|
|
|
BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2006 : 05:06:43 [Permalink]
|
| Sorry my joke was a little too inside, I implied that asking questions was the devils work... like questioning the sun revolving around the Earth. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
 |
|
|
JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 05:17:18 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
Ah, I see what he meant now. I guess it's sort of how you look at it then. The ball and the Earth would have the same rotational speed, but individual points on the outermost edges would be moving at radically different velocities...
Well, if you're talking about rotation, the only non-arbitrary measure is angular velocity. If you're talking about surface velocity, you have to take into account that it varies, and also that velocity has a directional component (it's a vector). The directional component is always changing (in any earth-bound frame of reference), so you might also have to explain accelleration if you go down this route.  Methinks this could be getting a little messy to do for a 4 year old. I like the time lapse pic idea.
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
Teaching her the right way to think is much more important than teacher her the right things to think.
I couldn't agree more Ricky. My daughter's only just turned two, but has started talking about the sun going to "sleep". I made the mistake of agreeing once, and have been wondering about explaining to her that it's only "hiding", and not really asleep ever since. I may be getting a little ahead of the game, she just want the sun to "wake up" so she can go jump on her "tram-leen" again. |
John's just this guy, you know. |
|
|
|
BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 06:30:47 [Permalink]
|
| Start with the basics of particle physics and work your way up to the sun. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
|
|
|
woolytoad
Skeptic Friend
313 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 07:32:43 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
Start with the basics of particle physics and work your way up to the sun.
LOL. I have a cousin who is much younger than me. I have a degree in Physics, and an Uncle who is a professor of Physics.
So one day she asks us about how metal conducts. So we start simple. She doesn't like our answers so we slowly get more and more complicated. She wasn't impressed. |
|
|
|
Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
|
|
trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 13:10:21 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
Sorry my joke was a little too inside, I implied that asking questions was the devils work... like questioning the sun revolving around the Earth.
I'm in your sig? sweet! |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
|
|
|
Wendy
SFN Regular
USA
614 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2006 : 08:23:17 [Permalink]
|
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by Wendy
Be ready to explain to her why she doesn't come down in a different place when she jumps.
Are you a denier of the Coriolis-effect? Of course she never comes down in the same place she started...
Not at all, Dr. Mabuse. I understand the child is moving with the Earth and continues to do so even while she is in the air. However, I have a house full of children who understandably think like children. In short, I've been asked that question a few times.
|
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
|
|
|
|
beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2006 : 15:23:50 [Permalink]
|
| Maybe too hard for a concrete thinker (all 4 year olds) but you could at least bring up the subject of acceleration/deceleration as the reason we feel movement, not the actual movement itself. A elevator is a good place for a demonstration. Don't expect instant results but the seed will be planted. |
|
|
|
Robb
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2006 : 05:24:26 [Permalink]
|
| As soon as I get some good ideas here, I go home and she did not ask me for the first time in a week. I asked her at bedtime about it and she said that "I beleive you daddy" and went on to something else. I think she lost interest. As it is with her, she will ask again in a month or two. I hope to have a better answer for her. Thanks for the ideas. |
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington |
|
|
 |
|
Topic Locked
