piisfish 140 #126 February 28, 2011 QuoteQuoteI like the metric system. It is so much easier coverting units, just move the decimal. Hehe . . . you only think this because most people have 10 fingers. do you have 12 ?scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #127 February 28, 2011 Quote Wow ... you're tall and that wrist strap appears to be strangling his hand - after bluish-pink comes just blue ---- then it falls off ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Calvin19 0 #128 February 28, 2011 Quote Quote Wow ... you're tall and that wrist strap appears to be strangling his hand - after bluish-pink comes just blue ---- then it falls off This was just out of the box from sea level in spain, I live at 1500m. and the iPhone camera likes to use it's imagination on colors. -SPACE- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #129 February 28, 2011 QuoteFor instance, the speed of light is a universal constant. Really? How fast is it? Please do not use any man made units in your response. - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,107 #130 February 28, 2011 >Really? How fast is it? Please do not use any man made units in your response. 210,000 kellicams per lup. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #131 February 28, 2011 QuoteDamn! That's about 47 moons! And a little more than 95 fortnights.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #132 February 28, 2011 Quote>Really? How fast is it? Please do not use any man made units in your response. 210,000 kellicams per lup. Yep and also 1.803 terafurlongs per fortnightI'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DiverMike 5 #133 February 28, 2011 Really? How fast is it? Please do not use any man made units in your response. It is a constant - you can use any units to describe it. In fact, it acts as a 'Rosetta Stone' to translate units of measure. If you and a little green man agree to use base 10 mathematics and he indicates the speed of light is approximately '3,234 dinglefarbies per blockenshuts' you would be able to convert dinglefarbies per blockenshut to meters per second. You then agree how many blockenshuts it takes for light to travel a given distance and you will know how many dinglefarbies are in a meter. For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #134 February 28, 2011 That's exactly my point. The speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, but you still need a system of units to express that constant. I suppose it is possible to have a system were speed is a basic dimension, but most dimensional systems have distance and time as two of the basic dimensions, and speed is derived. If you want to use the speed of light as a basic dimension, you need to pick another universal quantity to define distance or time. - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #135 March 1, 2011 QuoteThat's exactly my point. The speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, but you still need a system of units to express that constant. I suppose it is possible to have a system were speed is a basic dimension, but most dimensional systems have distance and time as two of the basic dimensions, and speed is derived. If you want to use the speed of light as a basic dimension, you need to pick another universal quantity to define distance or time. Plank While it's named for the physicist that proposed it, it's such a universal idea that it's going to be understood by any lifeforms that are at least as technologically advanced as ourselves. The basics are that light travels at a constant and when you get down to a small enough scale, the universe breaks down into a distance beyond which there is no meaning. This is MUCH, MUCH smaller than the diameter of a proton. So the smallest unit of distance is the Planck length and Planck time is how long it takes light to travel that distance. This gives universal constants to; length, time, speed . . .quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #136 March 1, 2011 QuoteQuoteFor instance, the speed of light is a universal constant. Really? How fast is it? Please do not use any man made units in your response. Really damn fast! Faster than BillVon can chug a micro brewery beer! Oh, wait...beer is man-made. Invented by the Gods, made by man.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #137 March 1, 2011 QuoteSo the smallest unit of distance is the Planck length and Planck time is how long it takes light to travel that distance. Man! I'm glad Occam doesn't post here. He'd be all over that one! We'd never hear the end of it.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #138 March 1, 2011 Quote Quote So the smallest unit of distance is the Planck length and Planck time is how long it takes light to travel that distance. Man! I'm glad Occam doesn't post here. He'd be all over that one! We'd never hear the end of it. Occam's Razor just isn't going to cut it (into smaller parts). Occam (and a lot of people that don't know better) also assumes it's possible to travel 15 mph over the universal speed limit; "C." Of course, we're smart enough to know that's not possible. The reasons for this are physics simply break down beyond those points. Understand 1 Planck length is about 10 to the -20th of the diameter of a proton. Smaller than that can't exist in this universe because it could never be measured. That's the issue. Planck length is essentially the pixel dimension of the universe. It's a bit like asking what is outside the universe in terms of time or distance; any answer would be meaningless.