Difference between revisions of "3061: Water Balloons"

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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The comic graphs the mass vs. the lifetime of three objects: {{w|meson}}s, {{w|water balloon}}s and {{w|planet}}s. Mesons, which are subatomic particles, have a very low mass and a very short lifetime, as they naturally decay into fundamental particles.{{Actual citation needed}} "Flying water balloons" are depicted as having a mass centered around 1 kilogram, but the area outlined covers a very broad range of mass (from grams to hundreds of kilos), and a lifetime centered around 1 second (but the area outlined covers from fractions of a second to a couple of hours), indicating the approximate amount of time that a water balloon is expected to be in the process of being thrown through the air. Not all water balloons break on impact, and they may be prepared well in advance, so specifying "flying" indicates that it isn't the lifetime of the intact (and water-filled) balloon. Additionally, some are thrown directly into someone's face, thus their flight time would be extremely short, or non-existant if 'planted' before even being released. Finally, planets have a very large mass and a very long lifetime, as they tend to exist for billions of years.
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The comic graphs the mass vs. the lifetime of three objects: {{w|meson}}s, {{w|planet}}s and flying {{w|water balloon}}s. Mesons, which are subatomic particles, have a very low mass and a very short lifetime, as they naturally decay into fundamental particles. Planets have a very large mass and a lifetime on the order of billions of years. "Flying water balloons" — that is, water balloons between the time they are launched and the time they reach their target — are right in the middle, with a mass of approximately 1 kilogram and a flight time of approximately 1 second. (If the area outlined on the chart is to be taken literally then those numbers are ''very'' approximate, with the mass of a flying water balloon ranging from grams to hundreds of kilograms and a flight time ranging from fractions of a second to a couple of hours.)
  
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This comparison is somewhat absurd because the objects being compared - mesons, water balloons, and planets - do not have much in common. The joke is revealed in the image caption: an "annual interdepartmental water balloon fight" where multiple departments of a facility/company are pit against each other.
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As the graph indicates, a flying water balloon is about 15 orders of magnitude longer-lived than a meson and the same amount shorter-lived than a planet, while being about 25 orders of magnitude heavier than a meson and the same amount lighter than a planet. In the comic, this is taken to mean that scientists who study mesons and scientists who study planets can be assumed to be equally matched when interacting with flying water balloons, such as during "the annual interdepartmental water balloon fight".
  
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Allegedly, because water balloons are so different from both mesons and planets in terms of size and lifetime (roughly the same number of orders of magnitude), meson particle physicists and planetary scientists are usually evenly matched in water balloon fights. This suggests that deep specialization in a field of study deprives a normal person of their basic aptitude to perform in more 'everyday' activities, but at least it equally disadvantages each of the two teams of researchers and makes for a more satisfyingly [[1819: Sweet 16|competitive match-up]] than with one team clearly far more proficient than the other. By the same logic, one might assume that more generalized physicists might study similar objects with the mass and lifetime of water balloons (if not water balloons themselves!), and other topics of education might also confer an 'advantage' (for example, biologists may study similarly-sized bodies of creatures, whilst chemists may monitor chemical reactions that could take an equivalent time to complete).
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As it happens, this is a reasonable assumption, but not because of anything to do with these scientists' areas of study. Rather, it is because neither area of study has anything to do with water balloons.
  
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In real life, water balloon fights are completely unrelated to particle physics or planetary science, and there's nothing stopping a particle physicist or planetary scientist from ''also'' having experience with water balloons.
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The title text introduces a new type of scientist, one with expertise in an area, {{w|Meteor#Fireball|meteor fireballs}}, where the objects being studied have approximately the same mass and lifespan as water balloons. In order to form a fireball, a meteor (i.e. a "space rock" passing through the Earth's atmosphere on its way from being a {{w|meteoroid}} to, potentially, a {{w|meteorite}}) needs to be at least about 100 g, and the time it spends being a fireball is typically between a few seconds and a minute or two. These numbers are within a couple of orders of magnitude compared to those for flying water balloons, so by the logic of this cartoon, these scientists would have a clear advantage in the water balloon fight. However, despite the similarity in mass and lifetime, meteor fireballs and flying water balloons are different enough that these "ringers" would not likely have any advantage at all. The physics department would be better off recruiting someone who is skilled at {{w|softball}}.
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The title text continues the joke by stating that "The physics department has recruited an astronomer who studies meteor fireballs". This is likely referring to the fact that [[3049: Incoming Asteroid|meteors are closer in size and lifetime to water balloons]] than either mesons or planets, so having an astronomer with this area of expertise would be advantageous in a water balloon fight against scientists who study either of the latter. "Space rocks" that become meteors may have been around for approximately the age of the solar system (and longer than at least some planets), and may then sit on/beneath the ground as a {{w|meteorite}} for anything up to geologically significant lengths of time. But being an actual meteor (and a flaming one, at that) implies we're only considering the period of time the space rock is traveling through the Earth's atmosphere, specifically ending when it becomes a meteorite. This is a period of time that may be anything from a few seconds (the normal upper limit to the visible 'fireball' stage) to ''possibly'' a minute or two (starting from its first shallow-angle grazing of the atmosphere until it finally lands/burns up/passes back out of the atmosphere). Thus, by one team bringing in a more capable player (especially one arguably more closely aligned to their opponents), they apparently now have an {{wiktionary|ringer#Noun 4|unfair advantage}}.
 
