Editing 2775: Siphon
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
+ | [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have set up a simple experiment to test how a {{w|siphon}} works, using the gravitational force on an upper reservoir of liquid and molecular cohesion to move a liquid upward through a tube, traversing a higher peak to reach a lower exit. [[Randall]] has also mentioned siphons in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/143/ whatif 143] and in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool." | ||
− | + | Siphons are commonly used in modern society (e.g., most American residential toilets are flushed by siphon action). Siphons should not be confused with [[#Trivia|capillary action]]. | |
− | + | Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates a siphon by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," that Siphons doesn't work anymore. Thus indicating that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird that it ever worked, and muses over why we ever though that was a normal thing. | |
− | + | The punchline of the comic comes in the caption, which delivers a piece of ''Physics News'': "The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug." The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic (or perhaps the sometimes unintentional result of various default configuration options like in a video game - see [[1620: Christmas Settings]]), and that siphoning (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug in the Universe, that has now somehow been fixed. | |
− | + | In reality, siphons still very much exist in our universe. Siphons require filling beforehand to function, either by initially actively sucking liquid through or by immersing the siphon tube in liquid then ensuring it retains its contents as one end is brought over to its position lover than the other end, so it is plausible to imagine skeptical people “proving” they do not function by refraining from providing the initial priming. However, the small amount of water in the bottom of the bucket near Megan indicates that there was water in the tube, and that this just ran down on either side, leaving the tube empty and a bit water in Megan's bucket, and a bit more in Cueball's bucket. So they did set up the experiment correctly, but since the latest update siphons do not work anymore. Or as they state it, the universe now works correctly and the siphon bug has been corrected. | |
− | + | {{w|simulation hypothesis|The idea}} that we live in a computer simulation is also prevalent in our modern pop culture, most famously shown in {{w|The matrix}} (See [[566: Matrix Revisited]]). | |
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− | {{w|simulation hypothesis|The idea}} that we live in a computer simulation is also prevalent in our modern pop culture, most famously shown in {{w|The | ||
The title text is an additional note to the 2023 physics update stating that the update has: "Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there." | The title text is an additional note to the 2023 physics update stating that the update has: "Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there." | ||
− | This is a reference to radioactive materials that keep | + | This is a reference to radioactive materials that keep emmiting energi (heat) almost indefinitely (on a human timescale. This is mainly a reference to {{w|uranium}} and {{w|Thorium}} and their decay chain, which are the main reason for keeping the Earths core warm. |
− | This is similar to the comic [[2115: Plutonium]], because {{w|plutonium}} ( | + | This is similar to the comic [[2115: Plutonium]], because {{w|plutonium}} (man made though) are used to power space crafts. In that comic the title text has the same idea that someone controls the universe: ''It's like someone briefly joined the team running the universe, introduced their idea for a cool mechanic, then left, and now everyone is stuck pretending that this wildly unbalanced dynamic makes sense.'' |
The entire comic is one of many where Randall muses over strange aspects of our universe, and wonders why we (people) ever think that it seems normal, the way the Universe works (or how humans work - see for instance [[1268: Alternate Universe]]). | The entire comic is one of many where Randall muses over strange aspects of our universe, and wonders why we (people) ever think that it seems normal, the way the Universe works (or how humans work - see for instance [[1268: Alternate Universe]]). | ||
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==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | Siphons are separate from a similarly counter-intuitive phenomenon of {{w|capillary action}}, where a liquid flows through narrow spaces (even upwards, entirely against gravity) in that a siphon need not be of such small diameter. Capillary action will also move liquid into an initially empty channel, whilst a siphon must be 'primed', by filling the tube, in order to draw liquid over a high point to ultimately always drop down into a lower container. Capillary action is caused by surface tension and attractive forces between the liquid and the walls of the channel; the liquid level will rise until the weight of the column of liquid matches the attractive forces. Capillary action can lift liquid higher than the maximum height of the "higher" side of a siphon with the same liquid, if the attractive forces are strong enough. | + | Siphons are separate from a similarly counter-intuitive phenomenon of {{w|capillary action}}, where a liquid flows through narrow spaces (even upwards, entirely against gravity) in that a siphon need not be of such small diameter. Capillary action will also move liquid into an initially empty channel, whilst a siphon must be 'primed', by filling the tube, in order to draw liquid over a high point to ultimately always drop down into a lower container. Capillary action is caused by surface tension and attractive forces between the liquid and the walls of the channel; the liquid level will rise until the weight of the column of liquid matches the attractive forces. A siphon requires that the weight of the liquid column on the "higher" side of the channel peak not exceed atmospheric pressure, or else the liquid will split, leaving a {{w|Torricelli's_experiment|partial vacuum}}. Capillary action can lift liquid higher than the maximum height of the "higher" side of a siphon with the same liquid, if the attractive forces are strong enough. |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} |