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#1 2007-10-30 08:23:48
- Daniel123
- Member
- Registered: 2007-05-23
- Posts: 663
Moments
Hello 
In the context of the lever, Archimedes is recorded as saying:
"Give me a long enough lever and I will move the Earth"
Comment on how practical Archimedes' suggestion really is.
I'm not sure really what to say. It would be impractical to make a lever that long? And actually... where would the pivot be?
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#2 2007-10-30 09:02:23
- mathsyperson
- Moderator
- Registered: 2005-06-22
- Posts: 4,900
Re: Moments
I suppose he'd have to stand on Mars and use the moon as a pivot, or something like that.
But yes, to get a big enough ratio that moving the Earth is possible, he'd need a ridiculously long stick. Although he's not worried about the mass of the Earth anymore, the mass of the stick would probably be too great for him to budge it. And if he could move the stick, it would almost certainly snap anyway.
A much easier way to move the Earth would be to jump or drop a pen or something. Pretty much everything we do moves the Earth a tiny little bit.
Why did the vector cross the road?
It wanted to be normal.
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#3 2007-10-30 09:34:26
- Daniel123
- Member
- Registered: 2007-05-23
- Posts: 663
Re: Moments
Good answer, thank you.
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