https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=AJMansfield 2026-04-11T17:40:27Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&diff=109141 2016-01-12T16:26:02Z

<p>AJMansfield: Added new what-if article to list.</p> <hr /> <div>:&lt;small&gt;''Not to be confused with [[17: What If]].''&lt;/small&gt;<br /> [[File:whatifbanner.jpg]]<br /> <br /> '''''[http://what-if.xkcd.com/ what if?]''''' is a blog hosted on the [[xkcd]].com domain and written by [[Randall Munroe]] with entries posted [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/once-in-a-blue-moon.html occasionally]. Before publishing the what if? book, articles were posted weekly.<br /> <br /> On the blog, Randall uses his degree in physics and strong scientific background to discuss hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers.<br /> Since 2014, there's also a book of the blog.<br /> <br /> Unlike other sites which answer readers' questions, ''what if?'' typically takes the question beyond the original scope likely intended by the reader and takes it to some extreme for humorous effect. For example, in {{what if|1|the first article}}, he discusses what would happen if a baseball were pitched at 90% of the speed of light. After effectively describing what would occur as a nuclear explosion, leveling the stadium and the surrounding mile radius, he concludes with the note ''&quot;A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered 'hit by pitch', and would be eligible to advance to first base.&quot;''<br /> <br /> The questions Randall tackles range from realistic possibilities (e.g. the probability of achieving a {{what if|2|perfect SAT score by guessing}}) to completely fictional questions (e.g. {{what if|3|How much Force power}} can {{w|Yoda}} output?). In his explanations, Randall, often uses diagrams in an ''xkcd'' style. Regardless of the context, Randall tends to take the questions extremely literally and responds seriously to them, even if they are whimsical (such as the Yoda question). This is clear from his response to the question of what would happen if everybody on Earth stood together and {{what if|8|jumped at the same time}}. After acknowledging that the question has been answered elsewhere, he recaps the result, but then focuses more intently on the unasked resulting issue of the aftermath of everyone on Earth being magically transported to one location as they all try to return home.<br /> <br /> This site is not under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License] like [[xkcd]] is.<br /> <br /> Randal took a hiatus from updates from May 2015 to July 14th 2015 with a note stating &quot;What If updates are temporarily on hold, and will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT.&quot; This was the date and time that the New Horizons probe achieved its closest approach to Pluto. The article for July 14th was about the New Horizons probe.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==The book==<br /> Randall announced his ''what if?'' book on 12 March 2014 in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/ the blag]. It was published on September 2, 2014, and the UK edition of the book was published on September 4, 2014.<br /> [[Image:What_If?.jpeg|frame|The general cover of the book]]<br /> It is just like 'xkcd:volume 0' a compilation of some questions from the website, but half of them are new.<br /> <br /> In the UK edition of the book, Randall included a preface about his thoughts on the units used in the UK. (The Metric System)<br /> ====Summary====<br /> '''The summary on the back of the book reads:'''<br /> <br /> ''Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If.<br /> <br /> *If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive?<br /> *How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm?<br /> *If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce?<br /> *What if everyone only had one soulmate?<br /> *When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire?<br /> *How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?<br /> *What would happen if the moon went away?<br /> <br /> ''In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.''<br /> <br /> '''The summary on the back of the UK edition of the book reads:'''<br /> <br /> ''Hey! Thanks for looking at my book. If you're thinking about buying it, here are some things you might want to know:''<br /> <br /> Humans can't digest the cellulose in paper, but if we could, eating this book would give you about 2,300 calories (including the cover).