Talk:3065: Square Units

2025-03-20T10:54:29Z

Thief:

I like this one :) reminds me of trying to use recipes in imperial units with metric equipment [[Special:Contributions/162.158.108.29|162.158.108.29]] 19:48, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

I so want to stand outside Randall's office holding up {{tl|citation needed}} for not giving an actual citation on the title text. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.175.159|162.158.175.159]] 20:07, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

We should start using ares as a common unit of measure. https://www.britannica.com/science/are [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.15|172.69.135.15]] 20:09, 19 March 2025 (UTC)
:We have done, some still do: {{w|Hectare#Are}} [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.70|172.70.163.70]] 21:20, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

The area of eaten vegetation is all well and good, but we really need to know the total volume consumed. In barn-megaparsecs, ideally. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.241.89|172.71.241.89]] 21:26, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

I just got the mail notification for this and the previous comic at the same time. I would say that Randall forgot to send out the previous one before, but surely this is automated, so I guess something went wrong with that setup. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:01, 20 March 2025 (UTC)

I really want to know what the 80-fold error was now [[User:Thief|Thief]] ([[User talk:Thief|talk]]) 10:54, 20 March 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2963: House Inputs and Outputs

2024-07-25T12:38:46Z

Thief:

what in the heckoslovakia is panel 16 [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.216|172.71.147.216]] 02:18, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
:I can only assume that it's from the perspective of someone inside the well looking upward toward the outside world. [[User:OmniDoom|OmniDoom]] ([[User talk:OmniDoom|talk]]) 02:23, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
:: It's a reference to The Ring (リング) films and books. This distorted view from the inside of the well is an iconic part of the franchise's imagery, and, in minimal-spoilers form, its appearance suggests that someone has watched the cursed tape and should now expect a visitor to arrive from that well in seven days. (Definitely a red intersection) [[User:Scorpion451|Scorpion451]] ([[User talk:Scorpion451|talk]]) 02:52, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
::: more at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_(franchise) aside holy gosh! I was expecting to link to IMDB for like two or three movies. /aside the trailer at https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0298130/ starts with an a 1950-1990 ish USA telephone ring. It's been a while since I saw it and the ring referring to a telephone not magic ring is starting to sound familiar. SDT
:::: which is too much detail. "Panel 16 refers to a horror film" is not enough info SDT [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.102|172.70.134.102]] 04:06, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
::: [[396|You watched the tape!?]] --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.27|162.158.94.27]] 07:07, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.100|172.70.134.100]] 03:58, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
I'm assuming that a table would probably be best for this comic, but tbh I don't know how to make one and it's kinda late for me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.137.212|162.158.137.212]] 02:48, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
:Update: thanks to whoever made the table [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.192|141.101.109.192]] 03:32, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
:::You're welcome :) I had to look at Wikipedia's tutorial to make it - [[User:Blue in real life|Blue in real life]] ([[User talk:Blue in real life|talk]]) 05:55, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
::::The table parser is incredibly byzantine; good job. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.215.11|172.70.215.11]] 07:34, 25 July 2024 (UTC)
As a note, water in power lines ''is'' actually a thing for high speed EV chargers - so much power is transferred even the cable need water cooling! [[User:Thief|Thief]] ([[User talk:Thief|talk]]) 12:38, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-20T10:21:11Z

Thief: Added "can 'fill' at home" pro

{{comic
| number = 2948
| date = June 19, 2024
| title = Electric vs Gas
| image = electric_vs_gas_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HYDROGEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE RUNNING A GENERATOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Internal combustion engines (ICE) are the most common technology used to propel motor vehicles. In US vernacular, the most common motor fuel is known as "gasoline", or "gas" for short, leading to these engines being referred to as "gas engines". Gasoline is a product of petroleum refinement, leading to the name "petrol" being used in other dialects. (The word "gasoline" does not actually refer to any gaseous state, but derives from the brand-name fuel "Cazeline" or "Cazelline" sold by a man called John Cassell, and "Petrol" has also been a registered brand name for another business's motor-fuel product.)

Electric motors would seem the more obvious method for propelling a vehicle, and as early as 1885 were an actual form of motor car engine with which the fledgling internal combustion engine had to compete. Despite this early popularity, over most of the 20th century electric motors were sidelined in everyday car design, as supplying the electricity was considered to be impractical for most forms of transportation. Modern forms are rapidly rising in popularity, and now constitute 18% of all global vehicle sales. [[Randall]] has long been a strong proponent of electric vehicles.

In this strip, [[White Hat]] claims to be comparing the pros and cons of electric motors and gas engines. The joke is that every point he makes goes in favor of electric motors. Despite it being posed as a dilemma, it may be very clear which side of the debate White Hat is promoting. On the other hand, it may indicate that one of the things we might consider a pro in electric motors (the instantaneous power now available, exceeding that of many non-electric engines) he would consider a problem — perhaps more accurately, a problem with the ''drivers'' of such vehicles — recklessly using the enhanced capabilities to accelerate to high speeds at all opportunities, whether safe to do so or not.

