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pavelow

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  1. pavelow
    When taking corners quickly, the biggest worry most drivers should have is slipping and losing control of the car. This happens when a driver takes the corner too fast. The physics of taking a flat corner depends on the equation vmax = Sqrt(mu*r*g). mu, the coefficient of static friction, is constant, as is g, the acceleration due to gravity. Therefore, a driver trying to take a corner as quickly as possible would like to make the radius of the turn as large as possible to allow for a higher vmax, keeping his car from slipping at higher speeds.

    But how? Doesn't a road have a defined radius?

    Yes, and no. The picture explains it. The arrow in the figure is what's called a "line" this is the best possible way for a car to take a corner at the highest speed. The line a regular driver would take is very curved, mimicking the road, and not allowing for a high vmax due to the small radius. A race car driver would take a better line. The racer's line is significantly less curved than the regular driver's line, making the radius much larger, allowing for a higher vmax . The racecar driver starts and ends wide of the inside and hits the apex of the turn, allowing for the least curved line possible.

    To conclude, when trying to take a corner quickly, the driver of the car should start out wide, hit the apex, and end wide, causing a relatively high radius and a relatively high vmax, without having the car slip off the road.
  2. pavelow
    "The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface and contains 97 percent of the planet's water, yet more than 95 percent of the underwater world remains unexplored."

    Source: http://www.noaa.gov/ocean.html

    Many obstacles exist keeping widespread ocean exploration from becoming something not extremely difficult.

    One obstacle is the pressure under water.

    "The deeper you go under the sea, the greater the pressure of the water pushing down on you. For every 33 feet (10.06 meters) you go down, the pressure increases by 14.5 psi (1 bar)."

    Source: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pressure.html

    To efficiently explore the ocean depths, the tremendous water pressure must be dealt with in order to keep electrical instruments working. Additionally, the electrical instruments would also have to be waterproofed.

    The deeper into the ocean you travel, the darker it becomes. A vast majority of the ocean is pitch black and receives no sunlight. In the early 1500s, scientists were already looking into space, but no one could look much farther than a few dozen feet deep into the ocean. Because a large amount of the equipment needed to explore the oceans have been invented fairly recently, deep sea exploration hasn't been established like other fields of science.

    The harsh foreign environment of the deep sea and engineering challenges that come with it have made it difficult to explore the worlds oceans.
  3. pavelow
    Is it just me or does it get quieter outside when a couple of inches of snow are falling?

    Actually, the answer is a combination of both.

    First of all, during a big snowfall, there are likely to be less people and other noise making devices outside, so there is less initial sound hitting they eardrums, without regard to any effect the snow has on sound waves.

    What if the amount of noise made is the same before a snowfall and during/after?

    Sound waves are absorbed by porous and insulating materials. Freshly fallen snow has plenty of air pockets for sound waves to get trapped in. Regularly, sounds bounce off of hard surfaces like the ground before they reach the ear, so when the snow insulates these sounds, the angles from which sounds reach the ear are greatly reduced.

    The temperature during snowfall compared to a warm clear day is also a factor. Lower temperatures slow down sound waves, and sound waves, like other types of waves, refract when they change speed. During the winter, when the ground is cold, and the air is warmer, like during a clear winter day, sound waves refract down when hitting the lower colder air, making more opportunities for sound reflection.
    During snowfall, the air is relatively as cold/colder than the ground, causing the opposite effect, leaving less opportunities for sound reflection, and sound get carried into the atmosphere.

    Enjoy the quiet winter days/nights!

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