Explain Definition and 1000 Threads

An explanation is a set of statements usually constructed to describe a set of facts which clarifies the causes, context, and consequences of those facts. This description may establish rules or laws, and may clarify the existing rules or laws in relation to any objects, or phenomena examined.Explanation, in philosophy, is a set of statements that makes intelligible the existence or occurrence of an object, event, or state of affairs. Among the most common forms of explanation are causal explanation; deductive-nomological explanation, which involves subsuming the explanandum under a generalization from which it may be derived in a deductive argument (e.g., “All gases expand when heated; this gas was heated; therefore, this gas expanded”); and statistical explanation, which involves subsuming the explanandum under a generalization that gives it inductive support (e.g., “Most people who use tobacco contract cancer; this person used tobacco; therefore, this person contracted cancer”). Explanations of human behaviour typically appeal to the subject’s beliefs and desires, as well as other facts about him, and proceed on the assumption that the behaviour in question is rational (at least to a minimum degree). Thus an explanation of why the subject removed his coat might cite the fact that the subject felt hot, that the subject desired to feel cooler, and that the subject believed that he would feel cooler if he took off his coat.

View More On Wikipedia.org
Recent contents Top users
  1. Kushwoho44

    Fluid Mechanics: Dimensionless Groups Question, explain an outlier

    Homework Statement Hi guys, I need to explain the outlier point here, which has been shaded in the excel spread sheet when comparing the two dimensionless groups, The dimenionsless group, drag-coefficient is given by Drag/(density*V^2*D^2) and dimensionelss group, spin parameter, is given by...
  2. M

    Help me to demonstrate and explain: Vrs=r∇s+s∇r and ∇.sv=(VS.v)+s(∇.v)

    Dear all: Please help me to know how these expressions are obtained. Please recommendme some web reference to search more about the demonstrations. Vrs=r∇s+s∇r ∇.sv=(VS.v)+s(∇.v) This expressions are very important in transport phenomena and fluid mechanics. With all the...
  3. T

    Can BCS theory explain type-II superconductor?

    I know that BCS theory cannot explain high Tc superconductor. Most high Tc superconductors belong to type-II ones. Can BCS theory explain type-II conventional superconductor? How to predict high Hc2 and low Hc1 for type-II conventional superconductor in BCS theory?
  4. DennisChen

    How does QED explain charge interaction in the macro world?

    I have personally been deeply fascinated by the processes and principles that underlie the QED and have done some recent research myself. However, recently my teacher posted me a question that stunned me. He went,"Why do like charges repel and unlike attract?" In QED I understand that this is...
  5. mishima

    Help explain this Turing machine notation

    Below is an image from a website article discussing a Turing machine. It is supposed to represent a Turing machine, but I don't really follow the notation. I assume this is part of Wolfram's book, "New Kind of Science", which I do not have a copy of. I have only ever seen a Turing machine...
  6. C

    How to explain D&D to 3 or 4 newbies?

    I've been playing D&d with my classmates since middle school. My sister would always be ashamed when I walked into the comic book store and high fived the owner and was known as "the only girl ever to play D&d". Bit of an exaggeration. ;) For some odd reason, however, the game has suddenly...
  7. evinda

    MHB Could you explain me the definition?

    Hi! (Smile) According to my notes: Let $p \in \mathbb{P}$. The set of the integer p-adic numbers is defined as: $$\mathbb{Z}_p:= \{( \overline{x_n})_{n \in \mathbb{N}_0} \in \Pi _{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{\mathbb{Z}}{p^{n+1} \mathbb{Z}} | x_{n+1} \equiv x_n \pmod {p^{n+1}}\}$$ Could you explain...
  8. DivergentSpectrum

    Can someone please explain Ampere's law to me?

    The closed line integral of the B field equals m*I where m is permeability and I is the current enclosed. Does this mean amperes law only holds for infinitesimal current elements (or a moving charge?) Because how else can a current be "enclosed"?
  9. E

    Can someone explain how to setup this differential mixing problem

    Homework Statement Setup a differential and solve the differential equation using Mathematica: Suppose water is added to a tank at 10 gal/min, but leaks out at the rate of 1/5 gal/min for each gallon in the tank. What is the smallest capacity the tank can have if the process is to continue...
  10. S

    Why does it look like this plane is floating in the distance?

    I was biking the other day and saw a plane flying in the distance. It was a weird illusion where it looked like it was floating. Let's say i was going North and plane was going South East also the plane was on the right side, straight ahead.
  11. W

    Explain french ''Grandes écoles'' to me

    The best establishments for higher education(I'm interested in only mathematics or/and physics) in France are not the universities but ''Les grandes écoles'',like l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS for short),and l'Ecole Polytechnique. They produce a lot of great mathematicians,and have a very...
  12. marcus

    How would you explain Planck units to layman?

