Oxbridge Physics Prelims Revision

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Willa

well the cookie kept me awake longer than normal in my compsci lecture, so it obviously did something!

but that's bad - right?

how long is normal?

and wouldn't a bout of indigestion keep you awake longer in a compsci lecture, so is this much of a ranking scheme at all?

Reply 81

Willa

RichE

but that's bad - right?

how long is normal?

and wouldn't a bout of indigestion keep you awake longer in a compsci lecture, so is this much of a ranking scheme at all?

i normally last 20 mins. This time I lasted 40 mins. And it wasnt a painful way of being kept up, I just managed to stay alert. Then again I had missed my maths lecture earlier on to get some more much needed sleep! That could have been it.

mmmm right now I really need a cookie!

Reply 82

RichE

Willa

you sacrificed a maths lecture for the sake of 20 mins extra of compsci! :eek:

I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to fail in my attempt to help you with your physics ever again :mad:

Reply 83

Willa

RichE

you sacrificed a maths lecture for the sake of 20 mins extra of compsci! :eek:

I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to fail in my attempt to help you with your physics ever again :mad:

it wasnt for lack of wanting. I tried to get up for maths I really did, but it was too hard, it was too early. Compsci is at midday, so much easier to attend!

If it's any consolation, I understand maths more than I do compsci!

Reply 84

RichE

Willa

If it's any consolation, I understand maths more than I do compsci!

hmmm - apology accepted :p:

welcome back to the human race

so why do pistons infinitesimally work their way into vacuums? was this ever resolved :confused:

Reply 85

Willa

no it was never resolved! i should have asked my chemistry supervisor about that whole "well were does the piston's KE come from" question!

Reply 86

RichE

Willa

no it was never resolved! i should have asked my chemistry supervisor about that whole "well were does the piston's KE come from" question!

shame

- love to think that my question might cause the odd headache for your top-tier brains

but probably i'm being arrogant and they'd have an answer (or at least a bluff) ready in nanoseconds :rolleyes:

Reply 87

Willa

RichE

shame

- love to think that my question might cause the odd headache for your top-tier brains

but probably i'm being arrogant and they'd have an answer (or at least a bluff) ready in nanoseconds :rolleyes:

tbh i can imagine the answer being "the hypothetical piston has 0 mass, otherwise it would exert some sort of inertia-type-pressure on the gas. Hence the piston escapes with 0 KE"

I.e. the particles bouncing off a piston with mass would be recoiled, and are effectively feeling pressure. In the idealised system, we presume that any recoil the particles feel is due to the outside pressure, i.e. that there is no piston - it's just a barrier to seperate the gas from the outside.

I'm pretty sure that's gonna be the (rather lame) answer tbh...ah well!

Reply 88

RichE

Willa

well I think I understand that but would never in the world have come up with that explanation.

Ideal situations should have ideal explanations. That to me sounded akin to Michael Howard in the famous Paxman interview.

Reply 89

Willa

RichE

I didnt see it? What, did he try and describe the pressure of assylum seekers on this country as massless particles that we need to expand against and probably should be able to do with 0 energy, but Tony blair was acting as a non massless piston preventing that?

Reply 90

RichE

Willa

No this is old news. I meant the one where he was repeatedly (like 23 times or something) asked if he'd threatened to overrule Derek Lewis to have every non-answer imaginable thrown back. It's regularly been nominated as a top ten tv moment

Reply 91

RichE

Willa

I imagine he would also have lost the electorate all the moment if he'd have been "let P be a point asylum seeker and France an ideal country of first residence"

Reply 92

Willa

RichE

paxman is brilliant. Did you see him with galloway on election night though, I think paxman came off worse for wear tbh (he looked a little red in the face), cos that cunning galloway got paxman to say congratulations and then buggered off. What paxman should have said was "well if you think that as some would say, entering into a constiuency and stirring things up..blah blah blah...is worthy of a congratulations, well then I congratulate you because you've done a sterling job of it!". That would have left galloway red in the face (or at least angry) and paxman would have remained the god which he is!

Reply 93

Willa

RichE

I imagine he would also have lost the electorate all the moment if he'd have been "let P be a point asylum seeker and France an ideal country of first residence"

integrate p over surface integral defined by border of great britain, and would he have claimed the result was mass economic instability! (Instability = e^50000p or something as absurd)

Reply 94

~Raphael~

Willa

No, not at all! He made Galloway practically beg for it so that when he said it -rather ironically- Galloway looked liked a tit, refusing to answer questions...He then pretty much cut him off and turned to his other guests and said that Galloway always leaves when he gets tough questions...I still love him :biggrin:

Reply 95

RichE

Willa

cos that cunning galloway got paxman to say congratulations and then buggered off.

well i have to admire that even if i can't abide the individual

at least he'll be a thorn in blair's side in parliament - hopefully

Reply 96

Willa

~Raphael~

no it wasnt an ironic "congratulations"....the way I saw it was galloway asked him for a congratulations, paxman faultered and then paused for a moment to think of a way to continue the interview with him staying in control, but he knew galloway would leave if he didnt say congratulations in one way or another...but that pause to me suggested he couldnt think of anything so he just said "Well congratulations"...I admit it wasn't a very sincere one, but I still think it left paxman a bit red in the face

Reply 97

RichE

Willa

I don't mind that galloway was opportunistic - like politicians are always going to be - and he did win the seat because he got more votes - not stirred up coup d'etat style

Reply 98

RichE

Willa

integrate p over surface integral defined by border of great britain, and would he have claimed the result was mass economic instability! (Instability = e^50000p or something as absurd)

i.e. he "stokes" prejudice based on the number of "divs" in the country?

did I really just say that?

Reply 99

Willa

RichE

i.e. he "stokes" prejudice based on the number of "divs" in the country?

did I really just say that?

well the surface of britain doesnt form a closed surface so i dont think you can do that. You could sum up the surface integral over the whole of the planet though...but that's pretty meaningless, since if the entire surface of the earth was covered in asylum seekers, which would actually be asylum seekers and where would they be running from?