Einstein for Dummies

[Michaelangelica]

I didn't want to put this thread in any particular forum eg Physics

because I wanted a mixed forum to discuss some of the more "left-field" aspects of the man.

Favourite quotes, miscellany, history, quirky bits, Was he right?, anything really. Just to "chew the fat" around the general subject of Einstein

For those of us who equate physics as unknowable as religion

 

For example I am reading a strange book about the travels of his brain after his death. Very weird.

I am just starting to get interested after 200 pages.

(I will post more when I find out what happened)

 

Also if E=MC2 etc

How do you measure "M" ? kilos/ pounds? /atomic weight?

 

--

Michael

[Aki]

Also if E=MC2 etc

How do you measure "M" ? kilos/ pounds? /atomic weight?

 

 

m is in kilogram, which is the standard unit for mass.

[Michaelangelica]

m is in kilogram, which is the standard unit for mass.

So the energy in a kilo of sugar would be:

 

E=1x186,000x186,000mps

orE=1x299,792,458x299,792,458 ?(both metric measurements?)

= very big number which means what?

[ronthepon]

Well, actually one can use any mass type in mind, gram, kilogram, amu, etc. Just remember that the energy found out won't be in Joules if one does not use Kg. It'll be something else like erg or of that sort.

[Michaelangelica]

wow

Just looked at the web on Einstein

Heaps of stuff

he is more popular than Elvis

I have three things in common with him!

Ten Obscure Factoids Concerning Albert Einstein

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19980907140525data_trunc_sys.shtml

1. He Liked His Feet Naked

 

"When I was young, I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in the sock," he once said. "So I stopped wearing socks." Einstein was also a fanatical slob, refusing to "dress properly" for anyone. Either people knew him or they didn't, he reasoned - so it didn't matter either way.

 

2. He Hated Scrabble(My wife (michael-AlWAYS gets all 7 letters out on a triple woprd score, totally demoralising)

 

Aside from his favourite past-time sailing ("the sport which demands the least energy"), Einstein shunned any recreational activity that required mental agility. As he told the New York Times, "When I get through with work I don't want anything that requires the working of the mind."

 

3. He Was A Rotten Speller

 

Although he lived for many years in the United States and was fully bilingual, Einstein claimed never to be able to write in English because of "the treacherous spelling". He never lost his distinctive German accent either, summed up by his catch-phrase "I vill a little t'ink".

 

O yes 4

I have a neurotic cat too.:eek:

 

I am still confused about E=Mc2

Seems I am multiplying oranges with apples?

[ronthepon]

Congrats. You are Albert Einstein v 2.0!

 

Feel free to pinpoint your problem.

[CraigD]

So the energy in a kilo of sugar would be:

…

E=1x,792,458x299,792,458

…

= very big number which means what?

It’s a very big number measuring Energy, which is a measure of the ability to perform Work.

 

Stating units, we have:

E = (1 kilograms)*(299,792,458 meters/second)*(299,792,458 meters/second)

= 89875517873681764 kilograms*meters^2/seconds^2

Because kg*m^2/s^2 is such a standard unit of work and energy, there’s a special name (honoring, as do many unit names, an long-dead scientist) for it: Joules, the standard abbreviation of which is J.

 

Although the Joule is not a well known unit among non-scientists, the unit of power for it is. Joules/second are known as Watts (named after the famous engineer), with standard abbreviation W

 

So, a totally annihilated kg of sugar (or anything) would create 89875517873681764 J of energy, which is enough energy to allow every one of the 6,500,000,000 human being on earth to use a 1500 W hair-dryer for slightly more than 9200 seconds, or about 2.5 hours. In purely mechanical terms, it’s the amount of energy needed to hoist a nearly 100,000,000 kg aircraft carrier to the 10,000 m cruising altitude of an airliner almost 9,000 times! (assuming the equipment used is 100% mechanically efficient)

 

Numbers like this should give one a sense of why professional and amateur engineers get so excited about power systems with the potential to convert kgs of stored matter to energy, such as antimatter.

[Michaelangelica]

Wow!

Thankyou

From now on I'm going to use less sugar in my tea!:doh:

 

Another dumb question

So, we have the theory, what is stopping the practice?

 

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CraigD again.

[ronthepon]

What stops the practice is lack of a known technique. But you have indeed heard of nuclear fusion, and nuclear fission. That is all the practice where we convert big time mass into energy