The Universal Laws Of Physics

[Daffy D]

Not serious just for fun.

Some while back we were driving along and in front of us was a pickup with a couple of gas cylinders in the back tied with string to the tailgate.

Just to make conversation, as one does on long journeys, I said that’s a bit dangerous, if he was in an accident the cylinders would shoot forward and cause injury.

No said my better half they are tied with string. To which I replied I think if he was in a head on crash the airbag would save him but the gas cylinders would then shoot forward and probably kill him.

No way could I convince my better half, who is usually quite sensible and practical that it would be better for the cylinders to be secured against the back of the cab so they could not take off in the event of a head on collision.

TIT

[Tywais]

Just explain the difference between kinetic energy and potential energy. Example: Take a rubber ball and put it against her arm then hit the ball. Then take it and throw it at her to show the difference. If you are able to, post the results here.

[dominique355]

Maybe you ask the truck driver if he would agree to make the experiment and crash into a solid wall, just to see if you or yous Missus are right. Ought to be fun if the gas tanks are full.

No but seriously; inertia will make the gas tanks to keep going forward and hit the cabin with the driver inside when the truck stops abruptly on an impact. The heavier they are, the more energy they have (e = 1/2 m v2).

[Mosha]

My wife's gem was "Do you think we go round the Sun , or the Sun goes round us?"

[meom]

No said my better half they are tied with string. To which I replied I think if he was in a head on crash the airbag would save him but the gas cylinders would then shoot forward and probably kill him.

Wouldn't that depend the length and strength of the string?

[Jimmy in Bangkok]

My wife's gem was "Do you think we go round the Sun , or the Sun goes round us?"

It depends, which one is the string tied to?

Cheers

Jimmy

[PeaceBlondie]

My wife's gem was "Do you think we go round the Sun , or the Sun goes round us?"

Maybe you are joking, but we worked with Mayas whose cosmology was not the same as Copernicus's. One day Maria (a reasonably bright Mayan mother of five) had to be convinced by her older boys and a farang that the earth indeed revolved around the sun.

Not quite the same, but I had to explain several times to a Thai ajarn of geography and SE Asian economics that countries in temperate zones had long winter nights and long summer days. She had no concept of the effect of the earth's tilted axis. I also find northern Europeans living here long-term who do not realize that in mid-year, the noonday sun is in the north.

In my novel, a Long-Neck Karen student is such a genius that she understands basic scientific principles almost intuitively. But I did not find most Thai students ignorant of physics, and one of my students was nearly a genius in it.

[doctormann]

My wife's gem was "Do you think we go round the Sun , or the Sun goes round us?"

Maybe you are joking, but we worked with Mayas whose cosmology was not the same as Copernicus's. One day Maria (a reasonably bright Mayan mother of five) had to be convinced by her older boys and a farang that the earth indeed revolved around the sun.

Not quite the same, but I had to explain several times to a Thai ajarn of geography and SE Asian economics that countries in temperate zones had long winter nights and long summer days. She had no concept of the effect of the earth's tilted axis. I also find northern Europeans living here long-term who do not realize that in mid-year, the noonday sun is in the north.

In my novel, a Long-Neck Karen student is such a genius that she understands basic scientific principles almost intuitively. But I did not find most Thai students ignorant of physics, and one of my students was nearly a genius in it.

Try this link http://www.jgiesen.de/azimuth/index.html for a lot of info on sun elevation, azimuth and the like. Fascinating.

DM

[a2396]

In general, I have found most Thais have little or no understanding of the concept of cause and effect. This applies to many situations, not only the laws of physics.

[Cuban]

My wife's gem was "Do you think we go round the Sun , or the Sun goes round us?"

I asked mine the other evening - Why does the moon sometimes look like a full disc and sometimes crescent/smiley etc.

It have light? Was the reply.

[Naam]

Just explain the difference between kinetic energy and potential energy. Example: Take a rubber ball and put it against her arm then hit the ball. Then take it and throw it at her to show the difference. If you are able to, post the results here.

and if it's not too far we will visit you in the hospital and you can explain what happened in sign language.

