How did Max Planck calculate a Planck Length? | AskScience Blog

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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

How did Max Planck calculate a Planck Length?

How did Max Planck calculate a Planck Length?


How did Max Planck calculate a Planck Length?

Posted: 22 May 2017 07:08 PM PDT

Is it possible for a moon to have its own moon?

Posted: 22 May 2017 04:06 PM PDT

Why aren't multi-electron orbitals significantly dynamic or chaotic?

Posted: 22 May 2017 04:42 PM PDT

The existence and shape of orbitals in a hydrogen atom is a straightforward consequence of spherical harmonics. But when an atom contains multiple electrons, why doesn't the many-body Coulomb repulsion between the electrons lead to chaotic or dynamic behaviour? Why do simple linear approximations work so well when there are so many interactions going on? Why is the behavior of each electron described entirely by a set of quantum numbers and contained in shells that do not change over time?

I have been told that the standard description of multi-electron orbitals using a 3n + 1 dimensional wave function in phase space is an ideal, linear approximation to a non-linear phenomenon. That's perfectly acceptable - I heard the same thing many times when I was studying electronics and signals. But a classical many-body system containing more than two bodies of equal mass and charge would behave in a highly chaotic manner (even in the presence of the nucleus). Obviously an atom is not a classical system but I do not understand which property of quantum mechanics is responsible for minimizing possible chaotic behavior to the point it can be almost ignored.

Here are some possibilities that I have considered:

  1. The Coulomb interaction is mostly canceled out due to the fact that individual electrons are delocalized.

  2. The Pauli exclusion principle prevents electrons from moving to close to each other, thus keeping the Coulomb force minimal.

  3. The Pauli exclusion principle forces each electron to take on a different, "orthogonal" quantum state.

  4. The confinement of electrons to a potential well means that they can only take on discrete energy levels which correspond to particular sets of quantum numbers.

  5. The (relatively) localized charge of the nucleus overwhelms the influence of the delocalized electrons.

  6. Atoms are generally not thermally isolated so any chaotic resonances are damped and time evolution does not take place due to decoherence.

I have no doubt that quantum numbers and shells are a very good approximation, I'd just like more clarity as to why.

submitted by /u/president_alien
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Why was such a massive, fundamental particle like the Higgs Boson so hard to find?

Posted: 22 May 2017 02:02 PM PDT

I mean, it seems kind of obvious for something tiny like the neutrino to have been difficult, because it's so tiny and barely interacts with anything.

But the Higgs, as I've heard described, is both massive... Like, much heavier than a proton or neutron, and also has to interact with all matter for it to have any mass at all. What's the issue?

Also, same question for gravitons I guess.

submitted by /u/willyolio
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Why is it that brake rotors don't technically warp but cylinder heads and blocks can and do?

Posted: 22 May 2017 02:52 PM PDT

I'm a mechanic by trade and I went to school for it for many years at night while I was in the early stages of my career but I just recently found out in another sub that brake rotors don't actually warp due to heat. I did some research and it appears from the few minutes I looked into it that brake rotors develop high and low spots due to uneven brake pad wear which causes the pulsation you feel as the driver if there is a problem. According to the research I did because the brake rotors are manufactured at extremely high temperatures they are impervious to the heat generated by the act of braking meaning that if there is an issue causing a pulsation it must be due to something other than a warped rotor. I like many other mechanics have been describing this issue incorrectly for my entire career according to what I read. That aside I got to thinking, why is it that brake rotors can't warp from the act of braking but cylinder heads can warp from overheating? The typical temperature of the coolant in the engine during normal operation is about 200 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit the actual temperature of the metal in the engine I'm not sure of but I would guess it's in the 300-500 Fahrenheit range. I would also guess that during a severe overheat the temperature might double or triple but not reach the temperature of the manufacturing process. Can someone explain how a big chunk of metal can actually warp due to an overheat condition but not a small brake rotor.

submitted by /u/greasyEUtech
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Should we be worried about SF6 as green house gas as it has ~20,000 time more global warming potential than CO2?

Posted: 23 May 2017 03:23 AM PDT

Are specialized AI chips (e.g. "TPU") only beneficial for training? Or are they needed for the actual use of the AI system even once fully trained?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:38 PM PDT

How are antidotes and vaccines made? Additionally how do they work?

Posted: 22 May 2017 12:39 PM PDT

I know that antidotes for snake bites are made with the venom, but I don't know how exactly the process is. Similarly do vaccines use the a small portion of the disease or is that exclusively Homeopathy?

submitted by /u/SnowBabyJ
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Why are elements so magically different based solely on particle counts?

