Noob Definition and 104 Threads

fission typically uses U-235 and fusion titrium- deuterium for their reactions. which is more easily obtained and more plentiful? also I've heard of a new fission fuel called thorium which has a radioactive half-life under a 10 years and is plentiful so, any info on this stuff will be...

Hey guys, I've been lurking here for a while and I'm ready to ask you more experienced folks for help about what major I should go with. I don't like talking about myself much, but I guess it's appropriate if anyone wants to contribute. I love math, top of my calculus class now. Just...

I want to make sure I clearly identify myself as a noob. I have taken a speaker wire and spliced it 4 times throughout the length of my house and inserted an 1/8" adapter on each splice. The purpose of this is so no matter where I am at... (usually 1 of the four places) I can plug in...

Hi, I'm designing and building a mobile robot, however I have to find / design a circuit board that incorporates two motor outputs, and possibly 8-12 sensors. The circuit also has to be a PIC, to allow me to program the robot to carry out specific tasks autonomously. I have 0% knowledge on...

Hey guys, I'm new here. In fact I'm new to the site. Anyway, I just need this question answered. Is it possible to skip the equations for kinetic energy by simply adding gamma to the Newtonian kinetic energy equation? If so, could you give an example?

Supposing I have a function f(x). Let us suppose that f-1(x) has the same equation as f(x). Will the domain and range as defined for f(x) be the same as for the inverse ?

I need to calculate the residue of ( 1 - cos wt ) / w^2 This has a pole of second order at w=0, am I correct? Now may math book says that a second order residue is given by limit z goes to z_0 of {[(z-z_0)^2. f(z)]'} where z_0 is the pole I'm quite new to complex...

If matter goes from a superposed state to a collapsed state when measured, how did scientists see the interference pattern in the double slit experiment, doesn't the surface that the photons hit after passing through the slits count as a measuring device? Also, is there any updated...

I'm starting to get into building my own electroincs, and I have come across a 555 chip. What exactly does it do? I know you can use it to "pulse" a signal (like a rapidfire controller, but I have no idea HOW) and what ELSE can it do? Part of the reason I ask is I am very interested in...

Homework Statement Discuss the ground state energy levels of He, if i) two electrons are identical bosons ii) two electrons are distinguishable particles (but with same mass and same charge) Homework Equations err... The Attempt at a Solution well... i) no change in energy...

Homework Statement An electron with spin down is in a state of (n=5,l=1,ml=0) of hydrogen atom. If you could measure the total angular momentum squared of the electron, what values might you get, and what is the probability of each state. Homework Equations J^2 = j(j+1) * hbar^2 (i...

I was given this as an extra-curricular activity... way over my understanding of physics, sophmore year undergraduate. But I can use a bit of help. I'm given data from a collision resulting in 2 muons. (this is exactly how the text is written to me, if any of these definitions are not...

Homework Statement I've managed to solve a few, but a few major problems are bugging me (quite a few, unfortunately.) The first question is this: "A golfer takes two putts to sink his ball in the hole once he is on the green. The first putt displaces the ball 1.10 m east, and the...

let L be angular momentum operator. [L^2 , Lz] = 0 [L^2 , Lx] = 0 (I haven't prove this, but appearantly it's correct according to lecturer) does it imply that [Lx , Lz] = 0? this is just one interesting thoughts that cross my mind because I recalled that if 2 matrix [A,B] =0, A and B...

NOT A HOME WORK PROBLEM what does the following means. 4He and it says that a He nucleus has mass of 6.4*10-27 Kg how would i calculate the mass of 4He do i take mass of 4He to be 6.4*10-27 Kg? help, haven't done chemistry after getting out of school..i only do physic..in...

Homework Statement The Attempt at a Solution i calculated and got like x'=3.291*104 ---->this does not match with answer key, but I am sure its correct. could some one verify this pls t'=-4.618*10-5---. this makes sense

Wikipedia says this: "In traditional logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evident, or subject to necessary decision. Therefore, its truth is taken for granted, and serves as a starting point for deducing and inferring...

