The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXII

[LegionSteve]

The only thing I ever did well at school was a double A* in GCSE science, and I think an A in history, but GCSEs are pointless, and everything I ever learnt in science and history they tell me is wrong.

Well you got more As than I did then, and I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent, so you certainly are intelligent.

The point of GCSEs is to get you into a job, training scheme or the next stage of education. Though if you can't or don't want to do any of those things (like some people I went to school with) they aren't much use to you.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

They think science degrees are worthless, as all you can do with them is end up stuck in retail.

Vis a vis your friends level of retardation:
I rest my cases.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Vis a vis your friends level of retardation:
I rest my cases.

They have proof. One of them works in an electronics store and many of his co workers have degrees in things like computer science and astrophysics.

 

[LegionSteve]

They have proof. One of them works in an electronics store and many of his co workers have degrees in things like computer science and astrophysics.

It doesn't mean those people will be doing that job forever. After I got my degree I was unemployed for about 6 months then worked as an office temp for about 4 months before I got the job I really wanted.

 

[Quackers]

There aren't many jobs for physics graduates, that much is true, I've heard.

They can easily transfer into another field - after all; physics graduates are few and very, very clever. They probably think its all a bit too easy doing accounting or actuary or pricing work.

 

[Angst]

It still follows a plot, so it's linear.

That's not what linear means and even if it did, it doesn't follow a plot, but several.

Having an American accent in a Scandinavian setting cheapens the game, as they never put the effort to try a convincing voice.

Then again, this is also from someone who says that Game of Thrones is an historical drama set in the North of England.

Ah so you aren't arguing for your own PoV?

That said, it only draws from Scandinavian folklore. Several of the accents are made up. Even the Scandis.

 

[Borachio]

They can easily transfer into another field - after all; physics graduates are few and very, very clever. They probably think its all a bit too easy doing accounting or actuary or pricing work.

Hmm. Yeah. I've met a few. And they seem really pissed off with the sort of work they have been able to find. Ending up in programming. And that sort of thing.

I'm not sure they're necessarily super smart people, though. Just with a massive interest in stuff physical.

 

[tokala]

I'm not sure they're necessarily super smart people, though. Just with a massive interest in stuff physical.

Those not-so-smart pretty effectively get weeded out.
That massive interest in physics (and almost anything else concerning "how stuff works") typical for physicists won't help all that much if you don't have a knack for math.

But the top maybe 10% are scarily smart indeed.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

It doesn't mean those people will be doing that job forever. After I got my degree I was unemployed for about 6 months then worked as an office temp for about 4 months before I got the job I really wanted.

I been told they've been working there for years.

That's not what linear means and even if it did, it doesn't follow a plot, but several.

That's what they say linear means. As the game has a beginning and an end because that's the structure of every plot, it's linear. It doesn't matter what happens in the middle.

Ah so you aren't arguing for your own PoV?

That said, it only draws from Scandinavian folklore. Several of the accents are made up. Even the Scandis.

The problem isn't that it uses fake accents, it's that it uses American accents. It breaks any game immersion, and as I'm told, Skyrim already has less depth and immersion than Oblivion..

 

[sophie]

The problem isn't that it uses fake accents, it's that it uses American accents. It breaks any game immersion, and as I'm told, Skyrim already has less depth and immersion than Oblivion..

Oblivion, that glitch-fest of a game where absolutely everybody has an American or fake-British accent, and in which conversation with an NPC leads to in-game passage of time completely coming to a halt? Yeah, real immersive

 

[Farm Boy]

That's what they say linear means. As the game has a beginning and an end because that's the structure of every plot, it's linear. It doesn't matter what happens in the middle.

By their definition a human life is linear then. It moves from point a to point b, it begins and it ends. Shall we get philosophical about how much all that junk in the middle matters?

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Oblivion, that glitch-fest of a game where absolutely everybody has an American or fake-British accent, and in which conversation with an NPC leads to in-game passage of time completely coming to a halt? Yeah, real immersive

I don't know why he said Skyrim was less immersive than Oblivion, but the way he said it made it seem like a good thing. The only thing I can think of is that Skyrim doesn't rely on classes and doesn't have as many statistics.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

That's what they say linear means. As the game has a beginning and an end because that's the structure of every plot, it's linear. It doesn't matter what happens in the middle.

I wish I had that picture of the guy who's doing a facepalm that everyone likes to use.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Hey, physicists of CFC, got a question for you.

I was going through my homework questions for astronomy class, and I came upon this: "On 14 October 2012, Felix Baumgartner jumped from a world record hieght of 127,852 feet. How many times greater was the force of gravity on his body by the time he fell to a height of 17500 feet?".

And I'm kind of stumped as to how to find the answer.

I understand that F=G(m₁m₂/r²), but since I'm not given the mass of Felix, I doubt its helpful to answer this. I also kind of get that gravitational force works as an inverse square, but I'm not sure how to use that to get an exact answer on how much greater the force is at 17500 feet compared to 127,000. Anyone know of an equation or something than can help me out?

 

[dutchfire]

You only need the ratio of the forces, for that, G, m1, and m2 drop out of the equation.

F_begin / F_halfway = r^2_halfway/r^2_begin = 0.25

 

[Joecoolyo]

So with the numbers plugged in, you'd have F_begin/F_halfway = (17500)²/(127,852)²? How do you get the forces at either point? Also why is the radius side flipped?

 

[dutchfire]

How do you get the forces at either point?

You don't need to! You just need the ratio.

Imagine I give you to squares and I tell you that the sides of the second one are half as large as those of the first one. Then we know the area of the second square is 1/4 of the area of the first square. But we don't know how big either of them is.

Also why is the radius side flipped?

The r appears as 1/r^2, so ( (1/r1^2) )/( (1/r2^2) )= r2^2/r1^2

 

[Joecoolyo]

You don't need to! You just need the ratio.

Imagine I give you to squares and I tell you that the sides of the second one are half as large as those of the first one. Then we know the area of the second square is 1/4 of the area of the first square. But we don't know how big either of them is.

I guess where my confusion is stemming from is where exactly you got the 1/4 (.25) from in the ratio? What tells you that?

Sorry if I'm coming off as rather thick, math isn't my strong suite, and I really want to try and nail down these concepts in case they pop on a test or something.

The r appears as 1/r^2, so ( (1/r1^2) )/( (1/r2^2) )= r2^2/r1^2

Ah, gotcha, this makes sense.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I have a question: Is it just me, or do sometimes songs sound weird if headphones are on backwards?

(Sometimes I miss my old headphones. The band went around the behind of the head so you couldn't put them on backwards unless you wanted the band in your face. They stopped selling them.)

 

[CKS]

Remember that r is to the center of the earth, and your distances are to the surface of the earth, so add on the radius of the earth (in feet) to your values.

You want [G * (mass of earth) * (mass of Felix) divided by (final r value)^2] divided by [G * (mass of earth) * (mass of Felix) divided by (initial r value)^2]. Notice that G, mass of earth, and mass of Felix will cancel out, leaving 1/r_final^2 divided by 1/r_initial^2, which is r_initial^2 divided by r_final squared. Notice that the force is not very much bigger; that is, your answer is not much bigger than one.