Talk:2818: Circuit Symbols

The direct link to the comic is getting a 404 error. But it appears at the xkcd.com home page. Barmar (talk) 01:31, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

The link is working now. Nitpicking (talk) 02:33, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

Randall is symbolizing sheep with a coil because ... wool takes a helical shape. See https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wool#/media/File:Royal_Winter_Fair_Wool.jpg. Nitpicking (talk) 02:33, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

The title text is probably a reference to the classic novella "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (a common classroom reading in the US). In this novella, a young Puritan woman "sins" by having a child out of wedlock. She is punished by having to wear the letter A (for adultery). Comsmomf (talk) 02:54, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

Can someone with more wiki-foo than me please put the actual images for the symbols in a new first column? Blackbearnh (talk) 03:01, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

I tried, unsuccessfully, to learn if there were "Scarlet Letters" that represented other sins ['A' is mentioned to be for 'Adultery', Maybe 'O' for Onanism?] These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 03:41, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

From what I understand, ‘BJ’ had its fair share of supporters. 172.70.210.247 04:47, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

What exactly does "the opposite of capacitors" mean in this context? I'm not that familiar with EE, but from my limited understanding of inductors this is an incorrect and confusing statement. 172.70.126.79 08:07, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

They are the conjugate complex (so the sentence is kind of half-true), if you consider complex impedances. Sebastian --172.68.110.169 08:56, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

Behaviorally the description makes sense, capacitors behave the same way regarding voltage vs. current as inductors behave regarding current vs. voltage and vice versa. Capacitors can "instantaneously" allow a spike in the current flowing through the circuit path that they are placed in, while the voltage across a capacitor can't change instantaneously and requires time to change incrementally (with a corresponding decline over time in the current flowing). Inductors "instantaneously" allow the voltage across their terminals to spike, but the current flowing through it can't change instantaneously and requires time to change incrementally (with a corresponding decline in the voltage across the inductor). Capacitors can act as a sort of "shock absorber" (no pun intended) or low-pass frequency filter for voltages, as inductors can for current. So they are very much considered complementary and the "essentially the opposite of capacitors" comment does pretty much make sense to EEs. But yes, it's not a particularly illuminating description without that background, and the description isn't really valid regarding their physical makeup or what makes them tick, just their role in a circuit. 172.71.146.213 09:32, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

The "overpass" is troubling me, as a map fan. Dependant upon the conventions of any given map illustrator this could easily be more an underpass (main road being the || track, lesser track being the — that sneaks beneath it) or a 'green bridge' (road is the — and the bridge 'symbol' is the || with no actual route using the space between its edges) or a minor road intersection of an uncrossable dual carriageway (each || is a directional way, separated by central reservation, and a historic road/lane is given T-junction access to/from the adjacent direction of travel, but no local flyover to access the opposite continuation/direction, probably have to use other flyovers/turning points above and below this snapshot). Or it's just a regular major/minor crossroads (track-level horizontal/E-W, more main road vertically/N-S) and is entirely at-grade so not involving a bridge at all. But all very much will repy upon the publisher's/renderer's choice of map-symbolism. 172.70.91.95 11:27, 22 August 2023 (UTC)

What's your hope? That Randall will edit his comic? -- Dtgriscom (talk) 11:41, 22 August 2023 (UTC)