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Topic: A head (Read 969 times) |
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Speaker
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When is a head not a head?
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #1 on: Sep 23rd, 2003, 7:00pm » |
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when it's behind.
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Speaker
Uberpuzzler
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Re: A head
« Reply #2 on: Sep 23rd, 2003, 7:03pm » |
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Yes. Move to the head of the class.
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #3 on: Sep 23rd, 2003, 7:11pm » |
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Oh yes - I'm a master at 5-year-olds' thought processes!
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
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I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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Todd, j
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When it's behind 
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Speaker
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Re: A head
« Reply #5 on: Oct 1st, 2003, 6:48pm » |
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Well done Todd, j.
How about another?
What is the longest word in the English language?
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. <Ben Franklin>
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otter
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Re: A head
« Reply #6 on: Oct 1st, 2003, 7:56pm » |
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on Oct 1st, 2003, 6:48pm, Speaker wrote:| What is the longest word in the English language? |
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::Smiles - there's a mile between each "s"::
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We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #7 on: Oct 2nd, 2003, 5:29pm » |
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That depends on what you are willing to accept as a single word when it comes to compounds: a sparsection would turn your smiles upside down!
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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otter
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Re: A head
« Reply #8 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 6:23am » |
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on Oct 2nd, 2003, 5:29pm, Icarus wrote:| That depends on what you are willing to accept as a single word when it comes to compounds: a sparsection would turn your smiles upside down! |
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::Sparsection?:: OK, I'll bite. What is a sparsection? OneLook.com doesn't return anything as a search result.
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| « Last Edit: Oct 6th, 2003, 6:24am by otter » |
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We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started
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wowbagger
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Re: A head
« Reply #9 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 6:43am » |
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Otter, Icarus already pointed out that it's a compound.
Icarus, that length crossed my mind, too, but I wasn't sure whether parsec itself can be considered a word in the English language.
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Speaker
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Re: A head
« Reply #10 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 6:18pm » |
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Parsec is a word in English. It is about 3.26 light years. It beats the classic answer by about 19 trillion miles.
I couldn't find sparsection either, spar-section maybe. Is it the cross section of the wing of an airplane?
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #11 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 7:13pm » |
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A "sparsection" is a section of a spar. A spar is a structural member in a wing or sail. Airplane wings are generally built around a set of metal ribs called spars. (Our wings have 3. I don't know if the big boys across town use more). I actually hear "spar-section" fairly often. However, usually it is given as 2 words connected with a dash. But if one is allowed to make a single compound word out of it, it's going to be a very long one! 
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| « Last Edit: Oct 6th, 2003, 7:17pm by Icarus » |
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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otter
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Re: A head
« Reply #12 on: Oct 7th, 2003, 10:31am » |
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on Oct 6th, 2003, 7:13pm, Icarus wrote:| A "sparsection" is a section of a spar. A spar is a structural member in a wing or sail. Airplane wings are generally built around a set of metal ribs called spars. (Our wings have 3. I don't know if the big boys across town use more). I actually hear "spar-section" fairly often. However, usually it is given as 2 words connected with a dash. But if one is allowed to make a single compound word out of it, it's going to be a very long one! |
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Thanks, Icarus. I don't deal in wing structures and even though I sail, I've never heard the term spar-section, although it makes perfect sense.
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We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started
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James Fingas
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Re: A head
« Reply #13 on: Oct 7th, 2003, 12:15pm » |
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I would say that peony is even longer than that, but I suppose it depends on your point of view.
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #14 on: Oct 7th, 2003, 4:42pm » |
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I guess I would have to agree. 1 eon = 9.46 x 1024 meters. Much farther than a parsec.
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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Speaker
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Re: A head
« Reply #15 on: Oct 7th, 2003, 11:59pm » |
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lol Peony. What a silly flower.
I tried to find eon used as a unit for measuring distance, but couldn't. Then, I looked at your number. So, you are just increasing a light year by a factor of a thousand million. Or something. Anyway, the distance light travels in an eon.
Or is eon a unit of distance?
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James Fingas
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Re: A head
« Reply #16 on: Oct 8th, 2003, 7:42am » |
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I just thought it was a unit of time (and a rather imprecise one at that). But glad to know it's definitively longer than a parsec!
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #17 on: Oct 8th, 2003, 8:49pm » |
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Did neither of you ever study relativity? Time and distance are the same thing. Which direction in 4D spacetime is the direction of time depends on the observer (to an extent). Every unit of time is thus a unit of distance and vice versa. The conversion factor is c.
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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James Fingas
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Re: A head
« Reply #18 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 9:48am » |
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Icarus, I hope I don't have to remind you that this is the "What Am I" forum, where we might forget for a moment that distance and time are "the same thing". If physicists forget that, we may have to deal with wildly unconvincing narratives like the following one:
I was over at my brother's house 750 billion kilometers ago, and he had this new 400 nanosecond TV, with 8 surround-sound speakers of different durations. We watched some really cool DVDs for 1.2x10-5 parsecs and then ordered some 24x10-12 hour subs, but the delivery guy was a billion kilometers late.
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towr
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Re: A head
« Reply #19 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 10:44am » |
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I don't believe time and distance are the same thing, they may in a way be equivalent, but we perceive them quite differently. And if they were the same that wouldn't be the case (at least not with 'same' in the 'token-identity' sense of the word).
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Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #20 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 6:13pm » |
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Finally, this thread gets interesting!
What is true while not in this forum does not suddenly become untrue in this forum. Since you doubted the equivalence earlier, I reminded you of it.
And it is a true equivalence. If there was a fundamental difference in the nature of the units of measure for time and space, neither special nor general relativity could be true, for they say that what is a strictly time-dimension for one observer is partially spacial for another. This conversion is not possible if space and time are different in how they must be measured. (There is a fashion in which they differ - what is a time direction for one observer must be at least partially time for all observers. It cannot be turned strictly into a spacial direction. But this does not require, or even allow, for differing units of measure for the two.)
As for your paragraph, James, it sounds just as bad if you measure all the distances in light-years and parsecs, and all the times in eons. Just because two different units can be used to measure the same thing does not mean that they both work equally well in a given application.
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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Speaker
Uberpuzzler
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Re: A head
« Reply #21 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 6:30pm » |
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Relativity. I guess I studied that in as much as I know of some of the concepts.
If time and distance are the same, but not exactly the same, would a comparison of the relationship of weight and mass be similar to that of distance and time (space/time).
Or maybe gravity and mass?
Anyway, Einstein had this fish...
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. <Ben Franklin>
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #22 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 6:34pm » |
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No to both. Weight and mass are not really the same thing, and gravity and mass have a much more complex relationship.
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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Speaker
Uberpuzzler
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Re: A head
« Reply #23 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 6:51pm » |
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Okay. How about this.
Light travels only in a straight line. Except when it approaches the edge of a black hole where it is distorted (curves).
So, when light curves into a black hole or a large gravity source, shouldn't the speed change? Does a change in direction equal a change in speed (acceleration)?
This is my proof that C is not constant. Sign me up for a Nobel prize.
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. <Ben Franklin>
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Icarus
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Re: A head
« Reply #24 on: Oct 9th, 2003, 7:06pm » |
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No, light does NOT curve. It still follows a straight line (more accurately, a geodesic). It is spacetime itself that curves!
The apparent curvature of light is the result of our demanding that spacetime is not curved. In straightening out spacetime, we have to bend the light. Just like the great circle routes on the Earth do not appear straight on maps.
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"Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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