# All Questions

378 views

### Projectile motion of a charged particle in a homogeneous electric field

I'm reading an article about projectile motion, but I'm having some trouble with how the author found the equations of motion when a homogeneous electric field is considered. To allow an immediate ...
162 views

### A naive look at the band of stability suggests a stable isotope of every element. Why is this intuition false?

Looking at the band of stability, my first intuition is to conclude (erroneously) that there is a stable isotope of every element that lies close to the belt of stability. Why is this false? (For ...
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2k views

### Finding a differential equation to for the amount of chemicals in a body of water

I am taking a differential equations course, and most of the problems relate to physical phenomenon. The calculus is not giving me trouble, but the way of approaching the problems is hanging me up. ...
350 views

How does one see that that the Euclidean AdS is the same as the hyperbolic space at the same dimension ie $EAdS_n = \mathbb{H}_n = SO_0(n,1)/SO(n)$? Or is this to be seen as the definition of ...
198 views

### Magnetic moment and other invariants of Lorentz System

It's a standard fact that the quantity $\mu = v_{\perp}^{2}/B$ is approximately conserved in the system $d_{t}\mathbf{v} = \gamma (\mathbf{v}\times\mathbf{B})$. The paper Magnetic Moment to Second ...
199 views

### Uncertainty principle and multiple observers

My understanding is that an observer can measure the precise location of a particle so long as the corresponding uncertainty in momentum measurement is not an issue and vice-versa. Say there is ...
310 views

### Behavior of black holes in higher- and lower-dimensional space-times

The behavior of black holes in 3+1 dimensional space-time as our own is rather well known: formation, event-horizon size, mass, spin, radiation etc. However, my question is what would black holes ...
5k views

### What prevents this magnetic perpetuum mobile from working?

As a child, I imagined this device, which may seem to rotate indefinitely. I have two questions. Is this perpetual motion machine already known? If it is, could you please give some references? What ...
428 views

### Peltier heating/cooling of small surface area [closed]

I am looking at peltier heaters/coolers, and all of them are thin wafers like the one pictured below. This works fine for some things (ie. a microchip or a beer coaster) but not for others (ie. ...
4k views

### Why are electrons defined to have negative charge? [duplicate]

We normally think of the "default" or "root" state of things as being on the positive side of the spectrum. For example, we don't normally use a + symbol to ...
9k views

### Why does boiling water in the microwave make a cup of tea go weird?

When I boil water in the kettle, it makes a nice cup of tea. Sometimes I need to use a microwave because a kettle isn't available. I boil the water in the mug and it looks pretty normal, but when I ...
6k views

### Why do chimneys have these spiral “wings”?

While walking around I noticed something very peculiar. Many chimneys had spiral "wings", while others didn't. I came up with two possibilities: The wind circles around the chimney upwards which ...
401 views

### How do gravitons impact on general relativity?

As I'm reading about GR a lot lately, I was wondering: how do gravitons (if they exist ofc) impact the general relativity? Since in GR, when we look at particles moving in space-time, we are only ...
113 views

### Two interacting particles on sphere drift to sphere poles

Suppose we have two particles which can move on sphere of radius $r$, and they attract to each other so that their potential energy is $g(d)=ad$ where $d$ is distance between them. I've found ...
214 views

### Developement of modern condensed matter physics [closed]

Do you know any resources describing historical aspects of developments of modern condensed matter physics (many body physics etc)? Thanks.
523 views

### Symmetric transverse traceless tensors of rank $s$ and $(s,0,0,..,0)$ representations of $SO(n)$

Can someone help see this connection as to why a spin $s$ (an Integer) particle is to be thought of as a symmetric transverse traceless tensor of rank $s$ and that they lie in the $(s,0,0,..,0)$ ...
535 views

### Why time difference is permanent and mass increase is temporary?

When a clock is transported here and there into space and then brought to the same place it differs with the other clock. When particles are accelerated with high speeds and then brought to rest their ...
478 views

### Why does string theory have such a huge landscape?

I was browsing through Foundations of Space and Time, a compilation of essays on various theories of quantum gravity. The following passage in the introduction intrigued me: Each compactification ...
797 views

