Added: 3 years ago
From: ChristopherJSykes
Views: 388,834
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  • I learned this when I was getting my engineering degree.

    Now I get to drive the train and make the horn toot.

  • I've heard quotes from this guy but never seen him in person. He is very mercurial.

  • he likes trains!!! and he will not blend!!!

  • This man's passion for physics and engineering is so infectious!!

  • Just to join a fraternity. Science is awsome.

  • I have to admit that I didn't know this. But are the tracks "conical" as well? (Is the outer edge of the rail higher than the inner so that there is "full contact" all across the rail between it and the wheel?) They have to, don't they? But this would cause extra friction - so the difference has to be as small as possible. In curves the tracks as a whole are tilted (and thus the train), which keeps the train where it should be (or at least helps to do so), but that's another story. Enlight me!

  • @episcophagus I run ut of space... I have noticed that the inner side of a rail is rounded, so I thought that this rounding corresonds to an inner "conical" part of the else flat wheel (before the "safety disk") that rests on the else flat track. But if the train goes "astray" the conical part of the wheel will climb up the rounded part of the rail and then slide/steer back.

  • Where can i read more about such physics fun ... there has to be a book

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  • That was a news for me.

  • Sounds like the best frat initiation ever.

  • great video thanks

  • we like trains

  • AMAZING, I never new that :)

  • i like trains o.o

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  • Fucking awesome. I could listen to this guy forever.

  • 2:02 - He said "shaft". 

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  • Ahhhh... back when people actually knew stuff.

  • @Androly according to the Flynn effect, the average IQ is actually increasing. It's just always noticeable when people don't know things.

  • @AwfulPun Technically the average IQ always stays the same at 100, because its a measurement of the persons IQ relative to the general population. Well at least when the tests are standardised. ;) Just being picky, if you've heard of the flynn effect I know you know that!

  • Further... farther...

    

  • Great explanation! Audio volume is a little low though.

  • That is horrifying.

  • WTF i travelled years on trains. I wish I didn't know that trains have wobbly wheels.

  • We should make a series named: "Things that Feynman DON'T know!". I think it will be the shortest series ever made.

  • @Blomsterbob2K You wouldn't have enough material to make the pilot episode.

  • needs more pictures

  • kids should be forced to watch the feynman lecture series in school.

  • I wish I could care about anything as much as this man cares about trains.

  • Train goes in, train goes out. You can't explain that.

  • @broadsword530 LOL. That's killing me...O' Reilly.

  • MIRACLES!

    

  • I hate trains

    -ragesh

  • I fucking love science and engineering.

  • @a84dd0n indeed!

  • I love trains.

  • Vehicular jargon confuses me.

  • Contagious is definitely the best word to describe Feynman's love for Physics. Apart from being an inventor of new concepts, he has also inspired so many others to study Physics, including me.

  • @rsotbairnfire and me!

  • I never thought someone could make me eager to read about trains for an hour on wikipedia.

  • genius because he fucking invented nukes, repaired radios, designed power plants, discovered new branches of phisics, programmed computers (by punch cards), has an amazing insight into the humand mind, and became an expert in anything he was ever exposed to. god in a field of poor sorry humans

  • #physics

  • @ZutaMacka666 no asshole! because he is one of the father of q.e.d and he knew phisics like no other! And also, he was a enthusiast, he passed his knowledge to other like if it was he's greatest times!

  • That's so simple yet so effective. Brillilant.

  • Was he ever a professor at a University? He would definitely be able to keep my attention in class regardless of topic.

  • @c0nv1ct1337 Yes, if I recall correctly, he was at one point a physics professor at a University. Quite a popular professor too, for obvious reasons. Forget where he taught at, though.

  • @sbunkboy3 It was at Caltech

  • @sbunkboy3 He also ran an informal session called 'Physics X' for many years where students could approach him about any physics topic they liked and he would explain it to them. Apparently they never managed to catch him out (even though they tried!)

