insane_alien

so paranoia is saying that trans fats shouldn't be banned and people who are ignorant of the effects(and/or presence) will carry on eating them and consequently have poorer health. does this seem fair? I do however agree that people should have the right to mess themselves up if they REALLY want to but let them add transfats to their own food instead of shoving it in everyones food.

@Athiest: time dilation effects possibly(GR) or (i can't remember the name of the effect so bear with me) the effect on an object with uneven mass distribution where it will (eventually) settle so the heavy side is pointing toward the source of gravitation(i know this happens to the spaceshuttle)

the magnetic field is undergoing a reversal but it is nowhere near as serious or dramatic as it seems to be made out to be. we'll just get some pretty lights in the sky. and the compasses will point the wrong way.

yes as long as the acceleration is uniform throughout the entire space in which he has to perform the experiments. near a gravitational source such as a planet/sun/average american there will be a change in gravitational acceleration with a change in distance from the source. therefore with sensitive equipment it COULD be proven that he is in freefall.

but what about toasting both sides at once?

ahh photovoltaic (electricity producing) solar panels may be a tad out of reach for building out of junk. you need slabs of semiconductors. you could make thermal solar panels to heat water easily though. or a solar furnace to boil water and drive a turbine perhaps.

i've been looking about and your best bet would still be with a hot fluid running through the glass. there are some electrically conductive glasses in development which would mean you could use the actual glass as a heating element but they look to be a wee while away just now.

diamond is theoretically possible, finanicially impossible though. there a various plastics and high conductivity glasses as well.

hmm could you use an infrared laser to heat the toast? it passes through the glass and somehow gets refracted onto the bread and then heats it?

yeah they lasted longer on the moon because they had more solar power, no atmosphere and no dust-storms to crap up the machinery. they weren't being sandblasted every once in a while like the current martian rovers. they also didn't have to contend with the day/night cycle

theoretically, its possible. chances of it happening, some humungously large number to the power of a humungously large number against it. it would require a cascade scenario where the butterfly triggers the potential energy to be released.

no, 5614. thats stability of the molecules. melting points are dependant on intermolecular bonds and lattice structure. i don't know for sure why its higher but it is not extremely high relatively. it is inline with the trends shown by tetrachlorides of elements below it. i would suggest it is to do with the more similar electronegativity with carbon that is causing it somehow.

well, the phase diagram is over a ridiculously small pressure/temperature range compared to most substances but thats is only because it is meant to be a useful diagram.

ok, the toaster idea. lets go with that. You could wait for the heat to transfer up the glass which would be a bit slow and the gradient would cause the bottom to be black and the top to be white. OR you could have the mini wires which is bound to be hard to make or you can have a clear oil running through the glass (means the glass has to be kind of thick but not too thick) which will give an even heating and can still get high temps. its also REALLY easy to make. and won't burn out as easily as i suspect the tiny wire version would.

which is why a simple heat exchanger would be better for your purposes. actally, what the hell are your purposes?

never seen wires in a front window. always vents and the use of a cloth to keep it clear for me.

the melting point of helium IS affected by pressure. for instance, it WILL NOT freeze if its at standard pressure. no matter how cold. just because you cannot percieve non parrallel ness does not mean it is parallel. EDIT: thought i'd add some linkage http://www.fluidmech.net/msc/super/super-f.htm < yah looks real parrallel

well seeing as the whole class seemed to struggle a bit you could maybe organise a study session or something. looks good to uni's and employers later on in life. helps everybody as well.

ah crap, seems i'm an extremist chemist then. another one would be that you occasionally lick your beakers clean if you've been making esters.

YT's idea is, as always, a good one. and probably the most realistic. a simple heat exchanger is a pretty good way to go, just try and get a working fluid that has a similar refractive index to the glass, perspex, diamond, whatever. Heat the fluid with your standard metal heating element and pump it through the tube. hey presto. you have a transparent heating element. diamond is another way to go as it has an extremely high melting(sublimation) point and very high heat conduction properties but as of yet, is still pretty expensive to manufacture in tube form.

Well, don't get down about it. organic chem isn't the easiest of topics. you'll probably do better in the next test.

that happenes in uni as well. last year i turned up to maths a grand total of 3 time in the second semester. the lecturer lapsed into russian and didn't provide notes. so we just studied the course ourselves 86% in the exam. compared to the 52% average of people who only went to his class. Doing it on your own is a very very good way of working as long as you don't muck about too much.

A perfect example of how not to lecture is the way my thermodynamics lecturer works. 1. first thing he said to us was "Now, thermo dynamics is not a popular course" in a flat monotone. ooo inspiring ... NOT! 2. he hands out a sheet of questions and expects us to spend the first half of the lecture doing them and then talks about how you solve the questions in the second half. even then he doesn't do a very good job. I think the tutorial questions in the lecture have potential but it would also cut heavily into the lecture time. not so good if there is a lot of material to cover.

*throws a copy of the trilogy in five parts at bluenoise*

is there any point? if someone says the right question then they will cancel each other out and take the universe with it. only for it all to be replaced by something a whole lot more complicated. i think its the number of times its happened before.