Old Man Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 And in three weeks, I reprise my role as the Ogre of Physics 106. Let the screaming begin. I don't think I really started screaming until Physics 272, which was electromagnetism. And then it was less because of the subject matter than the professor, who would dock points on your exam if you didn't indent your calculations the way he wanted. That and his predilection for edge-case and trick questions were really, really annoying. By thermodynamics the screaming was over, supplanted by a pathetic whimpering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 This is the algebra-based physics series, the one the life sciences people take. No one likes teaching that course because the pre-meds scream so loud the Board of Trustees hears it if you even say the phrase "coupled vector differential equations" out loud. But teaching electromagnetism without recourse to Maxwell's Equations is like teaching the New Testament without ever going into the Four Gospels. So I ask them, what's the electricity word everyone uses the most? "Volt", I say, and everyone nods. "OK, what's a volt?" Deer in the headlights. "It is the SI unit of electric potential," I say before some smartaleck can read me the wikipedia page off his phone. "So what is electric potential?" The silence gets very taut after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 To make a guess at electric potential: motion caused by electricity, or 'electric motion'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 The way I usually explain it is "how badly the electricity wants to get from A to B." If you have electrodes on either side of your head, and the potential difference is low, then the electrons will stay where they are. If the voltage is high, then they will move from one electrode to the other despite any resistance offered by the intervening space. Amperage is "how many electrons there are" or, to put it another way, "how many dice of damage you roll." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Electric potential can be thought of this way: it is the difference in electric potential that tells you how much electrical energy you can get by letting charges move as they want between two points. If you have 1 volt of electric potential difference between two points, then by letting 1 coulomb of charge be attracted from one point to another, you get one joule of energy out. If you let a steady flow of charge, 1 coulomb per second, flow through that same 1 volt of potential difference, you get out 1 joule per second, or 1 watt, of power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 This is the algebra-based physics series, the one the life sciences people take. No one likes teaching that course because the pre-meds scream so loud the Board of Trustees hears it if you even say the phrase "coupled vector differential equations" out loud. But teaching electromagnetism without recourse to Maxwell's Equations is like teaching the New Testament without ever going into the Four Gospels. Oddly enough, I once received a tract from one of the evangelical groups encouraging me to "Read the New Testament starting at the Gospel of John and through Revelations [sic]". Which led me to wonder, "What does your church not want me to see in Matthew, Mark, and Luke?" Cancer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I never read such tracts any more, but I also find that curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 ... Strange, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 The flickers have found the new location of the bird feeder. Had to replace the suet block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Crafty little devils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 No, they just have several adds of Armor Piercing on their bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Hm. Looks kinda like the Siberian woodpecker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Probably where the came from, many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Damn that Beringian land bridge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 A good friend of mine did her thesis in archaeology in Beringia, so I can't echo that sentiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 ... Oceanic archaeology? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Not oceanic, but maritime, yes. Sites in Alaska and the Aleutian islands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Hey let me know if she finds a good flint knife, I lost mine on the way over. Was one of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Make a new one out of obsidian, why don't you? Or is there obsidian on Hawaii? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 I think Obsidian went back to his home world after they replaced him with Ironside in Fifth Edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Did he go away mad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Probably, as he got dumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 It might have been mutual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Sounds like a supervillain origin story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 Oh, you make everything sound like a supervillain origin story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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