The strip offers the following points in favor of electric motors:

* "Cleaner and more efficient". Internal combustion engines produce and vent harmful combustion products and toxic chemicals, while electric motors produce no emission byproducts at the point of use. The efficiency of both gas and electric motors vary, but the typical ICE vehicle in the US converts around 25% of available energy into motion, while the typical electric vehicle is in the neighborhood of 80%. It should be noted that all of this refers to the motors only, and ignores how the fuel and electricity are produced. Even when considering inefficiencies in the source production and transmission and storage and release of energy, battery-driven electric vehicles are generally more efficient than internal combustion propelled vehicles[https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/electric-vehicles-contribute-fewer-emissions-than-gasoline-powered-cars-over-their-lifetimes/].

* "More powerful". Electric motors are able to deliver a lot of power from a small motor '''if''' an ample energy supply is available, and can do so 'on demand', often far quicker than a fuel-powered engine that has to put its power through a gearbox in order to service a wide range of road velocities, from standstill to the eventual top speed. Due to battery limitations, short or partial runtime use cases, such as dragsters, hand tools, yard tools, toys, and electric scooters, net the most benefit from the small size of a high-powered electric motor.

* "Annoyingly loud". Internal combustion engines, by their nature, produce significant noise. Despite noise attenuation measures (such as mufflers), they contribute significantly to urban noise. Properly designed electric motors are nearly silent. In particular, turbo-charger blow-off valves make particular noises that are completely lacking in an all-electric vehicle being driven under a similar performance level. This might legitimately be considered a problem, though, when everyone is used to a rapidly approaching vehicle providing a very noisy warning of its approach. EV makers have sometimes added [https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-ev-fake-engine-sound-hyundai-dodge-toyota-2023-7 fake ICE noises] to appeal to older drivers and {{w|Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds|warning sounds}} for bystanders.

* "WAY less torque available at standstill". Internal combustion engines need to continually operate within a specific range of rotational speeds, which means that a complex system of transmission gearing is needed to convert this motion into the specific speeds needed at the wheels. When starting from a standstill, this means that torque must be applied to the wheels relatively gradually to avoid stalling the engine. Electric motors, by contrast, generally produce their peak torque when at a standstill. This results in electric vehicles having significantly better acceleration and engine responsiveness. Again, this could cause a legitimate problem with drivers changing from ICE to electric motors, because the new cars accelerate more than the driver is used to and provide different feedback. The audible clues of gear changes, whether from automatic or manual systems, are part and parcel of what many people have grown up with and come to rely on in anticipating what might need paying attention to.

It should be noted that White Hat is deliberately confining his arguments to electric vs gas ''motors'' rather than electric or gas-powered ''vehicles''. Doing so ignores the basic reason why internal combustion vehicles have long dominated transportation: hydrocarbon fuels are a very dense and fairly easy to handle form of energy ''storage''. Providing electrical power to a moving vehicle requires either that the vehicle remain in contact with a power line, like a train does, or a high-capacity battery and the ability to recharge that battery in a reasonable amount of time. More popular in the USA is a hybrid system, where a combustion engine provides at least some of the power to an electric motor, which was impractical until comparatively recently. Other methods, such as hydrogen fuel cells (a form of "combustion" that can be used more directly to form electricity), have been proposed, but remain niche, due to various barriers to adoption, or experimental.

A more comprehensive comparison would include the cons of electric vehicles, including:

* Higher cost of purchase (primarily due to the cost of batteries and, in the USA, now a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs), although partially offset by lower costs of operation
* Long charging times compared to refilling a gas tank (there are some approaches which mitigate this by operating a battery swap model, rather than charging in-car, but these are not widely adopted)
* Relatively limited range
* Shortened range in hot weather and significantly shortened range in cold weather (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Limited charging infrastructure in some places (although ICE vehicles also have this problem)
* Higher vehicle weight, and resulting higher particulate emissions (from tires and while braking, although recuperation reduces the need for braking)
* Reliance on various mineral and metal extraction industries in the building of batteries
* Issues disposing of/recycling batteries at end of life
* Increased demand on electricity production

Advancing technologies may change how serious these cons are, but they currently remain genuine issues.

Other pros of electric vehicles aren't mentioned
* Lower costs of operation (partially offset by higher costs of purchase)
* Can "fill" them at home or while parked without having to stay with them (partially negates the "long charging times" con)
* Higher reliability
* Lower maintenance and repair costs
* Lower carbon footprint

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, with his palm raised, is talking to Cueball.]
:White Hat: Electric motors and gas engines each have their pros and cons.
:White Hat: On one hand, electric motors are cleaner and more efficient. On the other hand, electric motors are more powerful.
:White Hat: So it's hard to say which is better overall.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Climate change]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3065: Square Units

Talk:2963: House Inputs and Outputs

2948: Electric vs Gas