Answers to Life's Age-Old Questions

[docbyers]

There are a lot of silly questions out there that people just haven't been able to answer.  Being metrologists, we are in a unique position to offer the technical expertise to do just that.  For example:

Q: Does the refrigerator light go off when I close the door?

A: A metrologist would hook up a digital multimeter to the light's hot and neutral wires with long test leads that would extend outside the refrigerator door.  With the door open, the voltage would read 110VAC, more or less.  With the door closed, the voltage would drop to 0VAC, thereby confirming that yes, the light does go out when you close the door.

Any other examples out there?

[Thraxas]

It's really easy to check. There's a switch the door pushes when it's closed. Push the switch with your finger while the door is open, and the light should turn off.

[docbyers]

That common sense approach won't convince the average civilian, because the door's still open when you push in the button.  Having no grasp of elementary physics, they just don't see the logic of "when you close the door, it pushes the switch closed, and turns the light off..."  Numbers, my boy; ya gotta show 'em numbers!  "See?  A hundred and ten volts!  ...and when we close the door?  Zero volts!"  Quantitative evidence convinces 'em every time...

[OlDave]

Actually Doc, as a metrologist I don't CARE if the light goes off when the door is closed. What I care about is what the temperature the refrigerator does. Is it cold enough? Is it TOO cold? Is it uniform throughout? I have a set of specifications that the refigerator must remain within that relate to temperature. Remember it's called a refigerator, not a dark box. So, if the frig stays within the limits of say 2 to 6 degrees C, I really could care less if I'm using the extra 20 watts the light consumes. So I guess it's all in your perspective.

[docbyers]

Dave,
I can completely agree with that!
Doc

[Hoopty]

Or how about the old 'glass half-empty or half-full' analogy?

The pessimist may opt to use a depth micrometer to measure the amount missing from the cup.  This would tell us that the glass is half-empty.

While the optimist may use a scale to measure the weight of the liquid in the glass.  Knowing this amount might indicate that the glass is half-full.

Both are pretty straight-forward approaches to solving the question, yet each might lead us to believe something different.  So, I guess even metrology can't answer that one! 

[Freezer]

How about Schrodingers Cat? 

[docbyers]

Your lab have a surface plate?  On that you can prove the fact that "the more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets." 

Schrodinger's Cat is a 50/50 proposition: it will either live or die depending on the decay of the nucleus- which will either trigger the poisonous gas, or it won't.  It's like all weather forecasts- they're also 50/50; it'll either rain, or it won't...

[Freezer]

How do you account for the Copenhagen Variant?

[docbyers]

Empirical adequacy does require that, in cases of measurement, the actual value state of the apparatus be one describing a definite measurement result; and thus the observed value states, in these cases, are only a very restricted subset of the possible value states according to van Fraassen. Observation tells us also that, in these cases, the dynamical state generates a probability measure over this more restricted set, thus enabling us to make predictions about the result.

What is important is that there are possible value states for all physical systems that are compatible with all the observable data.

Test it, look at the numbers, and draw your conclusions...

[Freezer]

Hee Hee!    You said dynamical....


I got nothin'...I was in way over my head before I started!

[docbyers]

Hee Hee!    You said dynamical....

"Dynamical."  Well, with my 5-finger speed-demon typing method, sometimes I get carried away...

I never understood all that quantum physics stuff, anyway.  Darned few practical applications to suit this simple country boy.  My practical education in physics came from my father, who taught me all you'd ever need to know about things like leverage.  That came in handy when you had a flat tire on the John Deere in the middle of the field, and no jack in sight...  Or when you're loading a 500lb 55-gallon drum onto the back of the truck without the benefit of a forklift, that common sense stuff kicks in, and you "git 'er done."

[Freezer]

 I'm more of a value state guy myself.  Dynamical state probabilities make my brain itch. 

"Roger that" on the leverage lesson.  I'm an old scaleman from way back, so was pappy.  Levers, pivots and bearings I can handle; multi-reality possibilities?  Not so much.

[docbyers]

Q: How big of a stereo should I buy?

When I was at Ramstein, we in PMEL were constantly asked by the unschooled questions regarding stereo equipment.  The young kids were always wanting to buy monster 500 watt systems for their 10' x 10' dorm rooms, while we metrologists just smiled and shook our heads...

A: Metrologists know it isn't the number of watts that's important, but the sensitivity of the speaker that makes or breaks the mortar joints in the concrete walls of your dorm.  If a speaker has a sensitivity of 96dB or higher, you don't need a huge amplifier to make the woofer go.  A 100W amp will do the job quite nicely.  ...and we never buy amplifiers with more output power than the speakers we're hooking it up to.  We understand speaker specs like THD, SPL, frequency response, and such...  If a metrologist likes music, be sure he/she has a nice stereo to play it on!

[Hoopty]

Speaking of birthdays, speakers, and replacing flooded possessions (ok maybe we weren't talking about that), I just picked up a set of Klipsch RF-35's the other day.  If anybody knows anything about Klipsch speakers, they are nothing if not efficient!  98 dB to be precise.  Man, they sound soooooo sweet!

Matched with the massive RC-35 center channel and my old SS-1 surrounds (mounted up high enough they didn't get wet), it makes for one hell of a home theater.  I think I watched the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan the other day at 'real life' levels.  Talk about just like being there!  The neighbors had to have been wondering...


(sorry to hijack the thread)  Back to your regularly scheduled topic.