<br /> <br /> This book can't stop most bullets; if you want to use it for armour, you may want a lot more than one copy.<br /> <br /> If you have a good arm, you could probably throw this book about 45 feet. With practice, it's possible to throw a book every 800 milliseconds, which means that if human attackers are sprinting towards you, you'll have three or four chances to hit them before they reach you. If, on the other hand, you're being attacked by a coyote, it's higher top speed means you'll have only one chance to hit it. Aim carefully.<br /> <br /> ''HIDDEN FEATURE: The inside of this book has words and pictures, plus a special UK foreword.'' It answers many important questions, including whether you could jump from a plane with a helium tank and inflate balloons fast enough to slow your fall and survive (yes) and whether you could hide from a supersonic windstorm in Finland (yes, but it won't help).<br /> <br /> ==Articles==<br /> # {{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}}<br /> # {{what if|2|SAT Guessing}}<br /> # {{what if|3|Yoda}}<br /> # {{what if|4|A Mole of Moles}}<br /> # {{what if|5|Robot Apocalypse}}<br /> # {{what if|6|Glass Half Empty}}<br /> # {{what if|7|Everybody Out}}<br /> # {{what if|8|Everybody Jump}}<br /> # {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}<br /> # {{what if|10|Cassini}}<br /> # {{what if|11|Droppings}}<br /> # {{what if|12|Rain Drop}}<br /> # {{what if|13|Laser Pointer}}<br /> # {{what if|14|Short Answer Section}}<br /> # {{what if|15|Mariana Trench Explosion}}<br /> # {{what if|16|Today's Topic: Lightning}}<br /> # {{what if|17|Green Cows}}<br /> # {{what if|18|BB Gun}}<br /> # {{what if|19|Tie Vote}}<br /> # {{what if|20|Diamond}}<br /> # {{what if|21|Machine Gun Jetpack}}<br /> # {{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}}<br /> # {{what if|23|Short Answer Section II}}<br /> # {{what if|24|Model Rockets}}<br /> # {{what if|25|Three Wise Men}}<br /> # {{what if|26|Leap Seconds}}<br /> # {{what if|27|Death Rate}}<br /> # {{what if|28|Steak Drop}}<br /> # {{what if|29|Spent Fuel Pool}}<br /> # {{what if|30|Interplanetary Cessna}}<br /> # {{what if|31|FedEx Bandwidth}}<br /> # {{what if|32|Hubble}}<br /> # {{what if|33|Ships}}<br /> # {{what if|34|Twitter}}<br /> # {{what if|35|Hairdryer}}<br /> # {{what if|36|Cornstarch}}<br /> # {{what if|37|Supersonic Stereo}}<br /> # {{what if|38|Voyager}}<br /> # {{what if|39|Hockey Puck}}<br /> # {{what if|40|Pressure Cooker}}<br /> # {{what if|41|Go West}}<br /> # {{what if|42|Longest Sunset}}<br /> # {{what if|43|Train Loop}}<br /> # {{what if|44|High Throw}}<br /> # {{what if|45|ISS Music Video}}<br /> # {{what if|46|Bowling Ball}}<br /> # {{what if|47|Alien Astronomers}}<br /> # {{what if|48|Sunset on the British Empire}}<br /> # {{what if|49|Sunless Earth}}<br /> # {{what if|50|Extreme Boating}}<br /> # {{what if|51|Free Fall}}<br /> # {{what if|52|Bouncy Balls}}<br /> # {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}}<br /> # {{what if|54|Drain the Oceans: Part II}}<br /> # {{what if|55|Random Sneeze Call}}<br /> # {{what if|56|Restraining an Airplane}}<br /> # {{what if|57|Dropping a Mountain}}<br /> # {{what if|58|Orbital Speed}}<br /> # {{what if|59|Updating a Printed Wikipedia}}<br /> # {{what if|60|Signs of Life}}<br /> # {{what if|61|Speed Bump}}<br /> # {{what if|62|Falling With Helium}}<br /> # {{what if|63|Google Datacenters on Punchcards}}<br /> # {{what if|64|Rising Steadily}}<br /> # {{what if|65|Twitter Timeline Height}}<br /> # {{what if|66|500 MPH}}<br /> # {{what if|67|Expanding Earth}}<br /> # {{what if|68|Little Planet}}<br /> # {{what if|69|Facebook of the Dead}}<br /> # {{what if|70|The Constant Groundskeeper}}<br /> # {{what if|71|Stirring Tea}}<br /> # {{what if|72|Loneliest Human}}<br /> # {{what if|73|Lethal Neutrinos}}<br /> # {{what if|74|Soda Planet}}<br /> # {{what if|75|Phone Keypad}}<br /> # {{what if|76|Reading Every Book}}<br /> # {{what if|77|Growth Rate}}<br /> # {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}}<br /> # {{what if|79|Lake Tea}}<br /> # {{what if|80|Pile of Viruses}}<br /> # {{what if|81|Catch!