[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lhkd9k8uHcU/SWA-juPpM6I/AAAAAAAAABE/N3-kTM1LYjE/S692/mad_scientist.gif[/img]
So, you think that mad scientists can't [i]really[/i] exist, right? Actually, they do exist, and just about every physicist you meet today will be mad. Mad with 137, that is.
137, or rather, 1/137 (137.035999679...) is the probability that an electron will emit or absorb a photon. This is an important process in electromagnetism (it's the reason why the light form your monitor is able to display information). Now, 1/137 is no more than the charge of an electron squared divided by Planck's constant multiplied by the speed of light (e^2 / h*c). Not only does this equation tell the said probability, but it combines the important concepts of electromagnetism (the charge of the electron), relativity (the speed of light), and quantum theory (Planck's constant). Now with so much importance crammed into one number (it's going to play an important role in unification), wouldn't it be nice to get a nice, explainable number like Pi?
Alas, no. No such luck. Instead, God (or whatever is upstairs) cooked up a nice hot random '137'. To add insult to injury, 137 is a pure number, meaning there are no dimensional units to muss with 137. This means that if scientists of the dog-race from planet Zorkon solved for the same thing, they would come out with 137 as well. We're stuck with 137, whether we like it or not. Whoever said 'life isn't fair' got it right.
The great mystery of 137 starts back in 1915. Scientists, such as Einstein, were pursuing a theory of unification, or a theory of everything. To do this, one has to unify all forces in the universe into one mathematical expression. A man that went by Richard Sommerfield originally calculated this number out. Physicists were appalled, but sure enough, Sommerfield was on the mark. For the next few decades, up into the 50's, great scientists such as Werner Heisenberg and and Wolfgang Pauli tried to make sense of 137 through various mathematical incantations. In fact, Pauli spent a large amount of his time multiplying Pi by various numbers to try and get 137 (137 haunted Pauli to his deathbed, literally. Pauli died in room 137 of his hospital). However, scientists eventually threw in the towel when they learned to get on without explaining 137.
137 remains a mystery up to this day. 137 causes distress to physicists across the globe. It's even said that if you're in trouble in a foreign city and you take to holding a sign with '137' on it, a physicist will eventually see you and come to your aid. Not that this has ever been tested. But if you do find yourself lost in Bombay, try this out for me and let me know if it works.
[QUOTE=billeh!;22344043]This means that if scientists of the dog-race from planet Zorkon solved for the same thing, they would come out with 137 as well. We're stuck with 137, whether we like it or not. Whoever said 'life isn't fair' got it right.[/QUOTE]
It would only be 137 in base-10 number systems, which we can't guarantee alien species use. :science:
All scientists should look like the one in the OP.
[QUOTE=CoolCorky;22344087]It would only be 137 in base-10 number systems, which we can't guarantee alien species use. :science:[/QUOTE]
Well it'd be kind of hard to count something as simple as your toes in a base 134 number system.
Though you are completely right. And it's a rather humorous thought.
[QUOTE=billeh!;22344128]Well it'd be kind of hard to count something as simple as your toes in a base 134 number system.
Though you are completely right. And it's a rather humorous thought.[/QUOTE]
I'm willing to bet base 5 or perhaps 20 would be quite common. Although (and this may be because I've only so far done GCSE maths) I'm not quite sure what happens when you do get to 20 in a base-20 number system. What's the number after?
[editline]02:20PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Emperorconor;22344120]All scientists should look like the one in the OP.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://www.fiveminutemmorpg.com/Emmettjpg.jpg[/img]
GREAT SCOTT!!!
[QUOTE=CoolCorky;22344180]I'm willing to bet base 5 or perhaps 20 would be quite common. Although (and this may be because I've only so far done GCSE maths) I'm not quite sure what happens when you do get to 20 in a base-20 number system. What's the number after?[/quote]
Well they would have symbols for everything up to 20, then they would have two digits, the secondary digit counting the number of '20' sets and the first digit still counting normally.
Ah, fair point. I was still thinking of human numbering, which is base-10. :/
Every base is base 10.
heh heh heh
[editline]02:29PM[/editline]
Also, this is pretty crazy.