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Belgian_Draft 0 #139 March 1, 2011 Quote Quote That's exactly my point. The speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, but you still need a system of units to express that constant. I suppose it is possible to have a system were speed is a basic dimension, but most dimensional systems have distance and time as two of the basic dimensions, and speed is derived. If you want to use the speed of light as a basic dimension, you need to pick another universal quantity to define distance or time. Plank While it's named for the physicist that proposed it, it's such a universal idea that it's going to be understood by any lifeforms that are at least as technologically advanced as ourselves. The basics are that light travels at a constant and when you get down to a small enough scale, the universe breaks down into a distance beyond which there is no meaning. This is MUCH, MUCH smaller than the diameter of a proton. So the smallest unit of distance is the Planck length and Planck time is how long it takes light to travel that distance. This gives universal constants to; length, time, speed . . . The time it takes the fastest known object, light, to travel the shortest recognized distance, the Plank length, is known as a jiffy. Interestingly enough, 1 centimeter per minute is pretty damned close to 1 furlong per fortnight. HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #140 March 1, 2011 Quoteterafurlongs I actually really like that one. I think they'd go well with "megastones" and "microscores" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #141 March 1, 2011 Quote Smaller than that can't exist in this universe because it could never be measured. That's the issue. Planck V2.0 will come about when we develop the ability to measure smaller things. Quote Planck length is essentially the pixel dimension of the universe. Yeah, so when is Sony coming out with a higher resolution camera? Quote It's a bit like asking what is outside the universe in terms of time or distance; any answer would be meaningless. I already know what's outside the known universe...the thinking process of my ex. It happens regularly in time and it doesn't matter how far away you are. Question...why are you stepping on Kallend's toes here? This is his bailiwick, isn't it? My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #142 March 1, 2011 I'm not sure Plank length would be a very good basis for a measurement system. First of all, as you noted, you can't measure it. Secondly, it is so small compared to normal day objects that for practical reason you'd end up using something like the megatetraplank or whatever as the actual unit. Since you can't actually measure a Plank length, the end result would be someone making a megatatraplank bar and storing it in a vault in Paris, and we'd be right back where we started. Same thing goes for the speed of light. It is so far removed from everyday speeds, that we'd just use a convenient measure, and the fact that it was based on the speed of light would be meaningless. In the end, you can still reference any system of units to universal constants. We know how long a meter is in terms of Plank length. We don't formally define it that way, but if the scientific community decided to change the official definition of a meter, it would have exactly zero impact on how things are measured. Same thing for time, electrical charge, or any other dimension. Of course, it we ever encountered an alien species, quade is right that we might want to translate our units to universal values so that they can make their hamburgers the right size. However, there is no functional difference between telling them how many Plank lengths are in a meter, and letting them measure some bar in a vault. - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyDekker 1,465 #143 March 1, 2011 QuoteThe reasons for this are physics simply break down beyond those points. Understand 1 Planck length is about 10 to the -20th of the diameter of a proton. Smaller than that can't exist in this universe because it could never be measured. That's the issue. Planck length is essentially the pixel dimension of the universe. It's a bit like asking what is outside the universe in terms of time or distance; any answer would be meaningless. A lot of assumptions and faith in that "bible verse". Just trust us: when you break it down far enough so that nobody can measure it, this is what happens!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DiverMike 5 #144 March 1, 2011 I like the idea of using Planck constant, but based on our current technology our measurement of it is only a rough approximation. It currently stands at 6.62606896(33) x 10 -34 with the last two digits in parenthesis denoting the standard uncertainty. The new approximated value is published every 4 years. The little green men may have a more accurate approximation and would laugh at us. Boy would we look silly. For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #145 March 1, 2011 1 - fix your frame of reference to a particle traveling at the speed of light 2 - measure the speed of light 3 - c = 0 ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #146 March 1, 2011 QuoteQuoteFor instance, the speed of light is a universal constant. Really? How fast is it? Please do not use any man made units in your response.ZAP... as fast as that...scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niki1 2 #147 March 1, 2011 QuoteI've always been impressed with the 1 to 1 to 1 relationship of distance to volume to weight... and it's all decimal. What is the weight of a kilometer?Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #148 March 1, 2011 Quote Quote I've always been impressed with the 1 to 1 to 1 relationship of distance to volume to weight... and it's all decimal. What is the weight of a kilometer? depends of what you spread on the km scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,146 #149 March 1, 2011 Quote 3 - c = 0 Solving, c = 3... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,146 #150 March 1, 2011 So after all the talk of using universal constants: What is the charge on the electron in Imperial units? What is the magnetic moment of an electron (Bohr magneton) in Imperial units? What is the value of the Lamb constant in Imperial units? To be more useful everyday - what is a current of 1.0 ampere in Imperial units? What is a potential of a 12 volt car battery in Imperial units? What is the typical strength of the magnet in an MRI machine in Imperial units?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
