RascalRobot

I believe you need to know the level of technical knowledge your audience has before you can determine your "limit". For example ... Last 4th of July the family was waiting for the fireworks to start. My nephews girlfriend saw a star moving quickly through the sky and asked "is that a shooting star". The answer was "no, it's probably a satelite". This girl had just graduated high school and asked "what is a satellite anyway"? I clutched my wifes arm in total disbelief, then gave a general answer, which leads to the next question, "why doesn't it just fall down". I had now reached this persons limit of understanding, so the answer is "scientists use math and computers to figure out just where to put the satellite so that it keeps spinning around the earth". That was good enough, no mention of gravity or forces, and wasn't insulting. The sad part is, that answer is just about at my limit of understanding. If she had asked about the math, I would have been at a loss for words.