### Are Stokes' theorem and Gauss's theorem examples of the Holographic Principle?

Before I write this question, I'd want to say that I've read this question , and Lubos Motl's answer to it (I found it through the "Questions that may already have your answer"). ...
838 views

### What does the height refer to in the Bernoulli equation?

What does the height refer to in the Bernoulli equation? I'm trying to determine the pressure on a surface where the length is short enough that the velocity should be constant across it. Fan -> ...
572 views

### What is the 1977 Wow signal? [closed]

Can someone explain about the 1977 Wow signal? I know that it is a signal received from space in 1977, in the form of a series of code "6EQUJ5". I would like to know if there is any thing or event ...
5k views

### why does headlights dim when a starter motor is turned on

okay first of all, what exactly does the starter motor do? does it increase the current flow and decrease voltage? and does starter motor have its own internal resistance? i understand how there is a ...
746 views

### Collision of two balls [duplicate]

Two balls, with masses $m_1$ and $m_2$ are falling from the heigh $h$. All the collisions are perfectly elastic. Do not consider the size of the balls. $m_1 < m_2$ and lighter ball is on the top. ...
303 views

### Characteristic length of a triangle [closed]

I am reading a paper on collision detection in cloth simulation, please help me understanding following lines written in the paper : To check if a point x4 is closer than some thickness h to a ...
398 views

### Perturbation theory

I am puzzled with perturbation theory when studying quantum mechanics and solid theory. What I learn about perturbation is, from my ignorant point of view, just mathematics, or even simpler, matrix ...
153 views

### Is it better to call the doppler effect a change in wavelength or frequency?

Why is it preferable to say that the doppler effect causes a shift in frequency rather than a shift in wavelength? I often read on websites that they define the doppler effect as a change in ...
42 views

How do I calculate sky irradiance from radiance (L) from a hemisphere above a surface which is tilted relative to the normal (x=0,y=0,z=1). I have L as a function of zenith (0 to 180deg) and azimuth ...
2k views

### Frequency of small oscillation of particle under gravity constrained to move in curve $y=ax^4$

How to find the frequency of small oscillation of a particle under gravity that moves along curve $y = a x^4$ where $y$ is vertical height and $(a>0)$ is constant? I tried comparing \$V(x) = \frac ...
318 views

### Do bifacial solar panels operate at lower temperature than normal solar panels?

Bifacial solar panels have a glass backplane instead of the usual aluminum and are designed to absorb and convert to electricity light incident on either face. Many manufacturers claim that their ...
1k views

### Stress due to the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients of two different attached materials

I'm simulating the thermo-electro-mechanical behavior of a copper wire which is surrounded by silicon dioxide. In other words, the wire segments is under mechanical and thermal loads and at the same ...
53 views

### Nuclear Weapon Effects: Cloud Rise [closed]

I am interested in modeling the rise of a nuclear cloud to stabilization height post detonation. I am interested in any ideas you may have on the approach. I have collected some research on the topic ...
199 views

### What is the the Ehrenfest-Oppenheimer rule on the statistics of composite systems?

Ehrenfest 1931 gives an argument to the effect that the application of the spin-statistics theorem to composite systems is valid, but only as an approximation and under certain conditions. ...
1k views

### Does every hermitian operator represent a measurable quantity?

In Quantum mechanics, observables are represented by hermitian operator. But does every hermitian operator represent a observable? If not , how do we know that whether a hermitian operator represent ...
428 views

### How to model perfectly elastic collisions using force?

I want to have elastic collisions in my Newtonian physics simulator, but in the one physics class I've taken we only used momentum when analyzing elastic collisions, and my simulator is totally ...
320 views

### Question about physical principles [duplicate]

How are principles created i.e. how is it decided that something qualifies as principle? What is the difference between a principle, a law and a theory? Were there any principles that were proved to ...
139 views

### Energy conservation in plane wave

In plane wave the H and E are in phase. So the pointing vector disappears regularly every pi. How is energy conservation validated ? Is it through the uncertainty of energy and time ?
596 views

### Total time taken for an accelerating frame in special relativity [duplicate]

How does one derive the equation for the total time traveled in a constantly accelerating frame? I found some help at this question: Special Relativity and Constant Acceleration But the information ...