Recent content by Molydood

pressure, volume and temperature are all related with a single formula as volume goes down, pressure goes up, hence the non-constant comment from Curl

If I drilled a hole all the way through the earth, and then dropped a ball down one end, what do you think the speed versus distance plot would look like? I am interested in the centre point of the Earth primarily - instinct tells me it would overshoot by quite a bit, but how far? assume...

Great idea; the centrifuge could be used for making mashed potato or tomato puree. Bell jar could be useful for storing open bottles of wine to prevent oxidation and who needs a dishwasher when they have an autoclave?

In response to the original post, here is my take on things: imagine the big bang as the start point, matter is created and pushed away from other matter, then you have loads of potential energy so the question for me is where did the energy for the big bang come from, but then that is another...

I have performed the experiment again, this time being ultra careful not to spill a single drop of water anywhere, and also ensure that the exterior of the cup is completely free from any moisture. I have also tried using Sophie's suggested technique of saturating the porous base of the cup with...

Hi There, the link is now working and I see that you are talking of suspending objects rather than the traditional maglev method like with the existing applications (trains, bearings) So did you design the circuit? In which case is that your site with all the designs on it? it's quite...

How about low friction bearings. Did you want something that hasn't been done already? I assume you know about the trains

What about if we were to consider the extreme case of zero degrees pulling angle - with left hand diagram we would be attempting to pull all the tape off the table in one go whereas with right hand we would still be doing it sequentially. So it's the vertical force component which is constant in...

Phrak, I now have TWO things to do on Monday :-)

Tuilli, nice try but I still don't buy the condensing bubble of air theory I'm afraid - and I think you know it :-) I would expect a solid circle of liquid as opposed to a ring IF there was sufficient water content / humidity in the bubble under the cup.

I don't think the gravitational force difference is negligible - because the riders have different masses the acceleration balances out to be the same but when you look at terminal velocity, the higher grav force wih the heavy rider is a bigger proportion of the losses (air drag primarily) for a...

Sophie, I did try and resaturate the base but not exactly like you suggest - looks like I have something to do on Monday now. Liked the joke. Truilli, i don't see why the water would form in a ring - quite the opposite as that is the hottest part of the supporting surface. Dave, yeah, maybe...

The conversation has been about acceleration so far but would the riders not have different terminal velocities? Assuming same drag force (close enough) but higher gravitational force for heavier rider, the top speed would be higher for heavier rider Unless I am missing something?

Do you know if the delta of static to kinetic friction is similar across all materials or is there a massive variance in the ratio between the two variables depending on material type? (eg plastic, metal, smooth surface, rough surface etc)

indeed, they are getting better, and for road use I would always leave it turned on for safety reasons on loose gravel, rolling wheels are not always effective - trapping debris in front of the tyre can help deceleration - another rare case when ABS is not the best option, but again this is the...