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| Fusion Device |
 Title text: I don't see why people have trouble doing this at room temperature. Using hot rivets would honestly have been MORE work. |
Explanation
Nuclear fusion is a process in which lighter nuclei of atoms fuse into a heavier one. Because both nuclei are positively charged, overcoming their mutual repulsion and bringing them together requires colliding them at high speed. This can be done directly with particle accelerators, but if the goal is to do the process on a scale that allows net energy release, accelerators aren't a workable solution because they require a great deal of energy input. Another approach is to bring the nuclei to a very high temperature, so they're moving randomly at high speeds, and will occasionally collide in such a way as to fuse. The process is usually performed at very high temperatures (tens to hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius). Ponytail is extremely surprised at Cueball and Megan's claim that they have built a working cold fusion machine, which would create such reactions at room temperature, and even more so that it was "easy", because this is a long-hypothesised technology that has remained stubbornly unachievable. Had they actually managed to do this, it would certainly put them in contention for the Nobel prize they are expecting.
It turns out that they have mistaken an atomic diagram of a deuterium–tritium fusion for a physical picture of a machine used to create such a reaction, replacing the particles involved with fasteners that have a similar appearance to the depictions in the diagram. They have interpreted protons, illustrated by a circle with a +, as Phillips head screws; electrons, marked with a -, as slotted screws (commonly known as flat head); and neutrons, denoted by an empty circle, as rivets. They seem not to have wondered how a box of screws could create cold fusion, or why no-one else has done it before if it's that simple, and still believe that they deserve the Nobel Prize for it. Nor do they notice Ponytail's repeated disdain for their attempts, ignoring it entirely.
Whereas high temperatures are (so far) essential for fusion technology, working with hot rivets (i.e. those that are heated to the point of being malleable so they can be splayed to lock them into the joint that they are being used to fasten) is a markedly more skilled and hazardous task than using room-temperature rivets whose much thinner metal can be splayed easily with a hammer and shaped spreading tools – where one side is struck while the other rests in a shaped spreading anvil – or using single-sided variants for blind fastening in situations where only one side can be accessed, using dedicated tools that pull the buried end back toward the accessible end, thus squashing the material between these extremities to create the spreading effect, e.g. pop rivets or rivnuts. The title text plays off this as a continuation of Cueball and Megan's mistake, having one of them point out that the additional hassle of using hot rivets – such as one would employ for heavy-duty industrial steelwork – would make construction of their 'device' far more difficult than doing it at room temperature.
Transcript
- [Megan and Cueball are walking towards Ponytail, sitting at a desk. Megan is holding a rolled up sheet of paper, and Cueball is holding a box.]
- Cueball: We built the room-temperature fusion device you wanted.
- Ponytail: You what??
- [Megan is displaying the sheet of paper to Ponytail, while Cueball is showing the box.]
- Megan: Yeah, we looked it up on a diagram, and it was really easy. We were able to build it with parts we had around the shop.
- Ponytail: "Easy?"
- [A focus on Megan and Cueball, with Ponytail off-panel. Megan is holding up the paper. On it you can see a diagram of various protons, neutrons and electrons clustered in groups on it. Cueball is displaying the box, which has various protrusions on its surface.]
- Megan: It was just six Phillips head screws, six flat-head screws, and nine rivets.
- Ponytail [off-panel]: *Sigh*
- Cueball: So do they mail us a Nobel Prize, or do we have to go pick it up?
This Week's Explanation for Improvement
As part of the Explanation Improvement Project, each week the community selects one older, stagnant, or otherwise neglected explanation to expand and polish together. This week's pick is comic 976: Sail, you can help us by editing its explanation!
To get involved with the project, you can also nominate an explanation that you think should be improved, or vote on current nominations!
| Sail |
 Title text: It only works a few times before you have to capsize the boat in a soap lagoon again. |
Explanation
|
Welcome to This Week's Explanation for Improvement! Anyone is encouraged to help explain comic 976: Sail; click here to get started! If you are new to wiki editing, you can read our editing FAQ for guidance. Here are some suggestions for improving this explanation: .svg){kind=icon} Explain whether this idea could actually work in real life, (with the right weather conditions)
.svg){kind=icon} How fast would the wind need to be to form a bubble?
.svg){kind=icon} What is Cueball pulling? Is he trying to create the bubble or govern the ship?
.svg){kind=icon} Would a boat be able to float in a "soap lagoon"?
|
A billowing sail sometimes looks like the first stage of blowing a bubble. A strong gust of wind blows by and fills the sail, which Cueball is clearly surprised by and fights to keep the sail under control. As the wind continues, the sail warps and begins acting like a film of bubble soap, eventually separating into its own bubble and floating off and the sail reverting to the original position, as the gust of wind dies down. Sails do not typically act like this under strong winds[citation needed].
If the booms and mast were actually attached by a rope on the far side, the sail frame could function as a large bubble wand. Commercial 'bubble ropes' can be used with an area of at least a couple of square metres, but would need the right velocity and consistency of wind to to sustain itself long enough then separate cleanly from the sail.
Readers infer from the title text that the water is also part of this fantastical scenario. If the boat was overturned (capsized) in a soap lagoon, a film would form between the mast and the boom (horizontal bar that adjusts the sail). The film would become like the sail in the comic, filling with air and forming bubbles until the film is used up.
Transcript
- [Cueball is sailing a lateen rigged sailboat.]
- [The wind picks up, pushing the sail forward.]
- [The wind builds strength. Cueball has to stand up to hold on to the main sheet, with shaking depicting his tugging.]
- [The distorted sail balloons out. Cueball is still holding on to the main sheet. More curves depict a stronger tugging.]
- [Part of the sail separates into a bubble. Cueball falls backwards into the boat. The sail begins to return to its normal shape.]
- [Cueball lands on his rear and scratches his head in confusion as the sail-sized bubble floats away.]
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