For science!
#1
Posted 25 November 2009 - 11:44 AM
My first question is this: why does the concave side of a spoon reflect my face as upside down?
#2
Posted 25 November 2009 - 12:43 PM
On a [slightly] related subject, I think we need a nuclear stain remover that removes stains via atomic bombardment, but irradiates the garment in question so badly that it cannot be worn for the next five thousand years. That would be spiffy.
Careful. This link is DANGEROUS. Do NOT click it. This one, however, is fine.
I had the meaning of life in my signature, but it exceeded the character limit.
#3
Posted 25 November 2009 - 01:01 PM
Anyway, the spoon reflects your face because the reflecting surface is concave.The back of the spoon is convex and will reflect your image right side up.
#4
Posted 25 November 2009 - 01:30 PM
My first question is this: why does the concave side of a spoon reflect my face as upside down?
Because the light that bounces from the concave side of the spoon is focused in a spot, known as focal point
, in front of the concavity. The picture that will "form" into your eye will thus be upside down.
See this picture. Yeah I know, it's a lens, but the idea is the same. Only in a mirror (spoon) the light, obviously, wont pass trough it
Edited by Grimson, 25 November 2009 - 01:31 PM.
#5
Posted 25 November 2009 - 02:16 PM
Surely this isn't a thread for you to do your homework and not think at all?
Anyway, the spoon reflects your face because the reflecting surface is concave.The back of the spoon is convex and will reflect your image right side up.
Good quoting from Wiki
and you Grimson!
Edited by olli, 25 November 2009 - 02:17 PM.
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#6
Posted 25 November 2009 - 02:34 PM
#7
Posted 25 November 2009 - 02:48 PM
Surely this isn't a thread for you to do your homework and not think at all?
Anyway, the spoon reflects your face because the reflecting surface is concave.The back of the spoon is convex and will reflect your image right side up.
Good quoting from Wiki
and you Grimson!
The only thing I did with wiki was to check the name of the "focal point" and get the picture.
Good job for contributing to this thread
#9
Posted 25 November 2009 - 05:31 PM
Next question, anyone?
#10
Posted 25 November 2009 - 07:48 PM
Your argument is essentially:Anyway, the spoon reflects your face because the reflecting surface is concave.The back of the spoon is convex and will reflect your image right side up.
B is opposite to A.
A just is.
Therefore, B also just is.
#11
Posted 25 November 2009 - 08:27 PM
Then again, I aced every single language, art, music and history class.
It evens out, right? RIGHT?
No fuel left for the pilgrims
#12
Posted 25 November 2009 - 08:36 PM
The explanations you have had so far Vortigen have been from a purely low-level physical stand point.
Why does it reflect your face upside down?... Well, you now know the basic physics behind it. I'll try and answer from a psychologist’s stance as to why you perceive it as so.
Essentially, what we "see" is not actually what is there. (I.e. you aren't actually looking at a "computer") From physics stand point; what you are actually seeing is just a bunch of different photons and electromagnetic waves of different characteristic frequencies, which are reflected into your eye. It's then up to your visual processing system to make sense of this, turning all those waves and photons into something that you can understand, something that makes sense and something you can perceive. It basically does this by applying previous knowledge.
In reality all it is, is just electromagnetic waves of varying frequency and photons being reflected and refracted at different angles, some of which enter your eye. What you "see" in the spoon is your brain turning all that mumbo jumbo into something you can recognise; i.e. your face. It's your reflection; you know what you look like.
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#13
Posted 25 November 2009 - 09:03 PM
You should test our a dead guy's vision, Oil. Stimulate the electrodes in the undeteriorated brain the right way, and the pupils can dilate. Can dead people see? We'll let the Necromancers find that out.
SCIENCE!
#14
Posted 25 November 2009 - 09:04 PM
#15
Posted 25 November 2009 - 09:52 PM
Olli: I know about the physiological basics of vision, though thanks for the explanation. Very neat and concise. What I was really going for was the "why is it upside down as opposed to the right way up?" question.
Anyway, new question! Why exactly are water and electricity not a good combination? What is it about water that makes it so dangerous when electricity gets involved? It doesn't seem to conduct very well...
#17
Posted 25 November 2009 - 10:55 PM
Anyway, this one's a more philosophical one: what if you actually died a long time ago, and this 'live' is hell?
#19
Posted 26 November 2009 - 05:40 AM
then hell isn't so bad after all. Makes you wonder if hell was so exaggerated then what about heaven? will you get there to find out its also just the same as normal life?Anyway, this one's a more philosophical one: what if you actually died a long time ago, and this 'live' is hell?
buts thats not scientific at all, so you are eliminated.
My question: (which i actually already know the answer to but still)
why isn't the night sky just white with stars? i mean, there are suppose to be so many of them why do they not fill up the whole sky?
Edited by some_weirdGuy, 26 November 2009 - 05:41 AM.
#20
Posted 26 November 2009 - 07:12 AM
It takes years for a star far far off to transfer light from the sun to our planet - thus, ones that take quite a long time to reach Earth show up less often, or aren't very visible. It takes our nearest star's sunlight, Proxima Centauri, 4.3 hours to reach earth. Soooo... Yeah.
I gather all this from scraps I remember in my head - so I might have it all wrong, anyone with a better knowledge of Astronomy can correct me if they believe me to be wrong.
Edited by Spectre, 26 November 2009 - 07:17 AM.
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