    Suppose you meet a layman who has not even had Freshman-level college physics, but who has HEARD of or read something about Planck units and is curious about them. How would you go about explaining? Maybe it's obvious to some people how to do it, or maybe you have already had that experience...
  13. S

    Can't explain an observation with material properties

    I beg forgiveness if this should be in chemistry; to me it seems more of a physics problem. This summer I had two Polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) spice bottles deform due to the sun shining on the clear plastic tub, Polypropylene(PP) in which they were stored. The first time the big tub was...
  14. C

    Could someone explain this textbook example regarding float fl(x)

    Hi, okay here's the problem: *find fl(x) for 9.4* and here's how it's done 9.4 in binary is 1001.0110 0110 0110 since 9 = 1001 .4 = .0110 0110 0110... (basically, 0110 repeating) next using Rounding to Nearest Rule (see top on picture) we get what a binary number (boxed in black in the...
  15. J

    Can someone explain what Michio Kaku is talking about in this video?

    "This is Your Brain on a Laser Beam" Around the middle of the video he starts talking about shooting consciousness on a laser beam into the heavens. What would be the point of that? I finished watching the video and I'm like "WTF is this guy talking about?"
  16. Greg Bernhardt

    'If You Can't Explain It to Your Grandmother…'

    Author: ZapperZ Originally posted on Jan25-12 "... then you haven't understood it." We all have heard variations of that. In fact, we also often get crackpots who DEMAND that we evaluate their ideas and give them comments in "simple, ordinary language", and that our failure to make them...
  17. agnishom

    Does the Higgs mechanism explain the equivalence of gravitiational and

    I am not well versed in the idea of Higgs mechanism. However, I was wondering if it does explain the problem of equivalence of gravitational and inertial mass. Also, what is the modern accepted definition of mass?
  18. M

    Trying to explain fuzzy logic to a friend.

    Hi, I'm trying to come up with a way to explain fuzzy logic to a friend of mine. After reading this paper: http://www.polytech.univ-savoie.fr/fileadmin/polytech_autres_sites/sites/listic/busefal/Papers/67.zip/67_02.pdf He is adamant that Fuzzy Logic determines the chance that a bit in a...
  19. johann1301

    Can accelerated charges explain the light from a fire?

    I have heard that when charged particles are accelerated, they emit radiation. Combining this with the knowledge that atoms within a fire, are colliding at more then roughly the order of 1021 collisions per second. Is this why fire emits light? Is it the constant high acceleration from the...
  20. S

    MHB Arc Length and Rotation, Please Explain this problem

    EDIT: Okay now that the admin has cleaned up my mess, please scroll down to see the correct image and the question on the 3rd post in this thread.
  21. C

    Could someone explain the physics of this circuit?

    To the best of my knowledge, radio waves are generated by an oscillating (or alternating?) electric current, which produces either an alternating electromagnetic field or an alternating magnetic field (can someone confirm which one?) I've heard that the collapse or alternation (can someone...
  22. J

    Calculating Radar Cross Section for a Spherical Object in GHz Frequency

    How do I calculate radar cross section given the diameter of a spherical object and the radar's frequency in GHz? Thanks
  23. Q

    Can someone please explain chords / music / frequency to me

    I understand octaves, like 100 hz, the first octave is 25, second, 50, and 100 the third octave. How can I relate all this to chords? I have been reading all this music lingo and can't correspond any of it to frequencies, and a lot of the ideas from now today don't match up with the past etc...
  24. G

    Can you explain voltage sources in series and parallel completely?

    i would like to know the underlying reasoning why it works the way it does and how it works based on the explanation given by the book Electricity Demystified, but i would like a far better explanation. Give me something like an analogy to better explain it physically. In there it says: for...
  25. N

    Can someone please explain the elevator paradox?

    I tried searching it up but the only good place i found was wikipedia that actually talked about it and i hate wikipedia because it tries to explain complex things in complex ways instead of making them simple. Thanks!
  26. S

    Can perturbative quantum gravity explain dark matter?

    I have heard that perturbative quantum gravity calculation predicts an increase of constant G at large distances. So I simply wonder can this growth in G naturally explain the galaxy rotation velocity curve?
  27. nuclearhead

    Can someone explain why we need inflation?

    I have read about inflation but I really don't understand why it's needed? Could someone explain? The idea is that inflation tells you why the universe is so uniform right? So let's assume the Big Bang starts with a singularity. From this emerges an infinite number of particles - bosons...
  28. P

    Can someone explain these equations?

    Hello, Can someone explain what's going on in equations 196 and 197: http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/336k/lectures/node30.html#e5.23 Thanks.
  29. V

    Explain telepathy using any physics that we have known.

    Telepathy is the transmission of information between two people without any visual or auditory or sensory cues. Telepathy is not proven yet. But, if telepathy does exist, how can physics explain it? Transmission of information between two human beings at far distances using Electro-magnetic...
  30. M

    Why is quantum physics needed to explain photosynthesis ?

    Why is quantum physics needed to explain photosynthesis? In what aspect does the corresponding classical theories for photosynthesis fail?
  31. D

    MHB Can someone explain how to do this probability question to me?

    Let G and H be two events for which one knows that P(G) = 0.5, P(H) = 0.3, and P(G and H) = 0.1. What is P(G or HC)?
  32. S

    MHB How Does Air Pressure Change with Altitude?

