Ask a physicist anything. (8)

Subduction Zone · May 10, 2015

Zippy the Wonderslug said:
Hi again.

What are the odds of correctly guessing someone's Social Security number?

It has 9 digits.

I'm asking because someone claimed to have seen this in a dream.

Oh, and Elendur, I would love to see another screenshot of your work.

The easy answer is One in a Billion. That is not quite correct since there are less than a billion possible numbers. This article explains how only 745,395,443 numbers are available.

Math Is Easy - Will the US ever run out of Social Security numbers

Justatruthseeker · May 10, 2015

Subduction Zone said:
The easy answer is One in a Billion. That is not quite correct since there are less than a billion possible numbers. This article explains how only 745,395,443 numbers are available.

Math Is Easy - Will the US ever run out of Social Security numbers

Question? If area numbers are limited to 3 digits, then is not 1000 instead of 999 incorrectly counted making 754 not 753 possible combinations?

772 to 1000 can not be considered since the area is limited to 3 digits, or 772 to 999.

Inconsequential to the overall number - only a one million number error, but an overlooked error of accounting. Or to be exact a 989,901 number error.

Subduction Zone · May 11, 2015

Justatruthseeker said:
Question? If area numbers are limited to 3 digits, then is not 1000 instead of 999 incorrectly counted making 754 not 753 possible combinations?

772 to 1000 can not be considered since the area is limited to 3 digits, or 772 to 999.

Inconsequential to the overall number - only a one million number error, but an overlooked error of accounting. Or to be exact a 989,901 number error.

I don't know. I did not go into the details. They are there in the article. My point was that it is clear that the number is not a billion. And what will the Social Security System do when all of the numbers are used up? Odds are that they have used over half of them by now.

Strathos · May 11, 2015

Is there a formula to derive the energy of a non-nuclear explosion in joules from its radius (at standard atmospheric pressure)?

essentialsaltes · May 11, 2015

There are some possibly helpful formulas here relating the blast radius to the energy for atom bombs and supernovae. Both involve time, so it's more about measuring how rapidly the blast radius expands, rather than some final radius.

Zippy the Wonderslug · May 11, 2015

Thank you guys for answering the odds on correctly guessing a person's Social Security number.

I received the following header in an email from an ex girlfriend.

"If you SS# is or close to 376-xx-xxxx or 374-xx-xxxx please read this."

Her first guess was correct.

She claims that the number came to her in a dream.

Should I be worried?

How much damage could she possibly cause by knowing this?

Elendur · May 12, 2015

Zippy the Wonderslug said:
Thank you guys for answering the odds on correctly guessing a person's Social Security number.

I received the following header in an email from an ex girlfriend.

"If you SS# is or close to 376-xx-xxxx or 374-xx-xxxx please read this."

Her first guess was correct.

She claims that the number came to her in a dream.

Should I be worried?

How much damage could she possibly cause by knowing this?

Unless you have confirmed any of the information, you're in the clear. It's an old trick to fish for information by baiting with close info, whether it's intentional or not.

(As for the screenshots, I'll post as soon as I have a working version again)

AV1611VET · Sep 7, 2015

This may sound like a dumb question, but do people in England exit and enter from the door on the left, if the doors are a double-door?

We exit and enter from the door on the right.

I'm asking, since Englanders drive on the left side of the road.

Cactus Jack · Sep 8, 2015

I think they use double doors the same as we do.

Justatruthseeker · Sep 10, 2015

AV1611VET said:
This may sound like a dumb question, but do people in England exit and enter from the door on the left, if the doors are a double-door?

We exit and enter from the door on the right.

I'm asking, since Englanders drive on the left side of the road.

I just wish people in supermarkets would follow road rules going down isles

Shemjaza · Sep 10, 2015

AV1611VET said:
This may sound like a dumb question, but do people in England exit and enter from the door on the left, if the doors are a double-door?

We exit and enter from the door on the right.

I'm asking, since Englanders drive on the left side of the road.

I don't know about England, but in Australia where we also drive on the left we tend to stick left on the foot path and doors as well.

Aside from almost walking into traffic, I'm certain that I was annoying to Americans when I traveled there.

A funny thing is escalators. In Australian we mostly stand on the left or walk the right and Americans seem to do the opposite in general, but neither are ultra strict about it. However the Germans I encountered seemed to ALLWAYS stand on the right and walk on the left... to the point of coughing and waiting if some one stood on the left.

Justatruthseeker · Sep 13, 2015

Shemjaza said:
I don't know about England, but in Australia where we also drive on the left we tend to stick left on the foot path and doors as well.

Aside from almost walking into traffic, I'm certain that I was annoying to Americans when I traveled there.

A funny thing is escalators. In Australian we mostly stand on the left or walk the right and Americans seem to do the opposite in general, but neither are ultra strict about it. However the Germans I encountered seemed to ALLWAYS stand on the right and walk on the left... to the point of coughing and waiting if some one stood on the left.

Interesting observation of how small things influence people as a whole.

LaSorcia · Sep 13, 2015

So forgive me if these questions have already been asked. I didn't read all of the posts.

1-Can you explain string theory in a simplistic way? Yes, I mean simplistic, rather than simplified lol.

2-What's your favourite unifying theory?

Justatruthseeker · Sep 13, 2015

LaSorcia said:
So forgive me if these questions have already been asked. I didn't read all of the posts.

1-Can you explain string theory in a simplistic way? Yes, I mean simplistic, rather than simplified lol.

2-What's your favourite unifying theory?

1. Yes - irrelevant to modern science.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/supersymmetry-fails-test-forcing-physics-seek-new-idea/

2. Plasma cosmology.

AV1611VET · Sep 13, 2015

Justatruthseeker said:
I just wish people in supermarkets would follow road rules going down isles

Ain't that the truth! :oldthumbsup:

AV1611VET · Sep 13, 2015

Shemjaza said:
I don't know about England, but in Australia where we also drive on the left we tend to stick left on the foot path and doors as well.

Aside from almost walking into traffic, I'm certain that I was annoying to Americans when I traveled there.

A funny thing is escalators. In Australian we mostly stand on the left or walk the right and Americans seem to do the opposite in general, but neither are ultra strict about it. However the Germans I encountered seemed to ALLWAYS stand on the right and walk on the left... to the point of coughing and waiting if some one stood on the left.

Thanks for the info.

If I was to go to Australia, my first inclination would be to take the stairway on the right.

AV1611VET · Dec 30, 2017

What is the most accurate way to measure time?

FrumiousBandersnatch · Jan 1, 2018

AV1611VET said:
What is the most accurate way to measure time?

The most precise clock to date is a strontium gas clock.

morse86 · Jan 1, 2018

AV1611VET said:
What is the most accurate way to measure time?

The obvious answer is atomic clocks in a secure environment. Once you take the atomic clock out of the secure environment, it is absolutely useless (like in space, often used to uphold the garbage theory of time dilation). It is useless because of cosmic radiation.

FrumiousBandersnatch · Jan 2, 2018

morse86 said:
The obvious answer is atomic clocks in a secure environment. Once you take the atomic clock out of the secure environment, it is absolutely useless (like in space, often used to uphold the garbage theory of time dilation). It is useless because of cosmic radiation.

If that was true, GPS wouldn't work... but it does.

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