# All Questions

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### What is physical significance of product of Inertia? [duplicate]

I have read in available sources that product of inertia is just a term that is defined because it is useful in calculating the minimum and maximum moments of inertia of a body and also in finding the ...
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### Has the universe we live in started as a black hole that is imploding?

As discussed in this question, as far back as the 1960s it was suggested that the Schwarzschild metric can be smoothly joined to a de Sitter metric. For example the idea has been used by Lee Smolin in ...
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### Left (right) invariant vector fields on superspace

I read Freed'd book on "Five lectures on supersymmetry". For any vector space $V$ with metric of signature $(1,n-1)$ he constructs super Lie algebra $$L=V \oplus S^*,$$ where $S$ is space of ...
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### Difference between high-level and low-levels of electromagnetic radiation

can someone please explain me what we mean by 'high-level' or 'low-level' in electromagnetic radiation? for example, it is believed that high-level microwave radiation is harmful to human but not the ...
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### DC Generator with magnet as rotor

DC generators convert the AC current in them by split ring commutators right and the graph of the current will be like this but the question is how would be the graph if the magnet is the rotor and ...
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### How should I quote errors when measurements are asymetrically clustered?

Suppose five people measure the length of a stick and report the following values 4.90cm 4.92cm 4.93cm 4.94cm 4.94cm In high school science we are told that in ...
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### Why is graphene the only (stable) 2D sheet structure? [duplicate]

I know that Carbon molecules can form different structures depending on how they bond with each other: graphite, diamond, graphene and fullerene. As far as I understand, graphene is just a "sheet" of ...
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### Why airports are generally near sea? [closed]

The generic way to measure the height is from the sea-level. If the airport is near the sea i.e. not at a very height from the sea, then the fuel required to make the air-plane above the sea level ...
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### Can conservation of momentum and conservation of energy explain every possible event in the Universe?

I heard my friend, a researcher, say that we can, in theory, explain every event happening in the universe using the Conservation of momentum and energy. He added that we may not be able to do that "...
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### Scattering theory textbooks

I am looking for a possibly extensive list of great textbooks on elastic and inelastic scattering of particles within quantum field theory. So far I am familiar with: Peskin and Schroeder: An ...
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### Commutativity of Position Operators

Does the position operator $q_{i}$ of one harmonic oscillator commute with the position operator $q_{j}$ of another different harmonic oscillator? In other words, is $q_{i} q_{j} = q_{j} q_{i}$ true? ...
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### Strength of Magnet in Magnetic Bearings

While reading about magnetic bearings, one reads about passive/active magnetic bearings. By passive, one means no electric current is put into the bearing for attaining magnetic levitation/flux. In ...
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### Can electrons move back into the donor level

In a n-type semiconductor electrons from the donor level move up into the conduction band but can they move back down? Also in a p-type semiconductor electrons move to the acceptor level from the ...
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### Standard Usage of the word “per”

Math guy here. What is the usual meaning of "x per y per z?" Is this (ignoring details) (x/y)/z or x/(y/z)? Sorry to be mundane.
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### Two-block system acceleration when applying a force in the $x$ direction

Two blocks are connected by a light-weight string that passes over a friction-less pulley (a.k.a. Atwood's machine). Block # 1 (called $m_1$) hangs from the edge of a friction-less table. Block # 2 (...
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### Two Dimensional Kinematics and Projectile motion [duplicate]

I have a question. So a baseball is hit with a velocity of 30 m/s at 42.6 degrees to the ground. A fielder who is supposed to catch the ball is smart and knows that he is exactly 8 meters from where ...
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### Why is the phase space a symplectic manifold rather than a manifold with a metric?

Why does phase space require a symplectic geometry rather than a metric? Is there some scenario where a metric is unable to describe the notion of length in phase space, specifically in relation to ...
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### Does air conduct heat better than saturated steam?

This engineering toolbox table shows thermal conductivity of steam at 0.016. I understand that water is better in conducting heat than air, but if I read this correctly, steam is worse in conducting ...
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### What is special about the ratio $Q/V$ that we give it the name Capacitance?

Why is the ratio Charge/Potential important? Also, usually when we add charge, the potential changes. Then why do we care how much charge we can put on a conductor for a given potential.
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### Upcoming 'things to watch' in physics [closed]

What are the 'things to watch' in physics happening in the next year or so? E.g. A big astronomical event that happens only every n thousand years, or an experiment in particle physics which will ...
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### Draw the charge configuration according to the electric field [closed]

I'm trying to draw the charge configuration outside the regions that lead to the given electric field patterns. Can someone show me how?
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### How does velocity relate to energy difference in Compton scattering?

