Science Trivia Thread

[Viking]

For what work did Einstein get his Nobel prize in 1921?

I know what he didn't get it for... I just can't remember what he got it for.

[Admiral Yi]

His tireless campaign to impeach Bush.

[crazy canuck]

For what work did Einstein get his Nobel prize in 1921?

I know what he didn't get it for... I just can't remember what he got it for.

Its a lot more difficult then it sounds at first.

edit:  My grade 7 son got me with this one....

[Viking]

For what work did Einstein get his Nobel prize in 1921?

I know what he didn't get it for... I just can't remember what he got it for.

Its a lot more difficult then it sounds at first.

edit:  My grade 7 son got me with this one....

It's a bit like J.R.R. Tolkein getting the Literature Prize for The Silmarillon.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Photoelectric effect.

Or maybe that was earlier. I don't know if he won just 1 or 2.

[crazy canuck]

Photoelectric effect.

Or maybe that was earlier. I don't know if he won just 1 or 2.

ding ding ding.

And it was that work that got him thinking about relativity and the rest is history.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Easy question for astronomy nerds:
As a supergiant star nears the end of it's lifespan, it begins burning denser and denser fuels in it's core through nuclear fusion. Eventually it ends up with an element that cannot be used in a fusion reaction (it requires more energy than it gives off); without the heat generated from the fusion reaction, the core collapses, creating either a neutron star or, if the star is massive enough, a black hole.

What is the last element present in the star's core, and approximately how long is it from the element's first appearance to the core's collapse?

[ulmont]

Iron and dunno.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Yes to Iron (wiki says it's actually Nickel that decays into Iron, but every other source I've seen says Iron, so FU wikipedia).

Hint on the length: each successive element burning process takes much less time than the previous one. Hydrogen takes 10s of millions of years, depending on the star's mass (bigger is shorter); helium is just millions of years; carbon is 1000s of years...

[ulmont]

Yes to Iron (wiki says it's actually Nickel that decays into Iron, but every other source I've seen says Iron, so FU wikipedia).

Hint on the length: each successive element burning process takes much less time than the previous one. Hydrogen takes 10s of millions of years, depending on the star's mass (bigger is shorter); helium is just millions of years; carbon is 1000s of years...

Sounds like it's going to be something on the other of 10^-lots seconds.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Not quite that short. It's a long time to go without food, but a short time for a vacation.

[Neil]

Not quite that short. It's a long time to go without food, but a short time for a vacation.

It also varies somewhat based on the mass of the star, although not tremendously.

[Viking]

two days?

[HisMajestyBOB]

Close enough. It's about 3-5 days for your typical supergiant star (~20 solar masses). As Neil stated, larger stars burn faster, smaller ones burn slower.

Ulmont got the iron, Viking got the time, so you two can duke it out.

[ulmont]

Viking can call it.