The questions-not-worth-their-own-question-thread III

[King of Town]

China owns a lot of our debt, but probably what country doesn't own a lot of our debt?

 

[Mirc]

Alright, sorry, I should've been clearer: I do intend to eat the pickles. I'm not doing a logic puzzle.

A knife is what always works for me when I have greasy hands and can't open a jar (because I pride myself in opening anything with dry hands ). Put the sharp part between the lid and the jar and push a little. It will open with no effort.

 

[Veritass]

New [dumb] question: what is the speed of pressure changes through air?

I noticed a pipe access flap in the bathroom of my gym tries to pull open every time someone pulls open the door around the corner 10 meters away, and I wondered how fast the pressure differential travels from the opening door to the pipe access flap. Does it travel like a wave at the speed of sound? Does it slow down as it travels? Is the speed related to the speed that the door is pulled open, or is merely the intensity related to this?

 

[BSmith1068]

don't know the exact answer, but it will depend on altitude (air density), temperature and humidity.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Two questions:
-During WWII, why weren't carriers used extensively in the Atlantic theatre, and conversely, why weren't submarines used extensively in the Pacific theatre?

-How do you pronounce "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

 

[Dachs]

Two questions:
-During WWII, why weren't carriers used extensively in the Atlantic theatre, and conversely, why weren't submarines used extensively in the Pacific theatre?

Carriers weren't used that extensively because there wasn't a big ol' German surface fleet sitting there that would be ideally pounded upon by aircraft. Submarines were used heavily in the Pacific, though; they practically destroyed Japanese shipping. Funny how you never really hear about that.

-How do you pronounce "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

 

[GinandTonic]

Carriers weren't used that extensively because there wasn't a big ol' German surface fleet sitting there that would be ideally pounded upon by aircraft.

Also carriers close to multiple overlapping land-based airfields are in a very weak position. In the instance of a remote island airfield a carrier group can know roughly what direction an attack will come from and roughly the scale of the possible attack. The lone airbase can be overwelmed and the area made passably secure. A carrier within range of Europe (untill the closing stages of the war) was in a far more problematic situation. Attack could come from many directions and could well be on a scale the carrier could not keep at arms length. This means the carrier is going to take a lot more licks, which means it requires a lot more armour, which means it has less aircraft. And so on and so forth. The Med and the North Sea were awful places to be on a carrier, a prize as big as a Battleship and more fragile.

See the siege of Malta

Small and jury-rigged carriers did cover the "mid adlantic gap" IIRC.

 

[Dachs]

Also carriers close to multiple overlapping land-based airfields are in a very weak position.

Yes, that's also true.

Small and jury-rigged carriers did cover the "mid adlantic gap" IIRC.

Mhm. There was a project to create aircraft carriers out of icebergs, but it never worked out.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

How could I have forgotten about Project Habakkuk and the fact that Britain itself is a giant, natural aircraft carrier? Although a carrier could have supported an invasion on a different point on Europe, and anti-submarine warfare was improving at the time, so carriers have less to worry about.

 

[GinandTonic]

Grain carrier MV Empire MacKendrick with a flat-deck welded on top. No catapult or hangar (still full of grain) so it could only operate four Swordfish bi-planes for recon and anti-sub work. Worked until pucka escort carriers were built.

Really simple idea - weld a flat-top onto grain and oil tankers.

 

[Cutlass]

Two questions:
-During WWII, why weren't carriers used extensively in the Atlantic theatre, and conversely, why weren't submarines used extensively in the Pacific theatre?
[/I]

Carriers were used in the Atlantic in anti submarine operations (escort carriers) and supported some operations in the Mediterranean. However, all else being equal, land based aircraft are better than carrier based. They can be larger, and can take off with heavier loads to fly longer distances. Because of this, and because of the operating costs of a carrier task force, when land bases are available it is much more sensible and effective to use.

I believe that submarines operated by the allies, primarily American, sunk more Japanese tonnage than aircraft and gunfire sunk. While Japanese submarines had some notable successes, they were less decisive. A large part of the difference was that the US and allies were pretty good at anti-submarine warfare, having learned against the Germans, and the Japanese were not, having the more traditional naval officer's disdain for the threat subs posed.

As for the US Fleet carriers, all of them were so badly needed to halt the Japanese advance in the pacific that none were available for the Atlantic until after the time when they could have been used effectively. Once we had land bases on continental Europe, there was nothing left for a fleet carrier to do that couldn't be done by land based aircraft.

 

[Globex]

How hard is it to master English spelling compared to other written languages?

 

[Mirc]

A looooot harder... Although not as hard as symbolic spellings I'd say (like in many East Asian languages)

 

[LightFang]

How hard is it to master English spelling compared to other written languages?

Depends on what you're coming from. English spelling is generally difficult because English is just an amalgamation of many languages. Yes, the French would not be happy with that, but thank God we don't have an English Academy--that would stifle English's strength, which is its versatility.

I would consider English spelling easier than character script like Chinese though.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

Yes, the French would not be happy with that, but thank God we don't have an English Academy--that would stifle English's strength, which is its versatility.

Example: "Meh" was added to the dictionary.

I would consider English spelling easier than character script like Chinese though.

Heck yeah.

 

[Globex]

If you have the following equations:

a=h/x
b=h/(d+x)

and you know the values of d, a, and b, but don't know the value of x, how would you solve for h?

 

[PeteAtoms]

If you have the following equations:

a=h/x
b=h/(d+x)

and you know the values of d, a, and b, but don't know the value of x, how would you solve for h?

h=ax

b=h/(d+x)

b(d+x) = h

ax = b(d+x)

ax = bd + bx

ax - bx = bd

x(a-b) = bd

x = (bd)/(a-b)

so than solve for h in a=h/x

i haven't taken math for a while, tell me if that helps.

 

[Globex]

h=ax

b=h/(d+x)

b(d+x) = h

ax = b(d+x)

ax = bd + bx

ax - bx = bd

x(a-b) = bd

x = (bd)/(a-b)

so than solve for h in a=h/x

i haven't taken math for a while, tell me if that helps.

You've been a great help. Thanks

 

[Nylan]

Does anyone have experience in freelance writing? If so, what would be the best ways to go about finding work, and do you have any other words of advice?

 

[Cutlass]

what the heck is this thing?