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ID#: 54319	Area: Posts	Submitted: 2009-10-29 16:45:58	Posted: 2009-11-03 03:01:04
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QDear 100 Hour Board,

What is the most mind-blowing thing you have ever learned?

-Chewy Banana

ADear Chewy Banana,

Imagine a basketball. Assume you have a string wrapped around the diameter of the basketball. Now assume that instead of being directly on the surface of the basketball, you'd actually like the string to hover 2 inches above the surface of the basketball. (Ignore, for a moment, the technical feasibility of making a string hover.) How much extra string do you need? A little bit of math here:

Amount of extra string needed = New circumference - old circumference
= 2 π r_new - 2 π r_old
= 2 π (r_new - r_old)
= 2 π ( (2" + radiusOfBasketball) - radiusOfBasketball)
= 2 π (2")
= 4 π inches
= roughly 12.57 inches

I suspect your mind is not being blown quite yet.

But now, let's say we had a string around the entire earth. (Assume, for a moment, that the earth is perfectly spherical.) And let's say we actually wanted to have a long string of people all the way around the world that would all pick up that string to keep it 2 inches above the earth. How much extra string would we need to have to make the ends still meet?

Amount of extra string needed = New circumference - old circumference
= 2 π r_new - 2 π r_old
= 2 π (r_new - r_old)
= 2 π ( (2" + radiusOfEarth) - radiusOfEarth)
= 2 π (2")
= 4 π inches
= roughly 12.57 inches

It's exactly the same amount. In fact, if we did the same around an infinitely small point of radius 0, we'd find that it's exactly the same amount of string that we'd need to make a simple circle with a radius of 2 inches. And, of course, 2 inches is an entirely arbitrary amount. If you had a fence around the entire (perfectly spherical) universe, and you wanted to expand it out a mile in each direction, you'd only need enough fence to make a 1-mile-radius circle. 6.28 miles of fence would be enough to expand that universe-wide fence 1 mile in each direction. The fence that's around the entire known universe.

Okay, so I know that's just simple math, but sometimes, it's the simple things that astound.

And yes, I'm a nerd.

-Yellow

ADear banana,

I remember the day well. It was the day that my sweet, sweet roomie from last year told me that once a month, an amazing and slightly scary man comes to the hospital and makes the most delicious omelets on the planet. Weird? Yes. Worth it? Holy canola, yes.

Why is this mind-blowing?...Well, you obviously haven't devoured one, have you?

Marzipan

ADear Chewy Banana,

I hope it's not a cop-out that I can't actually tell you what it is that I learned, but if you're endowed then you'll understand: the things I learned in the temple my first time through blew my mind. They changed the way I'd always felt about and related to God, Jesus, and the gospel.

If you haven't been, I totally recommend it.

Love,
Waldorf and Sauron

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