Category Archives: Engineering

Q: Can light be used to transfer energy instead of power lines?

Posted on July 22, 2011 by The Physicist

The original question was: Is it possible that, when more efficient methods of harnessing light energy are established, light could be used as a means to transfer massive amounts of energy (for instance, enough to power a city) without physical … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Engineering, Physics | 7 Comments

Q: What are integral transforms and how do they work?

Posted on July 14, 2011 by The Mathematician

Mathematician: If you have a function f(x) and a function k(x,s) then you can (as long as the product of f(x) times k(x,s) is integrable on the set X) always form another function of a new variable s as follows: … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, Engineering, Equations, Math | 9 Comments

Q: What is going on in a nuclear reactor, and what happens during a meltdown?

Posted on March 23, 2011 by The Physicist

Physicist: Nuclear reactors are very 19th century in a way. The nuclear fuel is basically a bunch of very hot metal, and the more of it you get together in one place, the hotter it gets.  That heat is used … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Engineering, Particle Physics, Physics | 10 Comments

Q: How does quantum computing work?

Posted on February 17, 2011 by The Physicist

The original question was: Could you give a description of the principles behind quantum computing? And how is it that some problems have a better time-complexity when they’re run on a quantum-computer? Physicist: Particles and sets of particles are frequently … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Computer Science, Engineering, Entropy/Information, Math, Physics, Quantum Theory | 22 Comments

Q: How does a Tesla coil work?

Posted on October 9, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: Stripped down to it’s most essential parts, a Tesla coil is a wire sticking out of the ground. To get sparks to fly out of the top the rest of the machine “sloshes” electrons up and down the wire. … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Engineering, Physics | 53 Comments

Q: How do surge protectors work?

Posted on August 29, 2010 by The Physicist

Physicist: To control power in a house or an outlet you’d generally use a fuse.  But fuses are slow, they need time to heat up.  A surge (or the faster “spike”) happen too fast, so reacting to a surge is … Continue reading →

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Engineering, Physics | 2 Comments