}}<br /> # {{what if|82|Hitting a Comet}}<br /> # {{what if|83|Star Sand}}<br /> # {{what if|84|Paint the Earth}}<br /> # {{what if|85|Rocket Golf}}<br /> # {{what if|86|Far-Travelling Objects}}<br /> # {{what if|87|Enforced by Radar}}<br /> # {{what if|88|Soda Sequestration}}<br /> # {{what if|89|Tungsten Countertop}}<br /> # {{what if|90|Great Tree, Great Axe}}<br /> # {{what if|91|Faucet Power}}<br /> # {{what if|92|One-Second Day}}<br /> # {{what if|93|Windshield Raindrops}}<br /> # {{what if|94|Billion-Story Building}}<br /> # {{what if|95|Pyramid Energy}}<br /> # {{what if|96|$2 Undecillion Lawsuit}}<br /> # {{what if|97|Burning Pollen}}<br /> # {{what if|98|Blood Alcohol}}<br /> # {{what if|99|Starlings}}<br /> # {{what if|100|WWII Films}}<br /> # {{what if|101|Plastic Dinosaurs}}<br /> # {{what if|102|Keyboard Power}}<br /> # {{what if|103|Vanishing Water}}<br /> # {{what if|104|Global Snow}}<br /> # {{what if|105|Cannibalism}}<br /> # {{what if|106|Ink Molecules}}<br /> # {{what if|107|Letter to Mom}}<br /> # {{what if|108|Expensive Shoebox}}<br /> # {{what if|109|Into the Blue}}<br /> # {{what if|110|Walking New York}}<br /> # {{what if|111|All the Money}}<br /> # {{what if|112|Balloon Car}}<br /> # {{what if|113|Visit Every State}}<br /> # {{what if|114|Antimatter}}<br /> # {{what if|115|Into the Sun}}<br /> # {{what if|116|No-Rules Nascar}}<br /> # {{what if|117|Distant Death}}<br /> # {{what if|118|Physical Salary}}<br /> # {{what if|119|Laser Umbrella}}<br /> # {{what if|120|Alternate Universe What Ifs}}<br /> # {{what if|121|Frozen Rivers}}<br /> # {{what if|122|Lava Lamp}}<br /> # {{what if|123|Fairy Demographics}}<br /> # {{what if|124|Lunar Swimming}}<br /> # {{what if|125|Bowling Ball}}<br /> # {{what if|126|Stairs}}<br /> # {{what if|127|Tug of War}}<br /> # {{what if|128|Zippo Phone}}<br /> # {{what if|129|Black Hole Moon}}<br /> # {{what if|130|Snow Removal}}<br /> # {{what if|131|Microwaves}}<br /> # {{what if|132|Hotter Than Average}}<br /> # {{what if|133|Flagpole}}<br /> # {{what if|134|Space Burial}}<br /> # {{what if|135|Digging Downward}}<br /> # {{what if|136|Spiders vs. the Sun}}<br /> # {{what if|137|New Horizons}}<br /> # {{what if|138|Jupiter Submarine}}<br /> # {{what if|139|Jupiter Descending}}<br /> # {{what if|140|Proton Earth, Electron Moon}}<br /> # {{what if|141|Sunbeam}}<br /> [[Category:Meta]]</div>

AJMansfield https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:what_if%3F&diff=109140 2016-01-12T16:23:24Z

<p>AJMansfield: /* No more what ifs */</p> <hr /> <div>[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)so is anybody weirded out by last week's post on the worst thing pressure cookers can do, followed by yesterday's terror attacks using pressure cookers?[[Special:Contributions/108.233.66.118|108.233.66.118]] 21:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)<br /> Do you want me to remove the articles not in the book, or label the ones IN the book? [[User:MadHaighaHatta|Completely sane (And not Anglo-Saxon)]] ([[User talk:MadHaighaHatta|talk]]) 11:34, 5 August 2015 (UTC)<br /> Do we want to add some references to the different What-If articles? Obviously putting up an explanation would be a bit of a waste since Randall goes into a lot of detail himself on any given subject. Some good things to mention might be the title-text on each image, mentions of recurring themes, and maybe some thought about the original subject mentioned (such as the &quot;Space Oddity&quot; music video that was the subject of a recent article). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 17:11, 30 May 2013 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :&quot;What if&quot; is not {{w|Creative Commons}} related, so respect Randall's copyright. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:05, 30 May 2013 (UTC)<br /> ::Sorry. Didn't realize that reviewing a creative work fell into copyright issues. No disrespect intended, only ignorance. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 19:16, 30 May 2013 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :I agree that &quot;what if?&quot; is not ''clearly'' under CC-BY-NC-2.5, but the link next to the Copyright goes to xkcd itself, which clearly does say it is. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:40, 12 August 2013 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Agreed. What-if appears to fall under the general xkcd copyright- it says &quot;Copyright ©2012-13 xkcd.