1. Donationrwingett
    Ming the Merciless
    Royal Oak, MI
    Joined
    09 Sep '01
    Moves
    27626
    14 Nov '02 21:30
    If you proportionally double the size of an elephant, how much will its weight
    increase?
  2. Joined
    20 Sep '01
    Moves
    99486
    14 Nov '02 21:55
  3. Donationrichjohnson
    TANSTAAFL
    Walking on sunshine
    Joined
    28 Jun '01
    Moves
    63101
    15 Nov '02 01:16
    weight is proportional to volume, not area.
  4. Joined
    11 May '02
    Moves
    3408
    14 Nov '02 22:35
    If the elephant eats itself will it vanish or be twice as big?
    Mari
  5. Donationmaggoteer
    The MAKIA
    a bit closer please
    Joined
    08 Dec '01
    Moves
    4931
    15 Nov '02 01:02
    It will weigh twice as much, but be invisible.

    Anyone know what a "Klein bottle" is? Sort of like a Mobius strip. I suddenly
    thought of a Klein elephant. If you stick the trunk in the..., oh let's not go
    there...
  6. Joined
    29 Jul '01
    Moves
    60863
    15 Nov '02 04:56
    I've wasted hours sitting in front of a real life Klein bottle. It's just,
    well, incredible. Am I right in thinking that a *true* Klein bottle can't
    actually be made in three dimensions? Can it be done in 4
    dimensions, or 5 or 6 or 7 or...?

    Mark
    The Squirrel Lover
  7. Donationbelgianfreak
    stitching you up
    Joined
    08 Apr '02
    Moves
    7146
    15 Nov '02 13:51
    somebody explain please - an internet link would be better... this
    sounds facinating (even to my mathimatically redundant brain)
  8. Joined
    29 Jul '01
    Moves
    60863
    15 Nov '02 14:57
    Jon, try this (there may be better explanations but it's the best one
    I've found after a few minutes of searching):-

    http://www.kleinbottle.com/whats_a_klein_bottle.htm

    Also,

    http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/55176.html
    http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/55185.html

    These last two (and the links from them) helped to answer a lot of the
    questions I had! Expecially about 4 dimensions and so on.

    Mark
    The Squirrel Lover
  9. DonationAcolyte
    Now With Added BA
    Loughborough
    Joined
    04 Jul '02
    Moves
    3790
    15 Nov '02 12:12
    Related question: Drop an earthworm down a mineshaft, and it will probably survive. Drop
    an elephant down a mineshaft (assuming the shaft is wide enough), and it'll splatter at the
    bottom. Why?
  10. Donationbelgianfreak
    stitching you up
    Joined
    08 Apr '02
    Moves
    7146
    15 Nov '02 13:49
    surface area to volume ratios... if you halve somethings size you don't
    halve its surface area. The best visual explanation I've seen of this
    (for kids) is by cutting an orange in half - it's obvious tha the juicy bit
    is extra surface area yet the mass has just halved.

    Oh yeah.. the other half of the answer is wind resistance, which is
    directly related to surface area..
  11. DonationAcolyte
    Now With Added BA
    Loughborough
    Joined
    04 Jul '02
    Moves
    3790
    15 Nov '02 22:33
    That's right. Some people who own pet rodents don't seem to understand this, though. They
    think, 'well since it's such a small and weak animal compared to me, it can't survive large
    drops, so I have to make sure it never drops very far.' While a mouse, say, will not find the
    experience of dropping 4 feet particularly pleasant, it's not going to injure the mouse at all
    unless it's a REALLY stupid one that doesn't even try to land on its feet. I had a hamster
    once that would climb to the top of its cage, start swinging about on the ceiling bars, lose its
    footing and fall down again. Scaled up to human size it would have looked very dangerous.
    But clearly for my hamster it was so little of a problem that it kept doing it! Mind you, I did
    have a rather stupid hamster that would walk off the edge of my hand (with my hand a few
    inches above a table maybe) and then land on its nose.
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