Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 3187 xkcd comics,
and only 54
(1.7%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!
Latest comic
Go to this comic explanation
| Hyperacute Interdynamics |
|
Title text: Our models fall apart where the three theories overlap; we're unable to predict what happens when a nanometer-sized squirrel eats a grapefruit with the mass of the sun. |
|
|
Explanation
|
This is incomplete:
This page was created BY A STAR WITH THE MASS OF A SQUIRREL. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!
|
This comic depicts Miss Lenhart teaching a class, which has been a recent recurring theme on xkcd. She describes the three pillars of physics, those being General relativity concerning very large objects, Quantum mechanics concerning very small objects, and Thermodynamics. In the comic, Miss Lenhart replaces Thermodynamics with the fictional Hyperacute Interdynamics, which specifically covers objects 10-30cm (~4" - ~12") in size and 200-700g (0.44lb - 1.54lb) in mass. A student points out that the concept of Hyperacute Interdynamics is quite limited.
The teacher responds by stating that this is made up for by the fact that it is apparently very accurate and precise, and gives examples of how it is able to perfect squirrels and grapefruit, two objects which both fit the necessary size and weight specifications. She also states that there are hopes to unify this system with the other two.
The title text takes the joke further, giving reason to Miss Lenhart's remark about unification. She comments that, under the current system, measurements which require elements from all three pillars are impossible. The example she gives is equally absurd as the concept of Hyperacute Interdynamics itself, stating that it is unknown when a nanometer-sized squirrel (covering Quantum Mechanics and Hyperacute Interdynamics) eats a grapefruit with the mass of the sun (once again covering Hyperacute Interdynamics as well as General Relativity). This scenario would never occur in real life, so it is unknown why scientists would be willing to pursue it.
There is an inaccuracy in the comic: the Eastern Gray Squirrel, which is the most prevalent squirrel in Massachusetts (where Randall lives), measures 16-20 inches (approx. 40-50 centimeters) on average when fully grown, meaning that a fully-grown squirrel would be too big for Hyperacute Interdynamics to apply.
Transcript
- [Miss Lenhart is teaching Cueball and Jill in a classroom. Both students are sitting at desks and Jill can be seen taking notes.]
- [Miss Lenhart is talking to her students]
- Miss Lenhart: Modern physics rests on three main pillars:
- general relativity, which describes very massive objects,
- [A zoom on Miss Lenhart's face]
- Miss Lenhart: Quantum Mechanics, which describes very small objects,
- [The view zooms back out. Miss Lenhart can be seen in the center of the panel near the bottom.]
- Miss Lenhart: and Hyperacute Interdynamics, which describes objects 10-30cm in size and 200-700g in mass.
- [The panel zooms back into Miss Lenhart's head. She is in the bottom-right corner of the panel.]
- Student (off-panel): That last one seems kind of limited.
- Miss Lenhart:Yeah, but over it's domain it's really precise. Absolutely nails squirrels and grapefruit.
- Miss Lenhart:Someday we hope to unify it with the other two.
Add comment 
Create topic (use sparingly) 
Refresh Discussion
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: 06:21) 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
- Please beware that <p> on mediawiki also disables automatic paragraph breaks, so you need a closing </p> or you'll break automatic paragraph formatting for the rest of the page. Zmatt (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2024 (UTC)
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)
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
|
|
Soup
|
yum yum [citation needed]
Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve
{{trout}}
This is the leaderboard:
<a href=" [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING][tab] "Cancel the meeting! Our cover is blown.">
Add comment
Is this out of date? Clicking here will fix that.
New here?
Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have
just joined. You can do it too! Create your account
here.
You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to sign up for an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for comics, characters, themes and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd web comic, it should be here.
- There are incomplete explanations listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
Rules
Don't be a jerk!
There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.
Please only submit material directly related to (and helping everyone better understand) xkcd... and of course only submit material that can legally be posted (and freely edited). Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.
If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.
Category:Root category
