Ended up doing way more review than I thought I would tonight. I didnβt know I had it in me! I was able to get some review done for each of the concepts from the midterm review packet I felt like Iβd need to know/remember, and then some stuff from previous assignments. Tomorrow Iβll finish reviewing the last few assignments I feel like still need attention, add it to my notes, and then start the arduous process of condensing the most important stuff into a single note sheet to take with for the exam. Hereβs to the fact that, no matter what happens, I know I tried π
Just saw Oppenheimer and Iβm legitimately so impressed with the understanding of physics demonstrated in that movie.
My favorite example is the βnear zeroβ probability the atomic bomb sets off a chain reaction that incinerates the atmosphere. Everyone else hears that and freaks out. But the physicists see this and are just like βoh yeah thatβs fine, best case scenario honestlyβ
As a physics grad with a strong interest in the fields of atomic and nuclear physics, as well as their history, this movie was a treat :)
Can things chemically react in a vacuum? Like on their own.
Ok so with my not so great understanding
Chemical Reactions require a βreactorsβ thing which actually starts to r process, and as I know thatβs usually friction
But in a vacuum
Thereβs like
NOTHING
PERIOD
Whatβs gonna start a reaction other than human interference
Air friction? THERE IS NONE.
If they boop accidentally each other then ye but thatβs like the smallest amount of friction ever
Only the most volatile thingamajiggs would blow up because that
Right???
This is actually a really good question, and one thatβs had me pondering for most of today, especially because it pertains to my research field!
Weβll define the vacuum as youβve said. Just an empty infinite void where we just plop down our particles, each of which is in its lowest possible energy state. Weβll also go so far as to say that the βactivation energy,β which is the energy needed to make the reaction happen is greater than the energy our hypothetical reacting particles have.
Based on these assumptions, you would imagine that my answer is no, they cannot react, and according to classical physics, you would be right; however, in the realm of chemistry, classical physics doesnβt quite cut it.
We need quantum mechanics
You see, it turns out that sometimes even really big walls canβt stop really determined particles from sneaking through them anyway. As a matter of fact, the amount of energy youβd need to completely prevent a particle from bypassing your barrier is infinite; any finite energy will not prevent the extremely rare occasions where something just passes through. This phenomenon is known as quantum tunneling, and chemists looking carefully into the stars have found spectroscopic evidence that there are reactions actively happening in space as a result of this.
So not only do we have theoretical support for this process, we have evidence that itβs actively occurring as we speak in the depths of space.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about anything here or anywhere feel free to ask!
There are many quantum mechanical phenomena and in this post there are few mind boggling phenomena.
Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics governing the physics of the very small
Quantum physics is a very highly tested theory with accuracy and in fact most of our electronic gadgets are based on quantum mechanics like smart phones, computer, television etc.....
Monitoring space is a complicated task due to the literal cosmic scale of the undertaking. However, security is paramount, all species learn this in their own histories, thus technology and methods to effectively keep track of most relevant objects in space has been thoroughly developed.
The (relatively) simplest and most commonly used is the Quantum Web - a series of micro-satellites dotted around a star system, each maintain a large field of quantum-entangled particles and relay any changes within it in real time to all associated monitoring stations. The primary method is by detecting changes in energy levels, as simple physical displacement often clutters the feed with random asteroids and debris, or other objects of non-sapient origin.
As the United Federation and the Galactic Coalition are in a bit of a... tense stage in their relationship at the moment, the bordering Neutral Zone is heavily monitored by Federation agents, especially all systems close to where they have deployed their Battle Moon.
One day, a Federation monitor was returning from a short break to notice something off about the readout. There were many big bright white dots moving quickly within the Neutral Zone. They had never seen anything like that before. Normally all readings are color coded based on known ship or station designs and typical power outputs throughout said vessel.
The flow of energy throughout a vessel is sort of a fingerprint in a way. If you zoom in on the readout, and if the Quantum Web field is saturated enough, you can sometimes make out individual power generators and consumers.
This was something else. Going closer just made the whole projection go white, as if the thing was hundreds of kilometers in every direction, but that couldn't be. First, even the Battle Moon doesn't produce an image like that and it is literally a 340km large moon. And second, these dots - spheres more accurately - seem to overlap constantly. Logically, this must be an error of some kind.
What was not logical is when those bright lights came up to relative physical viewing distance of the hidden monitoring station. Letting curiosity get the better of them, the Federation agent pointed a telescope where this "error" should be.
There was nothing there. Just an error then. Feeling relieved even though they didn't think they were nervous to begin with, they set about filing a report on the situation and requesting maintenance support. As they were about to finalize all necessary paperwork, an open channel hail pinged them.
"Hey there, is anyone out here? We, uhh, messed up and wiped our navcom, so we're kinda lost here. Could someone please send over a copy of the local system chart? We'd be real grateful if you also didn't tell our parents about this, okay? Like, we can trade for something, like Mick's fancy guitar" "Hey!" "What? You don't play, your dad just gave it to you cuz you randomly said you wanted one while high."
Taking a quick glance at the projector and comm-observer, the agent stopped. The messages were coming from those bright lights. Rushing back to the telescope, they quickly zeroed in on their location and found three small apparently custom built space craft of unknown design.
As the trio of ships kept sending out random conversations among the clearly young civilians on board, the agent maintained total silence. Not long after, a Coalition military scout craft appeared on the projector in the expected yellow energy pattern, confirming that the Quantum Web was functioning without fault.
Throughout the ensuing conversation and reprimand, they learned that the three ships belonged to Humans, a species very recently integrated into the Coalition. Little investigation had been done on them so far, mainly as they are quite far away and only reside within a single system.
So the question stands - what kind of energy signature would produce such a massive bright light? it couldn't be a ruse. You can't "trick" a quantum-entangled particle. Maybe... There are ancient anecdotes of true fusion reactors - miniature stars - but no, nobody utilizes that, it's far too dangerous and difficult just to contain let alone exploit.
No one in their right mind would use literal stars right next to them. Right?