[lordofdelusion]

NO!

A quick look at Thai traffic will answer your question.

[simon43]

Re the gas cylinders in the back of the truck, a friend of mine was returning home after doing some DIY. hHs car was full of loose tools. He was involved in a head-on collision but the airbag saved his life. A fraction of a second later, he was killed by a flying carpenter's knife that was loose in the back of his car and stabbed him in the back

Simon

[spectrum]

Years ago in Australia, a happy, recently car-licensed group went out to celebrate the end of gruelling exams and acceptance into medical school.

A heavy tome on physics or chemistry sitting on the back window shelf flew forward when the driver braked suddenly. It caused serious brain damage to one young man, considered something of a golden boy for his athleticism and intelligence. He battled back and did attend classes but I don't think he ever practised as a doctor.

[lannarebirth]

Yes, your wife is quite right. it's all explained hee:

http://springcitychronicle.files.wordpress...le-e-coyote.jpg

[vagabond48]

Back in the US, I was driving with a former gf and we were enjoying a beautiful sunset. Somehow we got to talking about the color of the sun. I was shocked to hear that she thought the sun changed from bright white/yellow to shades of orange/red during sunrise and sunset because the sun got colder between sunset and sunrise. I just could not convince her that the sun always has a constant visible color and temperature (based on our limited human senses) and any visible color changes are due the distance the light has to travel through our clean or dirty atmosphere.

[Mossfinn]

Just explain the difference between kinetic energy and potential energy.

Yup, I'm on it TW

Where's Ctrl, Alt, Del Again?

I would prefer her to made aware of Occam's razor, this I feel is more suited.

Good Luck

Moss

[ade100]

In general, I have found most Thais have little or no understanding of the concept of cause and effect. This applies to many situations, not only the laws of physics.

No, no, this is where you are wrong. Thais have a very profound understanding of cause and effect.

For example I always thought that plane crashes were caused by technical faults, human error, extreme weather conditions, etc. However my GF has corrected me on this one. She cleverly asserts that if you talk about having a plane crash before getting on board then the plane is doomed before it even leaves the runway. Thus the cause of all air disasters is one or more passengers talking about a crash before embarking.

It’s a far more sophisticated understanding of causality than my old theories.

[Dustoff]

I would prefer her to made aware of Occam's razor, this I feel is more suited.

In other words, keep it simple? Isn't that exactly what she is doing?

[realthaideal]

I've got another one: I love to eat noodle soup, and always ask for extra naam with mine because I like the nourishing effects of soup broth, and Thais tend to eat their noodles with very little liquid. But the soup is quite hot often, and using Grandma's trick, I'll throw in a few ice cubes out of my water cup to cool the soup to where it's still hot n steaming, but not so hot as to scorch my tongue. Every Thai who has ever seen me do this is aghast and tells me right away that I'm gonna get 'tong sia,' food poisoning or a bad stomach. I explain the soup is still hot (we're only talking 3-4 ice cubes here), and they explain that the ice makes it go bad. I show them it's still hot n steamy, yet the ice has a magical power in their minds. I think they picture their runny, icy, goopey desserts with beans and jellied things in them and think cooooold. But yes, ice goes in, however, the net heat of the soup cancels out the ice, leaving the temp of the soup overall, cooler, but not cold. Only one person COULD grasp it, though she hated to admit defeat. I asked my ex-tgf one time "So what if I eat all the hot soup and drink ice water between bites ? Will it make my stomach go bad there too ? What's the difference between the bowl and my stomach mixing two temperatures?" Finally she acquiesced, to her credit.

[elkangorito]

You could ask the "old favourite" question;

If you dropped a Durian & a grain of rice from your roof (3 to 4 metres), which would hit the ground first?

[libya 115]

Mrs L still argues that rain water when collected is purer than pure.......

She also thinks that opening the fridge for two minutes is O.K. and an empty freezer uses less power and that cold water freezes more quickly than boiling water.

However she is able to do those ball-bearing puzzles that I used to think were impossible.