&quot; with the link pointing to general xkcd copyright info. &quot;http://xkcd.com/license.html&quot; also says that &quot;you are free to copy and reuse any of my drawings (noncommercially) as long as you tell people where they're from.&quot; which includes what-if drawings, and I'm not sure if just part of a work could be copyrighted without Randall explicitly saying so. I also think it would be a good idea to have articles on the what-ifs for more information not stated in the what-if itself. {{unsigned ip|109.144.146.171}}<br /> <br /> :IANAL, so I will leave the copyright issues unaddressed as I respond to the original question in the affirmative: yes, we should have a page for each What-if article. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:54, 14 April 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Logo/Header ==<br /> <br /> I'm convinced there is some sort of specific joke in the &quot;What If&quot; logo, but I'm failing to grasp it.<br /> Knowing Randall, there has to be something funny about using a crane to lower a T-rex into the Sarlacc. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.90|173.245.49.90]] 11:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> [http://www.nerdist.com/2014/08/exclusive-heres-your-first-look-at-xkcds-what-if/ Nerdist Review] says &quot;Remove the jacket, and you can see how that particular experiment worked out in Munroe’s mind&quot; {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.118}}<br /> <br /> == Discussion regarding [http://what-if.xkcd.com/91/ What-if 91] ==<br /> <br /> I believe that Randall missed an opportunity to discuss means of harnessing thermal energy. See, original question specified HOT water!<br /> :He has to pay the electric bill. He couldn't make back the energy spent to heat the water due to entropy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 05:51, 31 July 2014 (UTC)<br /> Shall we forgive him this oversight and carry out some analysis to determine the harness-able energy content of hot water from the bathtub faucet in an average American apartment building?<br /> <br /> :TODO: discuss Sterling engines or other strategies here. (That means you! :) )<br /> <br /> :I believe that even when you &quot;run out of hot water&quot;, the incoming water will still have energy added since the gas or electric water heater will be running non-stop, turning cold water into slightly-less-cold water. Since slightly-less-cold water is still colder than the ambient temperature in the apartment, I'm not sure how to harness the energy added by the water heater... But neither am I sure that &quot;you can't&quot;. TODO: Can someone confirm that you can't?<br /> <br /> Shall we then turn the dial up a notch, [http://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ What-if 35 style], and imagine how the scenario changes if the apartment building has a water heater that is perfectly capable of keeping the hot faucet piping hot, even if you run it 24/7?<br /> <br /> : Suppose the super water heater turns 15C input water (cold) into 50C output water (hot). I think that means that the water heater adds 35 calories (not kilocalories) of energy per milliliter. I played with this expression in Google Calculator &quot;(35/1000) calories per ml * 1 liter / 1 second&quot; and determined that 1. Google uses kilocalories for &quot;calories&quot;, thus the /1000 part... and 2. it takes ~150 watts to turn a liter of cold water into a liter of hot water in *one second*.<br /> <br /> : Let's stop this for now and see if anyone is interested in participating. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 16:28, 14 April 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Go here: [http://fora.xkcd.com/viewforum.php?f=60 What If? discussion]. That's a BIG forum to discuss your items. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:16, 14 April 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Discussion area ==<br /> <br /> Is there a discussion area for each of the &quot;what-if?&quot; pages? - Eg I'd like to point out that in #111 &quot;All the money&quot;, the mouse-over text in the tombstone graphic says &quot;Cash Ruled Everything Around Me&quot; - or C.R.E.A.M. - coincidence? ;) Also, there have been past pages in which there have been items which I would contest some facts/statements, or seek further explanation. