Difference between revisions of "explain xkcd:Sandbox"
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| − | + | __NOTOC__{{DISPLAYTITLE:explain xkcd}} | |
| − | + | <center> | |
| − | < | + | <font size=5px>''Welcome to the '''explain [[xkcd]]''' wiki!''</font><br> |
| − | ------ | + | <span style="font size:210%;">We have an explanation for all [[List of all comics (full)|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:All comics|R}}}}''' xkcd comics]], and only {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} ({{#expr: {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} / {{LATESTCOMIC}} * 100 round 1}}%) are incomplete. [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|Help us finish them!]]</span><!-- Note: the -1 in the calculation above has been removed (it was there to discount "comic" 404, but we've categorized it to be a comic and so has Randall.) --> |
| − | [[ | + | </center> |
| + | <!-- Go to this explanation button --><span style="position: absolute; right:0; padding-top:1.4em; font-size: 100%;"><span class="no-link-underline">[[{{LATESTCOMIC}}| </span>'''Go to this explanation''']]</span> | ||
| − | {{ | + | =Latest comic= |
| + | <div style="border:1px solid grey; background:#000001; padding:1.5em;"> | ||
| + | {{:{{LATESTCOMIC}}}} | ||
| + | ---- | ||
| − | = | + | <span style="position: absolute; left:0; padding-top:1.35em; font-size: 105%;"><span class="no-link-underline"> [[File:new topic.png|21x21px|link={{LATESTCOMIC}}#Discussion]][[{{LATESTCOMIC}}#Discussion| </span>'''View comic discussion''']]</span><br><br></div> |
| − | == | + | == New here? == |
| + | <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em">{{Special:ContributionScores/10/30/nosort,notools}}<div style="font-size:0.85em; width:28em; font-style:italic">[[Special:ContributionScores|Lots of people]] contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors above have [{{fullurl:Special:Contributions|contribs=newbie}} just joined]. You can do it too! Create your account [[Special:UserLogin/signup|here]].</div></div> | ||
| − | + | You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at [[explain xkcd]]. Feel free to [[Special:UserLogin/signup|create an account]] and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|comics]], [[:Category:Characters|characters]], [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' articles]], and [[:Category:xkcd|everything in between]]. If it is referenced in an [[xkcd]] comic, it should be here. | |
| − | + | * If you're new to wiki editing, see the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ]] for a specific guidance to this wiki and the more general help on [[mw:Help:Editing pages|how to edit wiki pages]]. There's also a handy {{w|Help:Cheatsheet|wikicode cheatsheet}}. | |
| − | + | * Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]]. | |
| − | {{ | + | * You can browse the comics from the [[List of all comics (full)|list of all comics]] or by navigating the category tree at [[:Category:Comics]]. |
| + | |||
| + | * The incomplete explanations are listed [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|here]]. Feel free to help out by expanding them! | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Rules == | ||
| + | |||
| + | Be a jerk! | ||
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| + | There are a lot of comics that have set-in-stone explanations; only put one interpretation in the wiki page for each comic. | ||
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| + | Please only submit material directly unrelated to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that cannot legally be posted or freely edited. On-topic or other appropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked. Get good. | ||
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Latest revision as of 09:33, 16 March 2026
Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 3273 xkcd comics, and only 38 (1.2%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!
Latest comic[edit]
| 720 Ollie |
 Title text: This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games. |
Explanation[edit]
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This is incomplete: This page was created by a spin-½ boson. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
Tony Hawk tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.
The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. Spin-½ fermions have the unusual property that they must be rotated through two full turns before returning to their original configuration. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle,[citation needed] it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.
A fermion is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant; the behavior of these objects' spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to bosons, whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love.[citation needed]
Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger mid-air rotations have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.
The title text is a riff on the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of CP violation, (something that may have been on Randall's mind, recently, due to the prior comic's subject matter/anti-matter). The regular/goofy styles of riding a skateboard could be considered as a physical quality of the "skateboarder particle", as values of charge and parity are of subatomic ones. The X Games are a prestigious 'street-sport' event that includes competitions in skateboarding as well as other related board- and bike-disciplines. The parallel is made between being able to win a gold medal for impressive skateboarding skills (and demonstrating new tricks, in the process, as Tony Hawk has been known to do) and earning the gold Nobel Prize medal for a scientific achievements in Physics or one of the other established prize categories. So far, nobody has done both of these. But, if this comic is entirely true, perhaps Tony Hawk could be the first to do so.
Skateboarding is also the subject of 296: Tony Hawk.
Transcript[edit]
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This is one of 30 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
- [Tony Hawk and Cueball are talking. Tony Hawk is holding his skateboard. An image, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]
- Tony Hawk: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.
- Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.
Add comment 
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Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
This is a test. PoolloverNathan[stalk the blue seas] 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)
- This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 19:54) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)
- A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this
furhhfghure guyrburgryhuyvfr "rvhru"
interesting way of writing quotations xd
- hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line
edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
hi uh its hard to get here.
is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
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yum yum [citation needed]
Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve {{trout}}
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<a href=" [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING][tab] "Cancel the meeting! Our cover is blown."> More testing: hello doesthiswork (yesitdoes) This isn't a good name (talk) 22:44, 28 January 2026 (UTC)
hi 164.58.172.158 14:21, 23 February 2026 (UTC)
What is this?????????????????????? King Pando (talk) 04:25, 10 March 2026 (UTC)
Hello 107.1.219.44 19:29, 29 April 2026 (UTC) Add comment View comic discussionNew here?[edit]
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You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to create an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd comics, characters, What If? articles, and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd comic, it should be here.
- If you're new to wiki editing, see the explain xkcd:Editor FAQ for a specific guidance to this wiki and the more general help on how to edit wiki pages. There's also a handy wikicode cheatsheet.
- Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the Community portal.
- You can browse the comics from the list of all comics or by navigating the category tree at Category:Comics.
- The incomplete explanations are listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
Rules[edit]
Be a jerk!
There are a lot of comics that have set-in-stone explanations; only put one interpretation in the wiki page for each comic.
If you want to talk about a specific comic, don’t.
Please only submit material directly unrelated to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that cannot legally be posted or freely edited. On-topic or other appropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked. Get good.
If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.
Recent comments:27 June 2026
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Talk:Blue Eyes (3 changes | history) . . (+11,115) . . [82.132.237.125; NiceGuy1 (2×)] |
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(cur | prev) . . (+2,160) . . NiceGuy1 (talk | contribs) (Painting this as a mystery is mysterious) |
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Talk:3264: 720 Ollie (16 changes | history) . . (+5,832) . . [Dúthomhas; TheusafBOT; 80.229.249.36; 49.194.177.67; 2603:8081:9700:1224::2; 2401:4900:add5:77cb:ed95:186c:c9ab:be2b; 2401:4900:adc9:33ed:3028:a249:ed24:cd91; 216.25.182.141; Undergroundmonorail (2×); 86.23.176.63 (2×); 82.132.238.177 (4×)] |
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(cur | prev) . . (+113) . . TheusafBOT (talk | contribs) (Created by theusafBOT: talk page for 3264) |
26 June 2026
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Talk:3263: Baryon Asymmetry (6 changes | history) . . (+5,386) . . [RegularSizedGuy; Aaron Liu; RG; 82.132.237.37; 82.13.184.33 (2×)] |
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25 June 2026
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