  
 
Extrapolation and interpolation, often absurd, are [[:Category:Extrapolation|recurrent topics]] on xkcd. For example, in [[3050: Atom]], an atom was blown up to the size of a water balloon, with the responsible scientists complaining about it being wet.<!--it was explainers on explainxkcd who pointed out that enlarging a small handleable object the same way as that atom, would result in a planetary object.--> One of the planets (Earth) was depicted on another 2D interpolation chart but with different units in [[2893: Sphere Tastiness]].
 
Extrapolation and interpolation, often absurd, are [[:Category:Extrapolation|recurrent topics]] on xkcd. For example, in [[3050: Atom]], an atom was blown up to the size of a water balloon, with the responsible scientists complaining about it being wet.<!--it was explainers on explainxkcd who pointed out that enlarging a small handleable object the same way as that atom, would result in a planetary object.--> One of the planets (Earth) was depicted on another 2D interpolation chart but with different units in [[2893: Sphere Tastiness]].

Latest revision as of 13:00, 15 February 2026

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

    Explanation[edit]

    The comic graphs the mass vs. the lifetime of three objects: mesons, planets and flying water balloons. Mesons, which are subatomic particles, have a very low mass and a very short lifetime, as they naturally decay into fundamental particles. Planets have a very large mass and a lifetime on the order of billions of years. "Flying water balloons" — that is, water balloons between the time they are launched and the time they reach their target — are right in the middle, with a mass of approximately 1 kilogram and a flight time of approximately 1 second. (If the area outlined on the chart is to be taken literally then those numbers are very approximate, with the mass of a flying water balloon ranging from grams to hundreds of kilograms and a flight time ranging from fractions of a second to a couple of hours.)

    As the graph indicates, a flying water balloon is about 15 orders of magnitude longer-lived than a meson and the same amount shorter-lived than a planet, while being about 25 orders of magnitude heavier than a meson and the same amount lighter than a planet. In the comic, this is taken to mean that scientists who study mesons and scientists who study planets can be assumed to be equally matched when interacting with flying water balloons, such as during "the annual interdepartmental water balloon fight".

    As it happens, this is a reasonable assumption, but not because of anything to do with these scientists' areas of study. Rather, it is because neither area of study has anything to do with water balloons.

    The title text introduces a new type of scientist, one with expertise in an area, meteor fireballs, where the objects being studied have approximately the same mass and lifespan as water balloons. In order to form a fireball, a meteor (i.e. a "space rock" passing through the Earth's atmosphere on its way from being a meteoroid to, potentially, a meteorite) needs to be at least about 100 g, and the time it spends being a fireball is typically between a few seconds and a minute or two. These numbers are within a couple of orders of magnitude compared to those for flying water balloons, so by the logic of this cartoon, these scientists would have a clear advantage in the water balloon fight. However, despite the similarity in mass and lifetime, meteor fireballs and flying water balloons are different enough that these "ringers" would not likely have any advantage at all. The physics department would be better off recruiting someone who is skilled at softball.

    Extrapolation and interpolation, often absurd, are recurrent topics on xkcd. For example, in 3050: Atom, an atom was blown up to the size of a water balloon, with the responsible scientists complaining about it being wet. One of the planets (Earth) was depicted on another 2D interpolation chart but with different units in 2893: Sphere Tastiness.

    Transcript[edit]

    [Graph with Y axis labeled "Mass" running from 10-30 kg to 1030 kg on a logarithmic scale and X axis labeled "Lifetime", also on a logarithmic scale, 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 another 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, with a water balloon having landed near his foot with a "Sploosh!".]
    [Caption below the panel:]
    In the annual interdepartmental 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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