    I have the solution so to speak, but I'd like some explanation for it. You do not have to type out the explanation yourself if you have a link to something that might shed insight. I don't know all of the format commands for the math yet, so forgive me for the formatting issues that are bound to...
  33. V

    Can someone please explain what the parallel axis theorem is?

    Can someone please explain what the parallel axis theorem is?
  34. N

    Understanding Ohm's Law: Explained for Musicians | Electrical Basics

    I play music on occasion so I am familiar with using Ohm's on amplifiers. However, I have never quite understood how they work or what they are. Without taking a course in electronics and physics could someone help me understand what an Ohm is and how it functions in the electrical world...
  35. J

    C/C++ Can someone explain what's going on in this code? (C++)

    I was looking at an example from here: http://cboard.cprogramming.com/cplusplus-programming/133294-passing-operator-parameter.html template <class T> bool myfunc(bool lv, bool rv, T oper) {     return oper(lv, rv); }   struct Or {     bool operator()(bool lv, bool rv)     {...
  36. E

    What Does The Logarithm of the Power of a Number Mean?

    I'm reading a book and there is a section about rules to do with logarithms but one of them I don't understand, it is very wordy and I just can't get what it means. It says "The logarithm of the power of a number is that power multiplied by the logarithm." I really don't understand what that...
  37. R

    Explain regulators and floating grounds to me, eg a car alternator

    I understand the basics but I am a bit lost on what happens in this example. In a car we have an alternator that charges the battery, if the battery is charged to stop it overvolting the regulator essentially shorts power to ground via SCRs (correct me if I'm wrong but this is my understanding)...
  38. N

    Please explain why cloud computing is so important now

    I know cloud computer has been around in some form for a good deal of time but all the sudden it is taking off. People are deeming it the future of computing, why is this? what does cloud computing mean for the future of computers and storage et cetera. Thank you
  39. V

    Please explain what is wrong with my relativistic momentum problem

    Hello! First, please, zoom in the attached file and take a look on it. Image 1 demonstrates the situation: two identical balls collide, horizontal component of velocity of both remains unchanged and vertical component becomes opposite as a result of the collision. Table in image 3 shows all...
  40. F

    Could light explain dark energy?

    Could the momentum of light explain the effect known as "dark energy"? I know the distances between galaxies are wast, but so are the surface areas of galaxies, as well as all the stars emitting the light. Would be interesting to see a calculation of the fate of the universe if this was true...
  41. M

    Didn't Newton's corpuscular theory fail to explain reflection?

    In 1637 Descartes gave the corpuscular model of light and derived Snell's law. This Corpuscular model of light was further developed by Isaac Newton in his famous book entitled OPTICKS and because of the tremendous popularity of this book, the corpuscular model is very often attributed to him...
  42. R

    Can somebody explain boundary conditions, for normal modes, on a wire?

    I don't really understand boundary conditions and I've been trying to research it for ages now but to no real avail. I understand what boundary conditions are, I think. You need them along with the initial conditions of a wire/string in order to describe the shape of motion of the string. I...
  43. J

    Can someone explain to me work and potential energy and when they are

    And when they are negative. I have grasped most of my textbook but this seemingly easy concept keeps going over my head. I'm in e and m right now but still can't understand why it is Vba= - integral a to b E times dl.
  44. C

    Can someone explain Compton scattering?

    Hi, My textbook describes Compton scattering the following way: "...an x-ray photon...has a collision with a slow moving electron...the photon transfers energy and momentum to the electron [and recoils]..." Is it not true that by definition when a photon collides with a particle it...
  45. Y

    MHB Physics-Anybody explain why B is correct?

  46. Y

    I captured a celestial event, could someone explain what it is?

    Your conjectures are greatly appreciated. https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31.0-8/474886_10152844601975462_1263936401_o.jpg
  47. R

    Can someone explain this equality to me (complex variables)

    Homework Statement I hate to upload the whole problem, but I am trying to evaluate an indefinite integral, and I can follow the solution until right near the end. The example says that for a point on C_R|e^{-3z}|=e^{-3y}\leq 1. I don't understand how they can say this. Below is the question...
  48. W

    Why Does This Summation Equality Hold?

    Homework Statement ##\sum\limits_{n=1}^ \infty \frac{5^{n}}{n!} = \sum\limits_{n=0}^ \infty \frac{5^{n}}{n!} -1## Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution How is this equality true? How does one get from the first to the second equation?
  49. B

    Can someone explain the ignorance ensemble theory

    I think I understand it but I prefer a response from a sci advisor rather than whatever someone put up on wikipedia. I also searched for it here but I didnt find a proper explanation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
  50. C

    Describe & explain the significance of the 3K CMB

    Ok so I'm a bit confused as to how to attempt to answer this question? Describing its significance vs explaining its significance? Here is my attempt, please be ruthless when correcting me as I feel like there are some gaps in my knowledge and misconceptions I have: Where I put '/' I...
Back
Top