Ask a Physicist 8.1 The Scientific Method

[mattmatt115]

No, let me rephrase... You are admirably intelligent.... I aspire to one day gain the knowledge you posses... Peace to you brother... 

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@mattmatt115 thank you. More knowledge is always good. But don't set my level as your limit :)

[Hongeku]

I love these videos, informative and well, hosted. Keep them coming...:)

[leahcimrac]

Nice to see some new videos. Love these.

[MrROFLMAO17]

hello :) i know your brothers alex and henrik..we go to the same school, i randomly came accross your video! and i did remember your brother alexander saying u do yt vids :D

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@MrROFLMAO17 damn, you discovered my secret identity. I'm afraid I have to kill you :)

[ZZMann33]

@MrROFLMAO17 Somthing is wrong with this guy... Weirdo

[mymiddleleg1]

there's no such thing as gravity

[ccaptorchen]

yay!~ you are back! ... did anyone tell you, you look and sound like the medic in team fortress 2?

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@ccaptorchen I was told to have resemblance with Dr Who, Harry Potter, Agent Smith, G-man, Edward from Twilight and a pilot, but no, medic in team fortress 2 is a first

[emeralddreams888]

@ASKaPHYSICIST

You do look like Daniel Radcliffe, but the others?? wtf, especially Robert Pattinson??

Btw, the way you talk is so strenuous and it must be hard to maintain that accent.

[BinkyHuckleback]

Didn't Mercury's orbit contravene Newton's theory - but despite this, Newton's theory was kept because nothing better came along until Einstein?

So, does the Scientific Method reject a theory as soon as it is disproven, or does retain the theory until it has something better to replace with?

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@BinkyHuckleback well, mercury shed doubts, but they were trying to explain it within newtons model (more about modifying theories in the next video). After eddington's experiment there was no doubt about which was the right theory to use.

Very good question. Well, the reality of the matter is that, Newton's gravity and other theories that have been disproven are still being used. Thing is, they do make accurate predictions in a limited case, so they are still useful for us.

[jellygiraffe]

Welcome back! I thought you had stopped making videos, I'm glad that is not true.

[RafaelloCraiova]

It's good to see you again,Jan!Thank you for the post,I can't wait for more!!

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@RafaelloCraiova thanks, it's good to be back

[rbanda120055]

Could you talk about nuclear or atomic bombs. how do they work, how do they make them.. things likr that... and also thnx for returning

[JamesJ008]

Haha did you draw those diagrams yourself? That's cool

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@JamesJ008 I did thanks... not sure I would go as far as calling them diagrams though :]

[JJMerrill]

More please, your fans await

[mrbluesky323]

Of course, light wasn't proven to have no mass at all, right? Only vanishingly small mass.

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@mrbluesky323 nope, non at all. It is actually a consequence of special relativity. In fact, only something that has no mass can move at the speed of light. I know its confusing, especially since light does have momentum after all. I'll do my best to make an episode on that soon.

[mrbluesky323]

@ASKaPHYSICIST

The way I see it, it's a premise of special relativity, not a consequence. IF it's true that light moves at the same speed in all reference frames, then light is identically massless. But, we only know that light moves the same speed in all reference frames to a very good approximation.

I just googled it, the experimental limit is said to be 1.2 x 10^-51 grams (very very small).

[SuperMario8342]

Can't wait for more episodes!

[Cuinnton3]

yay!!! your back!

[chundocho]

Gracias por regresar.

Thank you for coming back.

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@chundocho Thank you, it's good to be back :)

[jsmythib]

Where have you been!? Thanks for the post.

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

@jsmythib You're very welcome, glad you like it. My progress has been impeded with other commitments, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

[Pentazoid111]

Its been a long time, glad to have you back. So , what are you studying in physics grad school?