Comments for Ask a Mathematician / Ask a Physicist

Comment on Q: How do surge protectors work? by Physicist

Physicist — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:38:27 +0000

It would, but I can’t think of any protector systems that don’t siphon at least a little power. But check this out! A typical lightning stroke lasts about 30 microseconds, so the frequency spectrum should become significant around .3×10^6 Hz (guestimation physics). So if you have an inductor with an impedance of 1 Ohm at 60 Hz, it’ll have a resistance of around 2 million Ohms for the lightning bolt.
That being said, you’re right, I’d expect that most systems are at least a little slicker than just a couple loops of wire.

Comment on Q: How do surge protectors work? by Mathemusician

Mathemusician — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:16:33 +0000

I wonder if the type using inductive low pass filter is really as simple as inserting that huge inductor in series with load. Seems like that would constantly waste energy when in use. Less so than a capacitive low pass filter (with a series resistor) I guess.

Comment on Q: Will we ever overcome the Heisenberg uncertainty principle? by Q: How do surge protectors work? « Ask a Mathematician / Ask a Physicist

Q: How do surge protectors work? « Ask a Mathematician / Ask a Physicist — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 13:32:50 +0000

[...] to anyone, but most surges (e.g., lightning strikes) are fast. It turns out that because of the Uncertainty Principle, things that happen really fast are necessarily spread out over a lot of frequencies (small time [...]

Comment on Q: Why are orbits elliptical? Why is the Sun in one focus, and what’s in the other? by Physicist

Physicist — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:18:32 +0000

Jackson has a father?

Comment on Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: the elevator pitch by Scott

Scott — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:48:39 +0000

The trouble with philosophical approaches to physical problems is that they eventually run smack into the math. Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply dissatisfied by the black box approach of Quantum Mechanics, but the math is heavily in its favor.

Comment on Q: Why are orbits elliptical? Why is the Sun in one focus, and what’s in the other? by Scott

Scott — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:55:42 +0000

Standard and confusing is right. Someone must have been reading Jackson recently. My favorite David Jackson story: a friend of mine met him once at a conference and asked him why he dedicated the book to his father. His reply? “So everyone would know I had one.”

Comment on Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: the elevator pitch by mtravers

mtravers — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:21:26 +0000

Einstein was right about the shortcomings of Quantum Mechanics and so therefore String Theory is also the incorrect approach. As an alternative to Quantum Theory there is a new theory that describes and explains the mysteries of physical reality. While not disrespecting the value of Quantum Mechanics as a tool to explain the role of quanta in our universe. This theory states that there is also a classical explanation for the paradoxes such as EPR and the Wave-Particle Duality. The Theory is called the Theory of Super Relativity. This theory is a philosophical attempt to reconnect the physical universe to realism and deterministic concepts. It explains the mysterious.

Comment on Q: Can things really be in two places at the same time? by Physicist

Physicist — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:59:22 +0000

If you were to travel to either the beginning or the end of the universe, you’d find that every experiment you can think of will have the same results. As far as we can tell, everything about the way the universe works seems to stay constant. On a very, very large scale, or seconds after the big bang, maybe not. But otherwise: constant.
The weirdness of the double slit experiment is a result of the entangling effect that measurement has, and it is one of the tricks the universe uses to increase its entropy.
Well… Classical entropy (the entropy that you measure in individual universes) is increased. If you could take a few steps back, and observe the system as a whole, taking into account every result together (right slit and left slit), then the entropy (Von Neumann entropy that is) would stay the same.
Also, you may enjoy this old post:
Q: Is the total complexity of the universe growing, shrinking or staying the same?

Comment on Q: Can things really be in two places at the same time? by Jim Carlson

Jim Carlson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:46:52 +0000

Is the double-slit experiment an example of entropy, also known as the scrambling of information? In other words is quantum reality “invading” the classical world evidenced by the double-slit experiment? As the universe slowly heads towards heat death a hundred billions of years from now, will the it become more quantum-like and our ability to understand ourselves and our environment become correspondingly less possible?

Information is real. Although it’s conserved, as the universe ages it becomes increasingly scrambled. 6 billion years ago the universe appears to have undergone a phase transition causing the expansion of space to accelerate. If performed 7 billion years ago would the double-slit experiment have produced the same results we see today?

Comment on Q: What’s the chance of getting a run of K or more successes (heads) in a row in N Bernoulli trials (coin flips)? Why use approximations when the exact answer is known? by Marc van Gestel

Marc van Gestel — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:20:39 +0000

Hi Physicist,

You are absolutely right! Thank you.

Marc