What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
You may not like the answer. But here it is, this question doesn’t make sense. It stems from two contradicting axioms (statements taken to be true by definition) which nullify whatever result we derive from them.
(more…)
You might ask: How do I use the parallelogram law in real life?
My answer: all the time.
In fact, you might be using it right now! But just like inertia, it’s intimately wired into our lives that we don’t even notice when we’re using it. If you have ever rowed a boat, been to the gym, played basketball, or shot an arrow with a bow, hell if you’ve ever thrown anything at anything. Then there’s a good chance you have subconsciously referred to the parallelogram law in your mind.
Ever notice how Olympic weightlifters usually spread their arms out wide in an overhead press position? That’s not arbitrary, in addition to enhancing their stability, that pose ensures the weight of the plates on the sides is distributed equally to both arms. It is a perfect way in which the body balances off the weight of the plates between its two arms. And it is consistent with the parallelogram law.
(more…)
In physics, vectors are quantities completely specified by magnitude and direction only. But why would physicists and mathematicians be interested in such quantities?
In this article I will show that vectors arise naturally as we try to understand the physical universe. And that the special feature of direction is both fundamental and consequential in developing physical quantities.
(more…)