Hyperdimensional water

[Chuffy]

I read the Bad Science column in Saturdays Grauniad. Very interesting. But the passage below did my head in...

On the BBC news site "crews were hopeful the 20m cubic litres of water could be held back and not breach the dam wall". And that'll be a struggle, since "cubic litres" are a nine-dimensional measuring system, so the hyperdimensional water could breach the dam in almost any one of the five other dimensions you haven't noticed yet

Ok. Litres are a measure of quantity. Cubic is just a notional way of arranging a given quantity. So what the hell is he on about? Argh!

 

[marinyork]

It's a play on the old square centimetres/centimetres squared joke.

Litres are a measure of volume enclosed by some 3 dimensional shape. You cube them and in dimensional analysis style you end up with nine.

 

[Crackle]

Pardon me Chuffy, I need Marinyork a mo.

Marinyork would you mind just popping over to this thread and sorting us out http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=8367

Tah.

 

[Pete]

Cubic metres, they probably meant - so the inference is, someone dictated the story to someone else maybe? Twenty million litres wouldn't be much of a reservoir: barely enough to fill a large swimming pool.

I have this vague memory from early schooldays, on first learning about 'square' anything, I was eagerly trying to square pounds and ounces (and probably: pounds, shillings and pence) and wondering why the teacher wasn't giving me any marks...

 

[Chuffy]

It's a play on the old square centimetres/centimetres squared joke.

Litres are a measure of volume enclosed by some 3 dimensional shape. You cube them and in dimensional analysis style you end up with nine.

Oooh, me sides!

I still don't get it.

 

[Dave5N]

Bloody hell, Chuffy. Get a basics physics textbook.

Not like there's much else in Devon to do.

 

[Speicher]

It's a play on the old square centimetres/centimetres squared joke.

Litres are a measure of volume enclosed by some 3 dimensional shape. You cube them and in dimensional analysis style you end up with nine.

If a very large cube is made up of nine smaller cubes, you end up with 27 dimensions, each of the nine cubes having three dimensions.

 

[domtyler]

Oooh, me sides!

I still don't get it.

Probably best if you stick to the RLJ threads from now on mate!

 

[Abitrary]

Underestimating the complexity of water is a basic mistake. About 5 years ago a company started marketing extra strong water, think it was called Blue Water. Apparently if you put a bottle of it next to a lemon, it could suck all of the acidity out of it.

 

[domtyler]

Underestimating the complexity of water is a basic mistake. About 5 years ago a company started marketing extra strong water, think it was called Blue Water. Apparently if you put a bottle of it next to a lemon, it could suck all of the acidity out of it.

How long have you been a lesbian?

 

[Dave5N]

DomTyler you are forgiven. For everything.

 

[Speicher]

Underestimating the complexity of water is a basic mistake. About 5 years ago a company started marketing extra strong water, think it was called Blue Water. Apparently if you put a bottle of it next to a lemon, it could suck all of the acidity out of it.

Heavy water - does anyone remember or know about that?

 

[Dave5N]

Think that's more about Norway and Nazi plots and atom bombs and stuff.

 

[Abitrary]

Heavy water - does anyone remember or know about that?

Think it was manufuctured by the germans in WWII in norway for making nuclear weapons?

 

[Chuffy]

Bloody hell, Chuffy. Get a basics physics textbook.

Not like there's much else in Devon to do.

I hated physics. Possibly because the jokes were so bad.