The results aren't yet published, but the symposium news ...
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How to calculate the amout of time for oil to get out from a pneumatic cylinder?

I have a system. You can assume it is just a 1" diameter steel pneumatic cylinder (1 foot long). Assume we ignore the bore size issue at this point. One chamber is filled up by oil (6" of volume), ...
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Dipole matrix elements through parity argument

I am trying to find the following dipole moment matrix element $(|n,\ell,m\rangle)$. $$e\langle1,0,0|\vec r|2,0,0\rangle$$ I believe that I can say this matrix element is zero because of parity. The ...
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I read Arnold's book Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics and come across with three problems in page 229. 1.Let $\lambda$ and $\bar{\lambda}$ be simple (multiplicity 1) eigenvalues of a ...
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Why aren't we surrounded by Black holes?

The Bekenstein bound is a limit to the amount of entropy a thermodynamical system can have. The bound is given by the following expression: S \leq \frac{2 \pi k R E}{\hbar c} ...
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Can matter be converted to information?

I know that matter can be converted to energy through E=mc^2. I also know that engery can be and has been converted to information through Landauer's principle (with Maxwell's demons). Does this ...
189 views

What does the Pauli Exclusion Principle say about a superposition of spin states?

Suppose we have an atom. It is commonly said that because of the PEP, two electrons can't be in the ground state unless they have opposite spins, because no two electrons can have the same ...
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Jet taking off from an aircraft carrier

If a jet takes off from an aircraft carrier, should it not already be traveling at the speed of the carrier. Also, does the jet require more energy to get off the carrier than from a stationary base? ...
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Thermodynamic entropy vs. quantum mechanical entropy

Is there a fundamental difference in the definition of entropy when considering the classical thermodynamic picture vs. the quantum mechanical picture, or are they both fundamentally equivalent?
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Do quarks really exist?

Title says it all. Have they been seen in experiment or are they just theoretical things? Do quarks really exist?
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Can a wave possess spin?

Since a matter wave is associated with a particle in quantum mechanics, does the wave spins? I mean, can we visualize the spinning of wave or is it possible that the wave spins?
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Magnetic field of uniformly charged rotating hollow sphere

I want to compute the magnetic field due to a homogeneously charged, rotating sphere with radius $R$, angular velocity $\vec{\omega} = \omega\hat{z}$ and total charge $Q$. I want to use Biot-Savart ...
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Can electromagnetic fields be used to shield electromagnetic radiation?

Can electromagnetic fields be used as shielding for electromagnetic radiation?
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Using increase in pressure from melting of ice to produce energy? [on hold]

When ice is melted in a sealed piston, it would increase the pressure within and cause the piston to rise, right? Could this be combined with piezoelectric generator to produce electricity? If so, why ...
2k views

How does velocity cause time dilation?

I've been trying to learn about the speed of light and time dilation, but I'm at an impasse. The presented facts say that if I travel around the solar system at 50% the speed of light and then come ...
100 views

Can you confirm 2 simple statements about vaporization?

Vaporization is an interesting engineering subject, but unfortunately much about it has always been unclear to me. Recent research of mine has brought my mind to link vapor pressure to boiling and ...
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Effect of CO2 on the environment, besides greenhouse effect and ocean acidification [on hold]

What effects does the raising level of CO2 in the atmosphere have, besides being a greenhouse gas and responsible for the increased acidity of the oceans? What other environmental damages does it ...
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Vaporization in function of relative humidity

I am wondering how the relative humidity affects the vaporization? I saw on an other post that it doesn't affect it, but in my personal experience, it takes much more time to dry clothes when the ...
835 views

The electric field of a conductive sphere containing a charge - grounded vs not grounded

Let's suppose we have a sphere but unlike theoretical ones it'll have some thickness say $\Delta r$ and inner radius $R$. What I was wondering about is how will it behave if we place some charge $q$ ...
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Mass of a black hole

I know that if a star collapses into a volume with radius less or equal to the Schwarzschild radius $r_s=\frac{2GM}{c^2}$ then a black hole is created and it has the same mass of the star that gave it ...
232 views

Addition of spin angular momentum for massless particles

How do I add the spin angular momentum of massless particles, like photons, where only the transverse polarizations are allowed? If all three polarizations were allowed, this would be an easy ...
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I have trouble in determining the "+" and "-" sign of momentum per unit time, per unit area of the following question. Why in the second part, $d\vec{a}$ is pointing in the $-\vec{z}$ direction? I ...
180 views

Seiberg-Witten theory and Superconductivity

There seems to have some (deep) relation between Seiberg-Witten theory and superconductivity. e.g. this Witten paper. Q: Could someone introduce the relations between the twos both physically in ...
241 views

QCD in the non-perturbative regime

In the list of unsolved problems in physics. Confinement: the equations of QCD remain unsolved at energy scales relevant for describing atomic nuclei. How does QCD give rise to the physics of nuclei ...
201 views

Connected and strongly connected Feynman diagrams

Recently I read, that only connected Feynman diagrams give contribution of nonzero values into the scattering amplitude. Why it is so and what is the physical sense of connected diagrams (due to ...
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What would we observe from thompson's lamp thought experiment?

The thought experiment goes like this: Say there is some circuit which turns a lamp on/off with just a flick of a switch. Say its off; you flick it, it turns on; flick it again it turns off, ...
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Physics behind a match performing a trick on center of mass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucdw0DDI4n8 I've seen another variation where the whole match stick turned to ash. What's going on in this trick?
138 views

How can Superconductivity materials levitate permanent magnet?

I have thought that by eddy current. But how eddy current in superconductivity materials can be generated by using permanent magnet?
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Law of Gauss. Electrostatics

I have seen on the internet that many times people assert that inside a cylindric condenser the electrostatic field is null due to the fact that the Gauss flux inside is null. But I wanted to make ...
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Can 'Backradiation' warm its own source? [duplicate]

Ok, although this question arises out of the global warming debate, this is a question purely for physicists and not intended to branch into that particular debate. We are told that LWIR from the ...
5k views

Birds sitting on electric wires: potential difference between their feet

We have seen birds sitting on uninsulated electric wires of high voltage transmission lines overhead without getting harmed, because sitting on only one wire doesn't complete any circuit. But what ...
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When did the first carbon atom in the Universe come into existence?

I am a chemist with a passion for astrophysics and particle physics, and one of the most marvellous things I have learned in my life is the process of stellar nucleosynthesis. It saddens me how my ...
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What is the energy of a black hole?

This might be a stupid question but given Einstein's general theory of relativity $E = m c^{2}$ what is the energy of a black hole? Isn't the mass of a black hole infinite? Wouldn't that be infinity ...
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Question concerning the Feynman Lectures of Physics

I am reading the Feynman lectures and at this point http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_13.html#Ch13-S3 it says as follows: The time derivate of the potential energy is \$ ...
168 views

Can we detect whether food has previously been heated in a microwave oven?

An acquaintance told me that she refuses to eat microwaved food because she read that the microwave changes the molecules of the food somehow. Her statement is vague and her sources are dubious but I ...
221 views

What is the entropy of the universe today?

What's the entropy of the universe today? How does one go about calculating this? I've heard the statement that black holes account for the bulk of the entropy in the universe today, but don't know ...
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Visualizing Tension in FBD — Rope With Mass

Asked to find the tension of a point that is halfway up a rope (where the rope has mass), given the system: The solution of the problem (FBD included) is as follows. In this diagram (Tm = tension ...