How Much Energy Does It Take to Split a Hair?
It's something in the genes. My sister has it,
her daughter has it. I have it, and all of my children have it. We haven't
figured out which ancestor bequeathed this trait, but here's how it manifests:
1.) Topic comes up. 2.) People in immediate vicinity talk amongst themselves and
move on 3.) I and/or person(s) closely related to me am/are not satisfied with
shallow, popular opinion and proceed with great alacrity to take the topic to a
transcendent level. 4.) Eyes of people in immediate vicinity glaze over and/or
roll back in head. This morning's topic, brought to you by 13-year old Mary, was
"Energy." Here's how it went:
"I just don't understand energy, Mom. What is it?"
"What does your textbook say?"
"It isn't matter. It's energy. So what is it, if it isn't matter?"
"Energy is the ability to do work," I say, feeling pretty clever to remember that one.
"But, what is it?"
"Well, it's either heat or a chemical reaction, or kinetic or electrical..."
"Aha! Then, if heat is how fast particles move, and chemicals are compounds made out of various substances, and kinetic means movement and things can't move unless they are, well, things!!, then energy can't be energy without matter!"
Mary took a breath right about here.
"Okay, Mary, you're gonna miss the school bus," I say, vacillating between being impressed and rolling my eyes.
Which brings me to my question. I was reading about theories of the origins of the Universe, and now They're saying that two Universes in different dimensions collided, like rippling membranes ('branes, is the lingo), and, as Dave Barry is fond of saying, "I am not making this up," these 'branes are like bed sheets hanging on the line, moving in the wind ... So, my questions is, what is a Universe? How can there be more than one? Don't try to placate me that mathematical dimension stuff. If these Universes are real, at least in the minds of the mathematicians who write the equations, then, the characters in my stories are real, too! In some Universe.
"I just don't understand energy, Mom. What is it?"
"What does your textbook say?"
"It isn't matter. It's energy. So what is it, if it isn't matter?"
"Energy is the ability to do work," I say, feeling pretty clever to remember that one.
"But, what is it?"
"Well, it's either heat or a chemical reaction, or kinetic or electrical..."
"Aha! Then, if heat is how fast particles move, and chemicals are compounds made out of various substances, and kinetic means movement and things can't move unless they are, well, things!!, then energy can't be energy without matter!"
Mary took a breath right about here.
"Okay, Mary, you're gonna miss the school bus," I say, vacillating between being impressed and rolling my eyes.
Which brings me to my question. I was reading about theories of the origins of the Universe, and now They're saying that two Universes in different dimensions collided, like rippling membranes ('branes, is the lingo), and, as Dave Barry is fond of saying, "I am not making this up," these 'branes are like bed sheets hanging on the line, moving in the wind ... So, my questions is, what is a Universe? How can there be more than one? Don't try to placate me that mathematical dimension stuff. If these Universes are real, at least in the minds of the mathematicians who write the equations, then, the characters in my stories are real, too! In some Universe.
Posted: Fri - February 6, 2004 at 07:25 PM
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Published On: Feb 09, 2004 11:15 AM
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Published On: Feb 09, 2004 11:15 AM