3061: Water Balloons

Water Balloons

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Title text: Update: The physics department has recruited an astronomer who studies meteor fireballs.

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Explanation

This is one of 54 incomplete explanations: Created by a BOT SHORT CIRCUITING DUE TO A WATER BALLOON - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

The comic graphs the mass vs the lifetime of three objects: mesons, water balloons, and planets. Mesons, which are subatomic fundamental particles, have a very low mass, and a very short lifetime, since they naturally decay into other fundamental particles.^{[actual citation needed]} "Flying water balloons" are depicted as having a mass of 1 kilogram, and a lifetime of 1 second, indicating the approximate amount of time that the a water balloon stays in the air for after it is thrown. Finally, planets have a very large mass and a very large lifetime, since they tend to exist for billions of years.

This comparison is somewhat absurd because the objects being compared: mesons, water balloons, and planets do not have much in common.

The text below the image states that meson particle physicists and planetary scientists are usually evenly matched in water balloon fights, since water balloons are outside of the area of expertise of both departments. In real life, this is nonsensical, since water baloon fights are completelty unrelated to particle physics or planetary science.

The title text states that "The physics department has recruited an astronomer who studies meteor fireballs", which alludes to the idea of using meteors as a weapon in a water balloon fight.

Other absurd uses of linear regression are seen in 605: Extrapolating, 1204: Detail, and 2893: Sphere Tastiness.

Transcript

[Graph with Y axis using an arrow indicating mass from 10^-30 kg to 10³⁰ kg on a logarithmic scale and X axis, also on a logarithmic scale labeled "Lifetime" running from 10^-20 to 10²⁰ seconds.]

[There are three elliptical blobs on the graph, one on the lower left corner labeled "Mesons" another on the upper right corner labeled "Planets", and the last one in the middle (1kg mass, 1s lifespan) labeled Flying water balloons. There are two bidirectional arrows pointing from the center blob to the two other blobs.]

[To the left of the chart are Cueball and Ponytail. Ponytail is throwing a water balloon, and Cueball is dodging from one. To the right are Megan and Hairy. Megan is preparing to throw a water balloon, and Hairy is slipping in a puddle of water.]

[Caption below the panel:]

In the annual water balloon fight, meson particle physicists and planetary scientists are usually evenly matched, since they're both equally far outside their areas of expertise.

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Discussion

What if you're an expert in impostor syndrome? Caliban (talk) 08:45, 11 March 2025 (UTC)

WHAT?!??!!!! ⯅A dream demon⯅ (talk) 15:06, 11 March 2025 (UTC)

That "Flying Water Balloons" bubble reaches from about 10^-3 to 10² kg. That's 1mg (kinda' hard to manipulate) to 100kg (very hard to lift, especially without breaking the balloon). -- Dtgriscom (talk) 16:59, 11 March 2025 (UTC)

Firstly: you seem to mix-up g and kg. Secondly: Water balloons can leak, assuming the 10^-3 (which is 1g) wasn't measured while it popped in flight.172.71.99.171 10:39, 12 March 2025 (UTC)
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