Muireall and DaemonicSigil trade physics problems. Answers and discussion of the answers have been spoilered so you can try the problems yourself. Please also use spoiler formatting (type ">!") in the comments.

DaemonicSigil

Smeared Out Sun

Okay, so the first problem is from Thinking Physics. (I promise I'll have some original problems also. And there's a reason I've chosen this particular one.)

It's the problem of the Smeared out Sun (caution! link contains spoilers in the upside-down text).

The problem goes as follows: The sun is far enough away that we could replace it with a disc of equal radius at the same temperature (and with the same frequency-dependent emissivity), and so long as the plane of the disc was facing the Earth, there would be little difference in the way it was heating the Earth. While scientists would certainly be able to tell what had happened, there would be [...]

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Outline:

(00:27) Smeared Out Sun

(03:48) Measuring Noise and Measurement Noise

(08:09) Relativistic Rain

(14:04) Martian Dome

(20:42) Thermodynamic Computer

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First published:
March 18th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/johq6Bti9frjuRGXc/5-physics-problems

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“5 Physics Problems” by DaemonicSigil, Muireall

LessWrong (30+ Karma)