  • Trains are now a fucking engineering marvel to me!

  • Miracles.

  • @dmora97tt I have just completed an engineering software project which is used for calculating dimensions for the structures that hold the power lines over electrified rails. Holy shit the math and physics are intense. And I had to actually figure some of the stuff out myself. Having been a code monkey for good 10 years, with no exposure to hard phys/math, this was quite an interesting project.

  • @FizzlNet Now I'm kinda terrified and wonder how in the fuck do the trains run at all in Finland with the deep ground frost that moves all the shitaround several centimeters each year.

  • What's a train engineer zombie say ?

    " Traaaiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnsssss­ssss "

  • Well. I didn't know that. Now I do. Cool.

  • Train goes in, train goes out, you can't explain that.

  • These trains go whoop.... whoop. That's a parallel universe.

  • I get so pissed when i see a person with a mind like this not ruling the galaxy or some shit. People like this should be the backbone of civilization, not clergymen or politicians.

  • watch?v=J4TPbGBPWME

    they dont look conical to me?

  • @thegoonist : It's very slight, but it's there. If you find yourself looking at a train in person, try looking directly at the side of a wheel from some distance. You can see the tread right the way around.

  • @MCBathtub Tides are the result of the Moon's gravity distorting the space around Earth. Water, being flexible, responds more dramatically than, say, rocks, and moves in a tidal fashion, following the distortion that the Moon's gravity creates. This movement of water creates friction along the Earth's surface and this friction slows down Earth's revolving so that each day is slightly slower than the one before. Over time, it's quite measurable. During the dinosaur era, the day was 18 hours.

  • @lazurm We only gain 2 ms per century due to this though.

  • @bsodmike Actually, due to the acceleration of rotation affects from Earth's elliptical orbit, it's more like -1.7 milliseconds per century, at this time. Even this, after one billion years results in an increase of 28 minutes. But, note that the Moon was much closer to Earth in the past and, at that time, the affect was much more significant.

  • He always seems like he's about to burst out into laughter.

  • woot i got the train one!

  • im not an engineer, physics expert etc, but i knew that. only cause I've been to the fascinating rail museum in ipswich, qld. and the history behind it is cool, too.

  • unbelievable. we need more minds like these!

  • i'll fight any man, woman or child that disliked this.

  • railway-technical wheels and bogeys agrees with this.

  • That is insanely clever. It's amazing how a such a seemingly small and unimportant thing could have had so much thought put into it.

  • If you think the things he are talking about are mundane then I feel sorry for you. I am as amazed by these things as Feynman is.

  • @bodysnatcher0421 Ah, but the mundane things are incredible. It's their incredible-ness that Feynman discovers with us in his discussions.

  • i did not know that!

  • I've been watching aload of these videos out of sheer interest but this one... I had literally no idea thats how trains stayed on the track that's facinating.

    Mind = blown

  • @insoms it is quite easy if you make an outline of what he tried to say and then think for little while. It is actually very interesting )))

  • @chizhr I didn't say I didn't understand I said I've been watching all these videos. I actually already knew every word he said in everyone I'm a Mechanical Engineering student (but my true passion lies with Physics).

    If you read what I said properly you'd see that I said I had no idea thats how trains stayed on the track that part was completely new to me which I found facinating (how its such a simple and elegant solution).

    Where did you get "I don't understand this guy" from that?

  • @insoms Where did you get "You don't understand" from what chizhr said? He just told you how one easily (!) can understand this video. Nevertheless chizhr's post is somekind of useless, since there is no new information included. [...don't take this too serious]

    So you are a mech. engineer whose real passion lies in another field (physics)? Why didn't you simply study physics?

  • @Th0111 My point was I never said I didn't understand the video I understood every word.

    And I'm looking into transferring at the moment just theres more job oppourtunities for undergrads in Engineering, Physics you need a phD or have to count on benig able to get an engineering job without an engineering degree.