Posted: 22 May 2017 11:07 AM PDT

So I have a basic understanding of chemistry and physics, and I know that the fundamental difference between elemental atoms comes down to particles like electrons and further down like quarks. I know reactivity plays a large role in how elements behave and the number of electrons is relevant to how reactive an element is in relation to others via sharing electrons.

So my questions boil down to:

How is it that with just different numbers of particles in an atom, any given element can be so radically different? Helium is "smaller" than Lead, and it is a gas and makes your voice funny and Lead is a heavy metal that makes you sick. But iron is also "smaller" but it's also a solid and is a required part of the body as a mineral?

Based on this, is it possible that a theory could be put together to predict an elements properties just via information contained in the Periodic Table?

I'm aware of the Island of Stability. If we know of helium and iron with great certainty, and we understand how different they are, how much different might exotic superheavy elements behave? Do we have a hope of predicting this? From what we know currently, are any of those exotic materials anything more than radioactive death particles?

I know that Sci Fi likes to play with ideas about a universal source code and such, but if we were to understand the base make up of all things, would there be a limit to what we could do/understand?

Basically, it's amazing to me that the universe is built of tiny bits that can do anything we observe. That at the basest levels, we are all just particles doing what particles do. I would definitely love to have my understanding deepened and maybe my mind blown a bit more.

submitted by /u/Pyrothei
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How does the process of adding neutrons to an existing element to form a new synthetic element differ from the process of forming a new isotope of the same element?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:16 PM PDT

How do we gather Quantum data?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:08 AM PDT

Basically how do we learn the exact state of an atom or electron, and is there a way to do this for large groups of atoms at the same time?

submitted by /u/jamezmorrell
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Carbonaceous Chondrites, why did so many of them hit earth?

Posted: 22 May 2017 03:02 PM PDT

I was teaching my class a lesson on asteroids, comets, and meteors. I have a fairly good understanding on this topic until somebody asked me what condition made it so that so many of these Asteroids hit earth. I told them that I would get back to them, so here I am!

submitted by /u/DiamondDuck101
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Won't solar panels also contribute to global warming?

Posted: 22 May 2017 04:15 PM PDT

It just came to my mind that since most solar panels are black and they're made to absorb as much sun light as possible. If an area with no solar panels decided to add panels on every roof. Won't that decrease its albedo and warm that area even more?

submitted by /u/BroSofa
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How are wave signals generated? (Wifi, Bluetooth, etc)

Posted: 22 May 2017 09:40 PM PDT

Remotes, Bluetooth headphones, wifi, and countless other devices depend on waves. What mechanism or device creates the wave out of electricity? How does this work?

submitted by /u/Crypt_nrg
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What makes a reaction suitable for chain reaction?

Posted: 22 May 2017 05:23 PM PDT

For example, if I bombard an Aluminum atom with a neutron, how would I know if it would create a chain reaction or not? Why would it not (or maybe) behave like U-235 would?

submitted by /u/PoopsEveryday
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Have We Discovered Anything From Eco-Spheres?

Posted: 22 May 2017 01:19 PM PDT

With the popularity and widespread availability of eco-spheres, and even a large one at the America Museum of Natural History, is there anything substantial that we have actually discovered, solidified to a theory or fact or learned from the use of eco-spheres, and if so, what was it?

submitted by /u/TheJamaicanGamer
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Does the load bearing capacity of a shaft collar increase when there are more of them?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:50 PM PDT

If I had a set screw type shaft collar like this on a rod, would adding another on top of it double the amount of force the system could sustain? In this instance, the shaft collar is sitting on a surface and the rod is in tension. Would two collars, equally clamped down, double the tension force prior to collar slippage, or does the force stay the same as it would for just one collar? Given that friction is mu*Normal, I am inclined to think that the force would stay the same, but is there an n term there for multiple friction surfaces?

submitted by /u/SF2431
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How does a pacemaker work?

Posted: 22 May 2017 11:05 AM PDT

Why can't a bare LED have a wide spectrum?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:46 PM PDT

I ask this question because I was thinking about how white LEDs are made by secondary emission from a phosphor or multiple dies, and I thought why can't I have an LED that emits a smooth spectrum of light like a halogen bulb without a phosphor?

submitted by /u/TheSingularityEngine
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If we can see a star millions of light years away at night, does that mean that the light from the star has to have a direct path to earth with nothing in its way for the light to make it to us?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:20 AM PDT

Can light go around the objects and still make it to us, or how can we see lights from stars millions of light years away?

submitted by /u/Meat-curtain
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If in a completely dark room a flashlight is turned on for a second why dont the photons move infinitely long so there would still be light in the room after its turned off?

Posted: 22 May 2017 08:50 AM PDT

Title says it all

submitted by /u/llHakarll
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