25.11.2015 Views

MOTION MOUNTAIN

LIGHT, CHARGES AND BRAINS - Motion Mountain

LIGHT, CHARGES AND BRAINS - Motion Mountain

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

liquid electricity, invisible fields and maximum speed 65<br />

current,<br />

voltage<br />

Electrical<br />

component<br />

Hydraulic<br />

component<br />

mass flow,<br />

pressure<br />

wire<br />

tube<br />

resistor<br />

porous filter<br />

capacitor<br />

flexible &<br />

elastic<br />

closure<br />

Ref. 33<br />

battery<br />

diode<br />

transistor<br />

inductor<br />

F I G U R E 34 The correspondence of electronics and water flow.<br />

∗∗<br />

challenge<br />

pump<br />

one-way<br />

valve<br />

activated<br />

valve<br />

The magnetic field of the Earth has a dipole strength of7.8⋅10 22 A m 2 . It shields us,<br />

together with the atmosphere, from lethal solar winds and cosmic radiation particles, by<br />

deflecting them to the poles. Today, a lack of magnetic field would lead to high radiation<br />

on sunny days; but in the past, its lack would have prevented the evolution of the human<br />

species. We owe our existence to the magnetic field of the Earth. At present, the magnetic<br />

field decreases by about 5 % per century. It seems that it might disappear temporarily in<br />

1500 years; it is unclear whether this will lead to an increase of the cosmic radiation<br />

hitting the Earth’s surface, or if the solar wind itself will take over the shielding effect.<br />

∗∗<br />

Comparing electricity with water is a good way of understanding electronics. Figure 34<br />

shows a few examples that even a teenager can use. Can you fill in the correspondence<br />

Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–November 2015 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!