Gotta love a bit of physics in the morning.
Okay correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't base 10 the fact that our numbers tend to run in multiples of 10?
Like 1 - 10 - 100 - 1000?
Fuck 42, 137 is the answer now
[QUOTE=bravehat;22345123]Okay correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't base 10 the fact that our numbers tend to run in multiples of 10?
Like 1 - 10 - 100 - 1000?[/QUOTE]
You are correct.
[QUOTE=bravehat;22345123]Okay correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't base 10 the fact that our numbers tend to run in multiples of 10?
Like 1 - 10 - 100 - 1000?[/QUOTE]
Basically: base 10 means that we only have 9 numbers (not counting 0), so every time you hit a multiple of 10 you add 1 to the base, and then start counting from 0 again at the end of the number.
My terminology might be off, but basically it's this: There are two parts to every number in our base ten system: The number of groups of 10 (Which is all the numbers up till the last one) + the number of single units (the last number). So for example, 1483 is read as [b]148[/b] groups of 10 + [b]3[/b] individual units. So for a base-20 system, there would be 9 additional symbols for 11, 12, etc. all the way to 19. Then once you hit 20, you'd add 1 to the number of groups of 20, and start counting from 0 again for single units (which would now be the last [b]2[/b] numbers in a number, rather than just the last one.
It might make sense to add that 10 (in a base-10 system) or 20 (in a base-20 system) aren't actually "numbers" themselves. 10 is simply read as [b]1 group of 10[/b] + 0 individual units.
What's that ratio that's found all over nature? It's like 1/1.37 or something and you see it if you draw the radius on a shell/flower/etc and then measure the different ring widths on that radial.
Edit;
ah 1.618
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1g7AYOHvoU[/media]
They don't really go into depth explaining it in this video but this ratio is EVERYWHERE.
[QUOTE=creefer;22345448]What's that ratio that's found all over nature? It's like 1/1.37 or something and you see it if you draw the radius on a shell/flower/etc and then measure the different ring widths on that radial.[/QUOTE]
Well the golden ratio in a circle measures out to be 137 degrees, or 1/137th of the circle.
The golden ratio is a constantly reoccurring phenom among biological processes and things that have golden-ratio like qualities to them are visually pleasing. For example, photos with their subjects about 1/3 (31-ish percent) away from the edges of the photo are fun to look at.
A base 5 system is weird, but since we have a base-10 system it's easy to show what a base-5 would look like. Counting would go:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 [b]Add 1 to base[/b]
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20 [b]Add 1 to base[/b]
20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30 [b] etc. etc.[/b]
It looks weird as hell, but it's easy to understand. 10 in a base-5 is 5 in a base-10, 20 = 10, etc.
[QUOTE=billeh!;22344043][img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lhkd9k8uHcU/SWA-juPpM6I/AAAAAAAAABE/N3-kTM1LYjE/S692/mad_scientist.gif[/img]
So, you think that mad scientists can't [i]really[/i] exist, right? Actually, they do exist, and just about every physicist you meet today will be mad. Mad with 137, that is.
137, or rather, 1/137 (137.035999679...) is the probability that an electron will emit or absorb a photon. This is an important process in electromagnetism (it's the reason why the light form your monitor is able to display information). Now, 1/137 is no more than the charge of an electron squared divided by Plank's constant multiplied by the speed of light (e^2 / h*c). Not only does this equation tell the said probability, but it combines the important concepts of electromagnetism (the charge of the electron), relativity (the speed of light), and quantum theory (Plank's constant). Now with so much importance crammed into one number (it's going to play an important role in unification), wouldn't it be nice to get a nice, explainable number like Pie?
Alas, no. No such luck. Instead, God (or whatever is upstairs) cooked up a nice hot random '137'. To add insult to injury, 137 is a pure number, meaning there are no dimensional units to muss with 137. This means that if scientists of the dog-race from planet Zorkon solved for the same thing, they would come out with 137 as well. We're stuck with 137, whether we like it or not. Whoever said 'life isn't fair' got it right.
