Interesting crap you've inadvertently learned...

prelic · 12-22-2009, 05:44 PM

What are some interesting things that you've learned in class that make you go hmm?

In my psych class we learned that a toddler cannot make simple comparisons if one is deformed...i.e, fill a tall skinny glass with milk, and fill a much shorter but fatter glass with milk, and even if its completely obvious that the shorter glass has more milk, the toddler would still pick the tall one just because the milk level is higher. Another example would be taking 5 pennies, and lining them up, then taking another 5 pennies, and lining them up as well, but spaced out. If you ask a young child which has more, they will pick the spaced out group, just because it looks bigger.

See: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html (search conservation)

In my unix class, I've learned how scarily easy it is to bring an unprotected computer to it's knees.

skatahazed · 12-22-2009, 05:51 PM

i learn alot of stuff when im studying, but thats because i have the history channel going when im studying.

MVPaintballer · 12-22-2009, 06:28 PM

Adding salt to boiling water when cooking pasta doesn't make the water boil measurably hotter.

It seems like most people already knew this, yet it took Physical Chemistry for me to find out.

NickThePyro · 12-22-2009, 07:18 PM

Styrofoam and gasoline makes a fun afternoon

cww516 · 12-22-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MVPaintballer

Adding salt to boiling water when cooking pasta doesn't make the water boil measurably hotter.

It seems like most people already knew this, yet it took Physical Chemistry for me to find out.

lowers the boiling point. more stuff in the solution = water is less dense comparatively = lower boiling point. probably takes a hell of a lot of salt to actually do anything, though. learned that recently as well.

also, EVERYTHING you wanted to not learn and write off as being magic is either quantum mechanics or calc. E = mc^2? taylor series expansion (1st 2 terms, anyway). area of a triangle? definite integral. why the sky is blue? quantum.

prelic · 12-22-2009, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cww516

also, EVERYTHING you wanted to not learn and write off as being magic is either quantum mechanics or calc. E = mc^2? taylor series expansion (1st 2 terms, anyway). area of a triangle? definite integral. why the sky is blue? quantum.

true that.

MVPaintballer · 12-22-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cww516

lowers the boiling point. more stuff in the solution = water is less dense comparatively = lower boiling point. probably takes a hell of a lot of salt to actually do anything, though. learned that recently as well.

Heh, well, whoever taught you that is wrong. Other than positive azeotropic mixtures (such as 96% EtOH / H2O) (volatile), I'm fairly certain that any solute will elevate the boiling point. I'm not quite sure how density has anything to do with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_point_elevation

Salt will absolutely raise the boiling point.

The opposite is true with freezing point (you can lower a freezing point).

cww516 · 12-22-2009, 09:03 PM

**** me, i was backwards. i was wondering why that seemed weird when i was typing it...

Pbmike20 · 12-23-2009, 12:18 PM

-People who have had an amputation can still feel pain in their missing limbs. It's a phenomenon known as "phantom pain"
-How we see relies heavily on steriochemistry of the organic molecule rodopsin
-Calculus can be used to find a person's heart rate and blood pressure
-How to take 1667 one dollar bills and turn it into 50 mg of cocaine(I'll actually be trying this over the summer)
-How to make Trinitrotoluene
-How to make a homemade nuclear bomb
-Why carbon monoxide is poisonous

The list goes on and on

Boatacious · 12-23-2009, 12:28 PM

squirrels aren't afraid of people on campus

Wenuliveudie · 12-23-2009, 01:25 PM

Older traffic light sensors induce eddy currents in vehicles to sense when traffic is present. Modern lights, though, use optical sensing for traffic.

m_kenney · 12-23-2009, 03:05 PM

the majority of the alcohol absorbed into your bloodstream when drinking is absorbed through your small intestine.

OA paintball · 12-23-2009, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_kenney

the majority of the alcohol absorbed into your bloodstream when drinking is absorbed through your small intestine.

I was always under the impression your mouth absorbed a good deal of it as well. But what you said doesnt surprise me.

icdballer27 · 12-23-2009, 05:27 PM

why people in Eurasia conquered everything and why Africa probably wont succeed for a very long time. Just dependent on the native crops and animals

m_kenney · 12-23-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icdballer27

and why Africa probably wont succeed for a very long time. Just dependent on the native crops and animals

I learned that it is the imperialistic nations that caused Africa to turn out the way it is because the people didn't learn how to develop on their own. The colonists built all of this infrastructure and stopped maintaining it or took it when they exhausted the resources and left. They set up boarders which forced rival tribes to try and coexist, and now we have genocide.

Oh, another really interesting thing i learned is that Brown university was established with proceeds from slave trade. The Brown family were some of the most prosperous slave traders in the country. Kind of weird because they brought the slaves into the country via Providence, which is north of the mason dixon line. My friend used to be a cop at the rhode island school of design, and in one of their buildings (a building formerly owned by Brown) had shackles attached to the basement walls for detaining slaves.

icdballer27 · 12-23-2009, 11:23 PM

well mostly why they didnt succeed in the past is due to crops and such. But presently yeah i would agree that has a lot to do with it.

corporationpaintball · 12-23-2009, 11:28 PM

Assault is both a tort and criminal matter.

05 ProStock · 12-23-2009, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boatacious

squirrels aren't afraid of people on campus

.

NickThePyro · 12-23-2009, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 05 ProStock

.

Thats because all of ours are drunk

Dirtybirdy51 · 12-24-2009, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boatacious

squirrels aren't afraid of people on campus

DOOD! You to?!?

i thought that was only my campus!

shark6428 · 12-24-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MVPaintballer

Adding salt to boiling water when cooking pasta doesn't make the water boil measurably hotter.

It seems like most people already knew this, yet it took Physical Chemistry for me to find out.

Most people think you add the salt to get the water to boil faster. I was taught that the salt solution has a higher boiling point, but the advantage is that the higher boiling point does allow you to cook the pasta (or whatever is boiled faster). Regardless, I don't see a significant difference. Instead, you can add a cap full of oil to the water to help keep the noodles from sticking.

In order to keep gasoline engines efficient and reduce pollution, oxygen sensors are used to calculate the amount of gasoline needed to react in the perfect ratio so that none is wasted. Contrary to popular belief, when you push down the gas pedal, you add more air to the engine, not more gas. In order to compensate for the sudden change in air, the computer accounts for the increase of oxygen in advance. Stoichiometry is cool.