Homework Statement I got a Problem that says: In this Problem we consider the angular momentum, \hat{L}, which normed common eigenstates for \hat{L}^{2} and \hat{L}_{z} is described by \left|l,m\right\rangle, where l and m is the corresponding quantum numbers: \hat{L}^{2}\left|l,m\right\rangle...

Hi everyone, Recently i started a self-study in classical physics by reading through some books. In the section that described Newton's first law I stumbled upon something that did not make much sense. The following section of text got me confused. "If the net force acting on a body is...

I'm learning Algebra (the basic and foundation of Math) 'cause I stink. Now I'm just doing some review from the beginning before I get into the tough stuff. I'm a bit stumped on factors and multiples. I understand it but not clear enough. I couldn't give you a definition and if you asked a...

Hey guys, this forum has pretty much inspired me to start learning calculus, and, well, here I am. So let's take this limit as an example of my point: The limit of f(x) as x approaches 2 = 1. (Pardon my lack of math symbols, I haven't learned how to use them yet, but I think this example is...

Noob question: Physicists say if you travel as fast as light, time is frozen/stops, if so, how come we can see light coming towards us, when in reality that light is supposedly "frozen" in time?

Hey gang. I'm going to start college this fall. My major's Bio but I want to take up a minor in engineering as my fall back plan for med school. Is it easy to get a job with just 4 year of college with engineering?? I hear it's a really tough field, can I handle the challenge of pre-med...

Hi, I am a first year physics student and i was just wondering, why is anti Gravity impossible? (iv'e read it many times without clear explanation). if an anti graviton would exist (IF a graviton) would it have negative mass.

so, i have this little problem can anyone tell me to put this transfer function in matlab? T(s)=(s^4 + 2s^3 -13s^2 -38 -24)/(s(s^4 + 6s^3 -5s^2 -42s + 40)) i really new to matlab:cry:

Hi all, I'm brand new to the forums and just had a few questions about the field of Medical Physics. I know there's a thread on this topic on another one of the forums, but its a little intimidating and overwhelming to someone as unfamiliar with the field and associated terminology as me. A...

I have no idea about physics relating to light. I have just a couple questions for you guys. First, what can be done to change the wavelength of light from the visible spectrum to the IR spectrum? And how does it actually work? Second, how exactly are lasers created and what determines the...

Hello Friends, Here is the link to video to replicate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64OB5FArM64&NR=1 I have taken a circular cold steel shaft of 18mm dia and 1 ft in length, weight approx 400-450 gms attached 14 Nos 10mmx10mmx1/8 thick magnets on the top horizontally and 14 Nos on the...

Firstly, I've literally never used a Linux machine in my life. My phys prof thought it would be a good idea to get us acquainted with the system, but didn't want to actually teach it... The following is an exercise in Linux. I'm having a lot of trouble finding the commands to accomplish this...

Homework Statement The Attempt at a Solution Hi, I’ve been studying Root Loci for almost 3 months now, on and off, so I know most of the methods involved with it. I’m still pretty much new to the subject still as I’ve recently hit a problem with this exercise that I’ve been working...

I received this problem recently from a friend, and I think I have the right answer but I'm not sure. I also might not have enough evidence to support my case very well. Here's the problem: A student and his physics professor are discussing his grades at the campus coffee shop. They both...

since we know that black holes give off hawking radiation and slowly evaporates, and time seems to come to a screeching halt near a black hole. if you were to move into a black hole would it evaporate before you reach the very center?

So I know I am getting in over my head here, which is why I haven't started anything. I have never done any advanced electronics work, but I know what resistors, capacitors, ICs, and the like are. I can't design a circuit aside from a switch and an LED, but I can build them. Ok, enough of that...