The great mystery of 137 starts back in 1915. Scientists, such as Einstein, were pursuing a theory of unification, or a theory of everything. To do this, one has to unify all forces in the universe into one mathematical expression. A man that went by Richard Sommerfield originally calculated this number out. Physicists were appalled, but sure enough, Sommerfield was on the mark. For the next few decades, up into the 50's, great scientists such as Werner Heisenberg and and Wolfgang Pauli tried to make sense of 137 through various mathematical incantations. In fact, Pauli spent a large amount of his time multiplying Pie by various numbers to try and get 137 (137 haunted Pauli to his deathbed, literally. Pauli died in room 137 of his hospital). However, scientists eventually threw in the towel when they learned to get on without explaining 137.
137 remains a mystery up to this day. 137 causes distress to physicists across the globe. It's even said that if you're in trouble in a foreign city and you take to holding a sign with '137' on it, a physicist will eventually see you and come to your aid. Not that this has ever been tested. But if you do find yourself lost in Bombay, try this out for me and let me know if it works.[/QUOTE]
A+, would read again if it weren't for the fact that you misspelled Pi. It isn't even pronounced like that.
I feel so dumb now, that base-10 system is explained a couple of times in this thread, but I still can't seem to grasp it. Anyone cares to tell me in simple English what it actually concerns? I understand it's all about the counting, but if you would have another base system, the same number would apply, but it just has another name, or not? I'm so confused!
[QUOTE=Seppe;22345748]I feel so dumb now, that base-10 system is explained a couple of times in this thread, but I still can't seem to grasp it. Anyone cares to tell me in simple English what it actually concerns? I understand it's all about the counting, but if you would have another base system, the same number would apply, but it just has another name, or not? I'm so confused![/QUOTE]
Base-10 uses digits 0 through 9. When we pass 9 we start reusing the same numbers, stacking them: 9+1=10.
Base-2 or Binary however uses digits 0 and 1. This is the base a compter uses; they count with One and Zero. When you pass 1 you reuse 1 and 0 again.
1+1=10 10+1=11 11+1=100
[QUOTE=Emperorconor;22344120]All scientists should look like the one in the OP.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Seppe;22345748]I feel so dumb now, that base-10 system is explained a couple of times in this thread, but I still can't seem to grasp it. Anyone cares to tell me in simple English what it actually concerns? I understand it's all about the counting, but if you would have another base system, the same number would apply, but it just has another name, or not? I'm so confused![/QUOTE]
I think its for every 9 digits, you add one, so 1 -9 then +1
I think but my minds gone blank so this should be re explained to me around half past 9 PM GMT and I should get it fine :v:
base-2 officially confuses me, I don't understand how 11+1 could possibly equal 100 would someone please explain a little more in deph about that? I'm sorry i feel like a total dumbass.
e=MC...doh' let me get my notepad
[QUOTE=billeh!;22344043]Pauli spent a large amount of his time multiplying Pie by various numbers to try and get 137[/QUOTE]
he couldn't of been that smart he should of just divided 137 by pi.
[QUOTE=QuinnithXD;22347071]base-2 officially confuses me, I don't understand how 11+1 could possibly equal 100 would someone please explain a little more in deph about that? I'm sorry i feel like a total dumbass.[/QUOTE]
In base 10, you can use the digits 0-9, meaning that once you get to the number over 9, you ad a step and then revert back to 0, i.e 10.
In base-2 on the other hand, you can only use the digits 1 and 0, so every time you get to the number that is over 1 you have to ad a step.
A binary number could look like this:
0000
if you want to make it easier for yourself, you can think of it like this:
0000
8421
The digit in the lower row shows the value of the digit in the upper row.
Now, if we add one, we get:
0001
8421
i.e, 1
if we add 1 to that, it will look like this:
0010
8421
i.e, 2
0011, the number you asked about is 3 (1+2). If you add 0001 (1) to three, you get 4, i.e 0100.
I hope that cleared it up somewhat. It might not be the best explanation, i'm neither a mathematician nor a teacher.