I'm having trouble understanding what my professor is getting at asking in this question. I just visited her office and her explanation minutely helped. I'm hoping to get a bit more clarity on what is ...
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### Why is the Earth's moon so big?

It could just be me, but it seems like our Moon is WAY bigger than it should be for a planet of our size. If you look at satellite-to-planet mass ratios for the largest moons of Jupiter, Saturn, ...
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### Why isn't the sky violet? [duplicate]

Why isn't the sky violet? Is there any physical reason why the sky isn't perceived to be violet or is it all in our cones?
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### What is “full clutching flow” in fluid-dynamics with regards venturi design?

As the title says, what is "full clutching flow" in fluid-dynamics with regards venturi design? I came across this reference a few times and can not find any further info on it, I'm currently ...
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### Spring Powered Car - Which Design Is Best? [closed]

I'm in the preliminary stages of building a spring powered car to race over a distance of 10 metres. It is a yearly event held in my local area and so far we've only seen one spring powered car. I ...
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### Can a lone black hole in a closed Universe evaporate?

If there is a closed Universe which only has a black hole in it, can that black hole evaporate? As the black hole evaporates, it gives off energy, which will eventually come back and be re-absorbed ...
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### When is momentum not conserved?

What are some common examples where momentum is not conserved? This question arose in my mind when I read that a ball dropped from a height penetrates into a bed of sand and that momentum is ...
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### N-type semiconductors and the number of holes?

Let us say we have Germanium which has been doped with antimony. Antinomy has a a fifth valence electron not involved in bonding. Is this electron in the valence band? I ask because all texts on the ...
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### Is there a Fermi estimations toolbox?

I am a theoretical physics student and am a little ashamed at my inability to estimate any measurable quantity. I would like to develop my skills at Fermi estimations. Although it is hopeless to ...
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### Why part of debroglie wave is negative?

I mean de Broglie wave for a particle represents the probability of the particle existing at a point, then, how can it be negative as well as positive?
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### Why do roads appear wet on hot days? I do not understand [duplicate]

Why do roads appear wet on hot days? I don't understand the bending of light rays in relation to the density fluctuations. How are they related? Why do we see mirror images of cars on road in hot days?...
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### Is antimatter power theoretically possible?

There is a quote and citation on the "Antimatter" page of the obvious encyclopedic site (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter), saying that positrons could be produced (in the future) at a rate of ...
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### Why do we only talk about three options when it comes to the Shape of Spacetime?

The shape of spacetime is a hotly debated topic which can determine how we understand the ultimate fate of the universe and many more things. Despite this I only ever see factions supporting three ...
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### Path of wheels of a bicycle

Why are the wheels of a bicycle moving in concentric circles with the center O? I know that the velocity of the back wheel is parallel to the frame of the bicycle and the velocity of the front wheel ...
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### What theory unifies the electroweak and the strong forces? [closed]

As the title itself suggests, here's my question: What theory unifies the electroweak and the strong forces?
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### Using Ampere's Law without Right-Hand-Rule to derive an expression for the magnetic field around a current

I'm a little confused over the textbook example of applying Amperians to get the magnetic field around a current. I understand we take a loop which shares the rotational symmetry of the wire (a ...
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### Armageddon prevention

I was watching the movie Armageddon and it made me think of a few things. We would probably not need to send a crew to blow the asteroid in two, I think we could still send a warhead with enough power ...
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### Can a bullet really fly through space forever?

Some people says that if it would be possible to shoot a bullet so high that it would get over the Earth gravitational pull, the bullet could fly through space forever, because of no deceleration of ...
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### “Magic” Speed to Drive Over a Speed Bump: Myth or Reality?

A somewhat controversial aspect of speed bumps (sleeping policemen for those in the UK) is that they arguably cause more loss of life than they prevent by acting as a hindrance to emergency response ...
The textbook describes pseudovector like this: Let $a,b$ be vectors and $c=a\times b$, $P$ be the parity operator. Then $P(a)=-a,P(b)=-b$ by definition. But $P(c)=c$ since both $a$ and $b$ reverse ...
A ball is thrown upwards with a speed of 16.1 m/s. What is the ball's velocity 1.6 seconds after it is released? I tried to solve this using the equation: $v = u+at$, substituting u for 16.1, a for 9....