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:06, 4 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I would love to see an analysis of the most recent &quot;what-if&quot; - [http://what-if.xkcd.com/120/ What-if #120] as I'm sure each excerpt from an alternate-universe &quot;What-if&quot; column has an interesting background. Surely even if the article isn't Creative Commons some discussion of it is legal. Yes, I see that there is a thread on the forum for discussing this what-if but it is not succinct. [[User:Momerath|Momerath]] ([[User talk:Momerath|talk]]) 05:56, 3 December 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Is there a way this could auto-update like the regular part of the Wiki does? (I assume it auto-updates). This entry will never close if we don't do that and other than listing them and linking to them, there is nothing to say. [[User:4jonah|4jonah]] ([[User talk:4jonah|talk]]) 19:29, 1 May 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> As Randal stated, He will return posting his &quot;What If?&quot; on Tuesday, July 14th 2015, at 07:49:59 EDT. <br /> I have attached countdown below, to verify it.<br /> Mori.G.<br /> [http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20150714T074959&amp;p0=43&amp;fg1=ae7181&amp;fg2=8e82fe&amp;msg=What+if%3F+Returns%21&amp;swk=1 What if? Returning!] {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.60}}<br /> <br /> == List of articles ==<br /> <br /> I don't have time to do much editing right now, so could someone else go and put the list of articles into a table to make more use of the page's width? Perhaps split it into groups of 20-40 entries in a cell, aligned left-right in chronological order and prefix each entry with the article number. Just an idea. [[User:Pixali|&lt;font color=&quot;008000&quot;&gt;Pixali&lt;/font&gt;]] ([[User talk:Pixali|&lt;font color=&quot;004b00&quot;&gt;talk&lt;/font&gt;]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|&lt;font color=&quot;004b00&quot;&gt;contribs&lt;/font&gt;]]) 00:32, 21 May 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == Why isn't there an explanation page for each what if? ==<br /> <br /> I love the What If? series, and consider it to be a similar, yet separate, version of the normal comics. There are many things that, while reading the What If?, I was confused, interested, or amused by, and I wanted to read about it on this wiki. Randall puts much effort into these, as well as the normal series, so they deserve some explaining. I have no idea how I'd go about this on my own, and I don't have the time right now to spare. I merely want to (hopefully) get the ball rolling on this, if it isn't already. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.145}}<br /> <br /> == The UK Version of the book. ==<br /> <br /> I've edited in the UK version's summary, as I own the book. I will write about the date of the UK book's release too and the foreword. Is there anything else about it that other users think should be added?<br /> <br /> == Can we explain this? ==<br /> <br /> Can we explain the questions there, or not? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 23:09, 3 October 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> == No more what ifs ==<br /> <br /> Should we include a note that Randall seems to have stopped creating What Ifs? The last one was over a month ago [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 07:55, 27 October 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> He might be working on his book ''Thing Explainer''. Xkcd last posted 2 days ago. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 22:49, 15 November 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think that we should conclude that this site is over if there isn't another post by New Years. [[User:Bbruzzo|Bbruzzo]] ([[User talk:Bbruzzo|talk]]) 19:23, 5 December 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I think we should just say it's over now. There hasn't been a post in months and ''Thing Explainer'' has been out for quite a while now. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.87|108.162.237.87]] 19:10, 12 December 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Nope! There is a NEW xkcd what-if today, [http://what-if.xkcd.com/141 Sunbeam]! All may rejoice! [[User:AJMansfield|AJMansfield]] ([[User talk:AJMansfield|talk]]) 16:23, 12 January 2016 (UTC)</div>

AJMansfield