[spectrum]

Which cools faster, the cup of black coffee or the one with milk added ?

I thought opening and closing the fridge door frequently did use more power than leaving it open for a few minutes. (Obviously, when taking stuff out and putting back in; not just for recreational purposes ).

Long, long ago, in a continent far, far away, I went for a walk on the beach with my boyfriend. There was little light, other than from the moon. I told him we'd be able to re-find the spot where the track led down to the beach from the road because the moon was overhead it .

[Goshawk]

ask her this...

if a tree in a remote forest falls down, but there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound ?

(i'm just off to ask Schrodinger's cat the same thing)

[PeaceBlondie]

I had a very bright roommate, a liberal arts major in his 8th year of university study, who honestly thought the room would cool down faster from 34 to 26 degrees if you set the thermostat to 11. I never could convince him otherwise. Acceleration of falling objects is not intuitive or obvious, and so it was demonstrated at the Tower of Pisa. To the human eye, of course it appears that the sun revolves around the earth as surely as the moon does.

In tropical cultures that have only had ice for less than a century, myths die hard.

[TheDon]

My wife actually knows far more then me which isnt hard. But she cant bench press 200 kilo's SO ive got something on her

[libya 115]

Which cools faster, the cup of black coffee or the one with milk added ?

I thought opening and closing the fridge door frequently did use more power than leaving it open for a few minutes. (Obviously, when taking stuff out and putting back in; not just for recreational purposes ).

Long, long ago, in a continent far, far away, I went for a walk on the beach with my boyfriend. There was little light, other than from the moon. I told him we'd be able to re-find the spot where the track led down to the beach from the road because the moon was overhead it .

The cup of coffee without milk added cools faster.......BUT it also depends on the cup/mug material.

These days there are those thermos-vacuum-type mugs

[farang prince]

My wife's gem was "Do you think we go round the Sun , or the Sun goes round us?"

Heck, I thought mankind revolves around pussy.

Edited July 20, 2008 by farang prince

[Dustoff]

You could ask the "old favourite" question;

If you dropped a Durian & a grain of rice from your roof (3 to 4 metres), which would hit the ground first?

And the answer of course is that, on a planet with no atmosphere, they would reach the ground at the same time.

I love those purely physics questions that have no bearing on 'real life'. A bowling ball and a feather dropped from a tall building in Bangkok would demonstrate that the bowling ball would hit the ground in a predictable amount of time (minus a human victim) while the feather could, unpredictably, end up falling to the ground somewhere in Isaan a few days later.

I know because my Thai wife told me so.. And ask any Western 'civilized' bombadier how he plans the killing of thousands below and you will find that Newton's Laws are only a part of the complicated calculations..

I find this thread uncomfortable in that it seems just another thread to 'innocently' demean Thais, especially Thai women.

We all have our strengths, weaknesses and cultural differences. I, for one, am living here to appreciate and enjoy those differences, not seek to change these people to my own brand of logic, religion, language, education, beliefs, et al., "for their own good".

While my partner/wife is not university educated in physics, she has understandings about things that I have never even considered and I learn from her every day. And, as Einstein once said, "I ain't no dummy."

I have been circling this globe since 1958 and have yet to find a country, even my own, where some elitist could not find fault. Never however, have I seen this as a problem with that particular country but with the outsiders who consider themselves enlightened or exceptional enough to criticize.

I mean really, if we manipulate Thais, or anyone else in any culture, to adopt our attitudes about virtually anything, are we really helping them better relate to their own society and people? Or are we just screwing them up? I sometimes wonder about evangelists who wish to take tribal cultures out of their animalistic beliefs and primitive languages "to bring them to the light." Who's light? And will they then be more able to communicate with their own kind and continue their very important time-honored traditions? I don't think so.

If our gf's or Thai wives seem short on education, help them get one. In the meantime, enjoy the wisdom they have and are willing to share if we have the time to step down from our superior attitudes...

[kiakaha]

It's all kinda relative I guess....a guy might laugh at his "uneducated" wife's knowledge of physics just as Stephen Hawking may laugh at yours. Its just a matter of perspective