  • I don't understand why 12 people dislike this!! "I really don't like the way trains make turns!!!"

  • mindblowing

  • ohh.. the wheels are conical.. I get it, but I didn't know that... so cool

  • What scares me is how a train just went by as I watched this!!!

  • i did not know this! thank you Feynman!

  • I love how even though he is a doctor of physics, he is still fascinated by simple things that have been figured out a hundred years ago. I mean, they seem simple now, but he can appreciate just how ingenious the invention is.

  • You know what is even more amazing?

    The train system was invented hundreds of years ago, by men with paper and pencil. No calculators, no computer simulations, and few of them had education beyond high school.

    It seems that as we moved forward, we forget basic principles.

    I have $20 in my pocket that says that 95% of the mechanical engineers coming out of school today have no idea how a train stayed on the tracks.

    PS. I didn't either.

  • @karozans given that i know a mechanical engineer student in the final year of study who made himself a cab for cheating at an exam that had the definition for mechanical work written on it I think you'll be keeping that 20$.

  • If they made this programme today, the producers would fill it with animations to illustrate what he's describing and completely RUIN it. Thank you Mr Sykes.

  • He is to physics as Chuck Norris is to strength.

  • @Another1LikeYou No, because Chuck Norris sucks.

  • @stake101 he'd probably make a good anything. But i'd much rather have him a physicst anyday of the week.

  • woah that's sick

  • How can 12 people be so retarded that they DISLIKE this?!?

    I luv ya Rick ;-)

  • مبدع

  • @masferrr That he is, that he is

  • He talks about stuff I havn't ever even contemplated! Inspiring!

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  • Magic. Got it.

  • *sigh* Mind blown.

  • He seems so excited about sharing some knowledge. So wonderful.

  • lol, Richard Feyman just taught me how a train stays on its track. thats so awesome. i love this man, i just learned his name for the first time two weeks ago. RIP legend

  • fucking trains how do they work?

  • @rbnchm Electric trains move via magnets that transfer the energy by changing their magnetic state in a way that pulls the train wheels continuously in the direction of the changing magnetic power, sort of like a magnet pulling or pushing a metallic object, but the object is in the shape of a train wheel. Old time locamotives did this by transferring the heat of burning coal to a water vessel where the heated water, steam, would push against a cylinder connected to a rod that pushed the wheels.

  • @rbnchm Depends on the motor in the train. Electric trains work by varying the magnetic field, shifting north to south. By doing so, the magnetic force creates a spin by pushing or attracting its opposite fields and this force is attached to the wheels via gearing. This is basically how electric motors all work. A steam engine moves the high pressure air (pressured from the heat generated by burning) through a cyclinder where it's eventually exhausted out, releasing and exhanging the pressure.

  • If I could bring to life only one person, AAAAAAANY person that has EEEEEVER lived, that would be my hero Feynman, no doubt about it. Soorry grandma I only had one choice!!

  • Outstanding!

  • so great!

  • Does anyone know a website or something with questions like the train or the mirror thing? Interesting stuff to think about, I'd like more.

  • I thought gravity kept the trains on the track.

  • @nealart It does, yes! But it keeps it down. The idea here is to keep the train ON the tracks

  • he is a super genius and very good in explaining things

  • ChristopherJSykes Rocks !!!

  • Who the hell could dislike this???

  • Cool, I stopped the video so I could think about it and try to figure out the train question.. It turns out I had figured it out correctly!

  • Crazy man !

  • Richard Feynman is great! How I wish he'd been my science teacher when I was at school. (and maybe given me a hand with the mathematical side of science which was always my weak point.) Now, as an adult, I realize how fascinating science is and wish I was doing something in a scientific field.

  • what fraternity was he in?

  • lol...creepy smile

  • explains that well no charts no powerpoint  infectious

  • I love the way he explains it: Figuratly.

  • But I thought it was using magnets!

  • I love that he sounds like Jackie Mason.

