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I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

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Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#51

Post by sega_sai »

soneil wrote: post #41
lmilcin wrote: post #9

Fun to introduce general population to some interesting physics but please, don't call it "settling physics debate". There is NO debate. Not physics debate, not even practical debate because that knowledge is in practical everyday use. We know signals in wires take time to propagate and I have to take this into account when I design my circuits. Things like matching lengths of traces (especially differential pairs) s…

That's fairly intuitive. The lower current being present before the signal arrives is not intuitive.

I just arrives through the air. The electromagnetic wave will propagate with similar speeds through the air and wire.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#52

Post by renewiltord »

parhamn wrote: post #46

I took some notes through the first part here: https://synth.app/s/JeJYQgwxey8 if you're on the go and can't watch.

What in bloody hell is this website? I have wanted this for so long and was going to make a shitty version of this as a weekend project. But this is fucking amazing. Thank you for this.

Bro, if this is your product, it seems fucking cool, dude. Told my buddy and I'm going to request an invitation too.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#53

Post by jjoonathan »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #29
Laremere wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I love Veritasium, I feel the OP video is better than his. Actually doing the experiment is really good, and it honestly feels like he was fishing for another debate like the faster than wind car by giving only a super theoretical and unintuitive explanation. (I don't have any real evidence of that, but it does /feel/ like it.) I also wonder what would happen if, instead of a setup like this: ┏───────light…

Yeah, this is what im wondering. The proposed mechanism for this is that the wires generate electric fields that influence electrons remotely. Fine. What happens when they are not close enough for any meaningful electric field interaction?

The "fast plateau" is pitiful from a power delivery perspective even under tight coupling. Under looser coupling, it becomes proportionately more pitiful.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#54

Post by pclmulqdq »

JshWright wrote: post #43
0xTJ wrote: post #5

That Veritasium video is one of the most controversial educational videos I've seen. I think one of the issues with it is that it's a bit pedantic, but also ignores other issues, that invites other people to be pedantic about it.

> I think one of the issues with it is that it's a bit pedantic, but also ignores other issues, that invites other people to be pedantic about it. I think the video is intentionally misleading. He got a taste of how "successful" a controversial video can be with the "Wind powered car going faster than the wind" thing, and he's leaning into that. I just don't see any other explanation for how he chose to frame the pro…

I completely agree. When I got an EE degree, most of the content was about how electric fields work. It's not a simple concept. That video was reductive to the point that it made me angry. For all practical purposes, he is wrong, and he should admit that.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#55

Post by jayd16 »

TempestSA wrote: post #35

Why wouldn't a simpler explanation be that the wires produce a radio/electromagnetic wave and that wave gets picked up and induces a current, which is how radio transmitters receivers work?

It's not a trick question if you explain the trick up front.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#56

Post by rectang »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #48
colechristensen wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not a fan of the “big leagues” of science YouTube, many seem to have been tainted by the attention algorithm game.

Especially Mark Rober. His videos aren't really about science at all, but rather attention-grabbing feats like package thief glitter bombs, squirrel mazes, and chemical volcano explosions—pure entertainment. None of his videos teach you anything like Steve Mould's videos do.

Rober is surely an entertainer first, but he claims to be an engineer rather than a scientist. The videos are more about building things which solve specific problems rather than revealing scientific truth.

Off the top of my head, I remember how the pin failed in the automatic placekicker video, how the cameras worked in the moving dartboard, how they had to use different materials to contain the large scale elephant foam...

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#57

Post by jarenmf »

JshWright wrote: post #43
0xTJ wrote: post #5

That Veritasium video is one of the most controversial educational videos I've seen. I think one of the issues with it is that it's a bit pedantic, but also ignores other issues, that invites other people to be pedantic about it.

> I think one of the issues with it is that it's a bit pedantic, but also ignores other issues, that invites other people to be pedantic about it. I think the video is intentionally misleading. He got a taste of how "successful" a controversial video can be with the "Wind powered car going faster than the wind" thing, and he's leaning into that. I just don't see any other explanation for how he chose to frame the pro…

That's unfortunate because his content used to be very good and this video seems only seeking engagement at a very shallow level, e.g. doesn't even mention transmission lines.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#58

Post by soneil »

sega_sai wrote: post #51
soneil wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fairly intuitive. The lower current being present before the signal arrives is not intuitive.

I just arrives through the air. The electromagnetic wave will propagate with similar speeds through the air and wire.

I didn't finish the video (yet, no fault of the video, just bad timing), but I don't think it's EMI - the "pre-current" looked fairly flat, and EM doesn't like flat. I'd expect EMI to show as a spike timed to match the leading edge of the signal.

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#59

Post by robscallsign »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #29
Laremere wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I love Veritasium, I feel the OP video is better than his. Actually doing the experiment is really good, and it honestly feels like he was fishing for another debate like the faster than wind car by giving only a super theoretical and unintuitive explanation. (I don't have any real evidence of that, but it does /feel/ like it.) I also wonder what would happen if, instead of a setup like this: ┏───────light…

Yeah, this is what im wondering. The proposed mechanism for this is that the wires generate electric fields that influence electrons remotely. Fine. What happens when they are not close enough for any meaningful electric field interaction?

If they're not connected, then they're just two antennas. What happens when you get far away from your wifi hotspot or a cellphone tower?

The voltage/energy transmitted becomes vanishingly small, and smaller than the thermal noise of the electrons in the other antenna, and undetectable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson%E2%80%93Nyquist_noise

Re: I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate [video]

#60

Post by bellyfullofbac »

lmilcin wrote: post #9

Fun to introduce general population to some interesting physics but please, don't call it "settling physics debate". There is NO debate. Not physics debate, not even practical debate because that knowledge is in practical everyday use. We know signals in wires take time to propagate and I have to take this into account when I design my circuits. Things like matching lengths of traces (especially differential pairs) s…

Curious how in the last day or 2 HN front page has 2 links to "hey kids, watch me!" YouTube videos...
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