https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=92.76.229.185explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-07-10T01:29:55ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1158:_Rubber_Sheet&diff=250991158: Rubber Sheet2013-01-09T15:02:01Z<p>92.76.229.185: Fun to Imagine</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1158<br />
| date = January 9, 2013<br />
| title = Rubber Sheet<br />
| image = rubber sheet.png<br />
| titletext = It IS about physics. It ALL is.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic refers to a [http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/question-black-holes-1.htm common analogy] used to explain how mass distorts space-time - a bowling ball resting on a sheet of rubber distorts the sheet due to its weight. Mass acts in the same way - mass results in distortion of space-time.<br />
<br />
The next part of the original analogy explains a black hole: the slope of the sheet becomes so deep that you can't climb out from the bottom anymore, similar to a black hole, which even light can't escape from. However, the comic subverts the analogy, and the sheet becomes a trampoline instead.<br />
<br />
The line "Imagining is ''fun!''" is also an hommage to Richard P. Feynman's "Fun to Imagine" Series of Interviews. <!-- youtube video starting from v3pYRn5j7oI --><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret guy is standing on a giant bowling ball on a rubber sheet. Megan is watching.]<br />
:Beret Guy: Imagine a giant bowling ball on a rubber sheet.<br />
:Beret Guy: The ball's weight makes a dent in the sheet.<br />
<br />
:[A rope is pulling the ball down into the sheet.]<br />
:Beret Guy: Now imagine a rope that pulls the ball down even further.<br />
:Beret Guy: ...Annnnd...<br />
<br />
:[Rope lets go. Ball is catapulted with Beret Guy on it.]<br />
:'''BOOOIING'''<br />
:Beret Guy: Wheee<br />
<br />
:[Beret guy and ball are falling back down.]<br />
:Megan: ...Oh. I thought this was about physics.<br />
:Beret Guy: Imagining is ''fun!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>92.76.229.185