  • You're right! He does!

    Sooo funny.

  • wow i never really knew that about trains, amazing........something soo simple

  • another one.. imagine a clock which second hand is so long that each tic at its outer edge travels a distance of 186,000 miles (in other words, the speed of light) and you are standing at the center of the clock on the second hand traveling with it watching the outer edge with a telescope... what would you see?

  • A bunch of broken clock pieces flying back to earth..... get out of the way!

  • Oh god... that is a good one.

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  • also.. WHEN whould you see it?

  • OK, my mind is completely blown right now. That is crazy!!

  • I will see the second hand curving from the top, bending toward left.

  • Theoretically, I think you may be right the more I think about it because the image coming back to you is increasingly longer, so image will appear to be curved. Hmm.

  • it would look strange, it would appear really blurry and streched out, clock would look to the observe to be a kind of spiral really twisted out towards the end, it would get more and more blurry the further out from the center you look at it, and towards the end it would be really blurry.

  • Honestly I don't know the answer. I thought of this while I was high on hash. But it seems to me that if this was a real scenario, it would depend on the material that the second hand was made from. I think that even the strongest known material would turn into radiation?? before reaching the speed of light. Of course you would easily be able to calculate how fast that light would come back to you which also effects what you see. And what about the power of the scope? I really don't know. lol

  • As long as the thing is in a vacuum and you ignore the fact that the centripetal force would be so enormous that the tip would probably break and fly off, The material would not really matter. Because the laws of physics are the same for every frame of reference, near speed of light phenomena are observational phenomena, that is, from one perspective the it appears to be stretching longer, but if you go to the reference frame of the hand on the clock, it would not be stretched out at all.

  • You're asking the wrong question. Nothing can go at the speed of light. Theoretically the hand could go at 0,99c but even that would require ridiculous amounts of energy.

  • Yeah, at the very tip of the clock it would be very close but not quite the speed of light. But you can infer that he means something arbitrarily close to the speed of light and not actually the speed of light.

  • good question lol i cant figure it out please share :)

  • What I like about Feynman's intelligence is that he makes it possible to avoid being intimidated by all that tedious technical jargon and complex number crunching!

  • Feynman was a treasure to humanity

  • I found this far easier to picture than the mirror example.

  • Damn! my mind has been blown again!

  • Mind blow job!!!

  • Woahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

    (of course, he didn't figure it out, he's just repeating something that some genius figured out)

    (the main genius is that he is capable of explaining this so simply -he is a great teacher)

  • Awesome!

  • Fascinating! This is such a great illustration of elegance and simplicity in engineering.

  • My grandfather worked on railroads all his life, died in 1966 at age 79. He probably never knew this about trains.

  • wow....most frats only require that you go through months of constant alcohol consumption, kidnappings, and wild stunts topped off by a week of sitting in a pile of your own waste, without sleep, with 30 other guys who will turn out to be your closest buddies. MIT's a little different I guess.

  • judging by the rest of the comments on this page, this comment is going to either have many thumbs up or many thumbs down.

    unless im gay

  • I love the fact that Feynman was so excited about seemingly the most mundane of things. He really had a wonderful mind, and one that we were blessed to have with us while he was alive. R.I.P.

  • @Zackattack52287 I know what you mean. It's like he was telling a joke, and was trying hard not to laugh before he could tell the answer.

    I suppose it's like finding out the answer for yourself to a problem, and you get that thrill of joy when you work it out.

  • you learn something new everyday, fun fun

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  • He was both a genius in his research, and as a teacher.

  • Wow. Just, wow!

  • One true genius.

  • He was pretty smart, but all he's doing here is repeating a fact he learned. The real genius is the guy who designed this.

  • Ja, of course. But I don't just mean because of this video. Overall he is a genius. The way he understands things and is able to explain them.

  • Well the fun of it, like he said, is trying to figure it out. If you didn't know why and tried to figure it out logically you could have a lot of fun with it.

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