# All Questions

709 views

### Meaning of the direction of the cross product

I was doing calculations with torque and then I came across something very confusing: I understand that the magnitude of the torque is given by product of the displacement(from the center of ...
119 views

### Practical meaning of making a measurement/observation in QM?

When an argument like 'measure the spin along the $x$ axis', 'observe the position of a particle' and so on is made, what is the implied experimental procedure? Since laboratory equipment is ...
495 views

### Two masses with interacting forces and an external force

Two masses in 3d space attract each other with a potential relative to the distance between them. There is also an external force on each particle based on the distance from a origin. I want to find ...
309 views

### How would an observer perceive movement on a train that's travelling near the speed of light?

Person A is on Earth and a train (or whatever you want to imagine) travels past him at near the speed of light. How would person A perceive movement on the ship? If time is slowed on the ship from the ...
527 views

### How can we create superposition in QM?

How can we force a particle (let's say that we know this particle has spin up) to be in a superposition of spin up and down? Wouldn't literally any interaction of it with anything cause it to be in ...
2k views

### Applying angular velocity to a rotation matrix

I have a very simple question. In our project we store an object's orientation as a 3x3 matrix which holds the orthonormal base of that object's local space. For instance if the object is aligned with ...
552 views

### Why doesn't a neon sign seem that hot?

I heard that neon signs contain plasma, why aren't they hot? is it because the electrons and ions do not hit the lamp's wall? Is it because it is non thermal plasma and electrons and ions are not in ...
4k views

### Relativistic momentum

I have been trying to derive why relativistic momentum is defined as $p=\gamma mv$. I set up a collision between 2 same balls ($m_1 = m_2 = m$). Before the collision these two balls travel one ...
5k views

### Normal Forces and Ferris Wheels

At the moment, I am reading an example problem regarding what was alluded to in the title. In this example problem, they say, "Based on experiences you may have had on a ferris wheel or driving over ...
387 views

### Does every measurement correspond to an eigenstate of an observable?

In the postulates of quantum mechanics, physical observables are described by Hermitian matrices on the state space of a system. In another of my questions, the measurements of Rydberg-Ritz spectral ...
389 views

### Question about finding $k$ in Hooke's Law

My textbook (Advanced Engineering Mathematics by Dennis Zill) offers the following explanation of Hooke's Law: By Hooke's Law, the spring itself exerts a restoring force $F$ opposite to the ...
234 views

### What velocity must an aircraft achieve for its shock wave to transform to plasma?

A follow-up to After what speed air friction starts to heat up an object? I understand there may be technological limitations at present ... but, is it theoretically possible for a body to travel ...
2k views

### Is there any reproducible tested evidence for Ni-H cold fusion?

The main replications of cold fusion, the ones that are beyond reproach, used Pd/d as the system. But commercial developers have often claim to use Ni-H to achieve similar effects. The claims include ...
243 views

### Why does leaning back make a kicked ball go higher?

It's relatively common knowledge that when one kicks a football, if they lean back the ball usually goes higher, and if they lean forward slightly it goes at a more desirable height. Why does leaning ...
144 views

### What's the lower limit for energy usage to desalinate water?

Consider a desalination process where you enter sea water and receive fresh water and brine (or maybe pure salt). How do I compute the least amount of energy per mass? I think this has something to ...
551 views

194 views

### What is the likelihood of a long-period comet impact?

I always see lots of information about asteroid impacts, but very little is said about comet impacts. As I see, a long period comet impact is much more dangerous because a) we wouldn't have time to ...
1k views

### What is non-thermal plasma?

I read about non-thermal plasma, but I still have some questions: The ions and neutral particles are not in thermal equilibrium with the electron, does that mean that the overall temperature is low ...
649 views

### Does the Photino have mass or is it mass-less like the photon

Does the photino in super-symmetry have a mass, Or is this different in different super symmetric models?
465 views

### Mass-Energy relation

Einstein mass- energy relation states $E=mc^2$. It means if energy of a paricle increases then mass also increases or vice-versa. My question is that what is the actual meaning of the statement ...
142 views

### Lorentz model and energy exchange

The Lorentz model, describing the electron of the atom as an harmonic oscillator forced by an oscillating electric field $\vec{E}$, shows that the dipole moment $\vec{D}$ obeys the following equation ...
254 views

### How wide does a wall of ice need to be to stay in place?

Let us say that we have unlimited manpower to construct a huge wall of water ice e.g. 200 m tall (700 feet). -and that the wall is placed in a climate, where the temperature never (for your purpose) ...
491 views

### Has BCS Cooper pair condensate been observed in experiment?

Feshbach resonance in s-wave scattering states a BCS Cooper pair condensation at B-field just above the resonance where the scattering length a <0. Just wondering if the condensation has been ...
255 views

### Finding the acceleration of Block attached using tricky string setup

Below shown is a setup, and block B starts from rest and moves towards right with a constant acceleration. Does the acceleration differ for the blocks ? I am a bit confused because of the tricky ...
62 views

### Fresco in his “Future By Design” introduces drawing of underwater vessel and its front system of generating air bubbles. Is idea energy efficient?

I recently saw Fresco's Future By Design and noticed something miniature to investigate. My notice regards about one of his illustration he describes in the documentary. Here is the link on youtube, ...
563 views

### How long will it take for a bullet to reach a Geostationary orbit?

I'm curious to know this. Neglect air friction and imagine a bullet that were shot normal to the Earth's surface, from the Equator. I will have to consider the Coriolis effect and so I expect the path ...
570 views

### If wave packets spread, why don't objects disappear?

If you have an electron moving in empty space, it will be represented by a wave packet. But packets can spread over time, that is, their width increases, with it's uncertainty in position increasing. ...