Hello all, I am stuck in a rather simple, yet confusing quandary.. I'm working on designing a light kit for a Honda side x side utility vehicle. We are planning on drawing power from the back of the existing cigarette lighter auxiliary outlet on the instrument panel, and running the power...

Homework Statement By 2025 a spaceship shuttle service operates between the Earth and Mars. Each spaceship is equipped with identical mono chromatic head and tail lights, and their cruising speed v relative to earth, is such that the headlight of a homeward-bound spaceship appears green (...

Homework Statement Two observers A and B , in inertial frames, have identical clocks. B passes close to A with a relative velocity 0.5c. t seconds after B has passed, A flashes him a light signal. 2t seconds after receiving this signal (as measured on his own clock), B acknowledges by a...

I'm a little confused about "voltage". We learned that voltage is somewhat similar to electric field: a way to refer to the potential energy of a charge A when put near charge B without actually knowing the charge of charge A. That made sense to me, but then suddenly in class (this is college...

This Tuesday, I am going to walk into my class and take the first test this semester, which also happens to be my midterm. I'm taking Physics 204 - Mechanics and it's pretty much kicking my butt ha ha. The teacher has told us that a "cheat sheet" will be allowed STRICTLY for equations...

Hello guys , am a new to high school physics and chemistry. I have several questions about electric current , atoms etc. :confused: Okay so here it goes..:-p 1. What is electric potential and potential difference in simple language ? I heard that there are charges in metals and...

Homework Statement Here's my code clc clear n=10 a=input( 'initial guess for a '); b=input( ' initial guess for b '); C= input( ' initial guess for Steady State Concentration '); d=[a b C] while n>0 t=[3 9 12 18 24 300 ]...

Hey guys. I am trying to put a fan into a helmet. I have a 3.7VDC, 650mAh lithium ion rechargable battery. I have sourced and found a great battery! The afore mentioned battery is the constant. Now I am having problems finding a DC Fan that will work with my battery. So far I have found only 5V...

Hey everyone. This is my first post, and I apologize if my question is too stupid for this forum. I bought Steven Hawking's book a few years ago but was too lazy to read it up till now. A few pages later I read that speed of light is constant in in every frame of reference( sorry for the...

I would like to preface this idea by stating that I am a total noob and in no way have any right to be here haha. I was just watching a show on the science channel "Carl Sagan's Cosmos". I am an avid viewer of basically anything on TV about the universe or physics in general. I find...

Utterly Noob "?" What happens to light? Hey, this is my first post, and I know this is a rather rudimentary question. But, I've always wondered, why can't you see light after you turn off a light switch. Is light photons, and if that's the case what happens to them when electricity stops going...

Hey surely you guys have heard of the x-zylo toy? Its a toy that has been known to fly 200+ yards. If you don't know about about it, do a google search on it. How does it work?

lyk...a noob user!(me..) :smile: yayz!i'm new here so introduce me to teh nerd stuff lyk force=mass times acceleration! i'm also part of other forums such as lol...nvm

Is it in some way possible to use a regular 100k log pot to sequentially light up something like 10 leds. Basically I want the pot to use led #1 while completely anti-clockwise and as i start turning it should light up #2 and 3# etc...? Does that make sense. I would need an array of 10...

Hey all, I would just like some opinion as to which fields of physics are currently looking to be the hottest ones for research and intellectual discovery for the next few decades. Obviously no one can predict for certain, but I would like some thoughts on where the next major advances in...

Hi there.. I am really noob to MATLAB i want to draw the following equation P(L)=Po*e^(-aL) How can i draw this function? Can u help me? L takes values from 0 to 10km a=0.2db/km and Po=1watt

I am new to physics and have bought the dummies books and help guides, I just can't grasp it, and it doesn't help I stink at algebra, can someone PLEASE help me with these 2 questions in detail so I can understand what I am doing wrong. Thank you SO much. Convert .998 grams/cm^3 to kg/m^3 I...