Chapter 486 A drop of water! Destroy a tenth of the city of Rome! Horrible but not enough!
When talking about Italy's glory in the field of science, ordinary people will think of Galileo without thinking.
This great scientific master, as the founder of modern science, has too many titles.
"Father of modern science", "Father of modern physics", "Father of observational astronomy".
Although the fields he studied and the results he achieved seem a bit immature and superficial today.
But they have opened the door to wisdom for mankind.
Objectively speaking, Galileo is the giant of all scientists.
His light was so dazzling that it overwhelmed all scientists in Italy.
If ordinary people were asked to name another well-known Italian scientist, I am afraid many people would not be able to think of it.
But in academia, there is such a heavyweight figure.
He has made amazing achievements in the fields of chemistry and physics.
This man is Avogadro.
He published the famous Avogadro's Law in 1811:
That is, "gases of the same volume contain the same number of molecules at the same temperature and pressure." (pV=nRT)
In this law, he boldly proposed the concept of "molecules" for the first time.
Under the influence of Dalton's atomic theory, the chemical community at that time believed that gases were composed of single atoms.
But Avogadro believed that gases such as oxygen and nitrogen are composed of molecules composed of two atoms.
Unfortunately, after he proposed this hypothesis, no one in the chemical community agreed.
It was not until more than 50 years later, as more evidence emerged, that chemists finally recognized Avogadro's law and the concept of molecules.
Unfortunately, Avogadro himself could not see the victory of his doctrine.
In order to commemorate the achievements of this great chemist, later generations called the number of particles contained in one mole of particles "Avogadro's constant" (NA).
When calculating NA, the general value is 6.023×10.
What does one mole (mol) mean?
For example, assume there are 1 mol of water molecules HO.
Although its mass is only 18 grams, it contains 6.023×10 water molecules.
In the same way, 1 mol of electrons represents 6.023×10 electrons.
It is not difficult to see that NA is an unimaginably large astronomical number.
The size and extent of the microscopic world far exceed the scope of human subjective perception.
There may be infinite power hidden there.
But thinking about it the other way around, even though the number of particles in 1 mol is large, their mass and volume are pitifully small.
It seems that it will not have any impact on the macroscopic world of mankind.
Therefore, everyone was shocked when Li Qiwei asked the question "How can I destroy the earth if I give you a drop of water?"
This problem is really beyond everyone's imagination.
Everyone in the audience was confused!
"Oh my God! What's the problem?"
"A drop of water? It's not even enough to fill the space between your teeth. How can it possibly destroy the earth? Isn't this nonsense?"
"Professor Bruce is exactly what the rumors say, and the questions he raises are often unreasonable."
At this moment, many students thought of Professor Bruce's speech in the United States.
That lecture on glass even ended up opening up a new field of materials science.
A small piece of glass, which couldn't be more ordinary, actually contains such a huge secret.
But no matter how common glass is, it is also made by humans through chemical methods.
There is still a certain scientific and technological content.
But what about water?
I'm afraid water has been around since the beginning of the earth.
The area of the four oceans even exceeds the area of the seven continents.
The earth can be said to be a water ball.
But even if there is so much water, it will not destroy the earth.
What's more, it's still an insignificant drop of water.
Everyone was puzzled.
It feels like a fantasy.
However, the person who raised this question was Professor Bruce, the world's number one scientist.
This shows that this problem must not be as simple as it seems on the surface.
Therefore, after everyone was surprised, they all fell into deep thought.
In this situation, whoever can answer Professor Bruce's question will instantly become famous in Italy.
The young people couldn't help but get excited.
They racked their brains and used their imaginations.
After all, Professor Bruce had no restrictions and said that existing technology must be used.
This is not so much a physics question as it is a science fiction question.
Everyone feels like they have a chance.
If ordinary students are surprised at first, then for geniuses, the situation is different.
Pauli, Fermi and others did not appear shocked after hearing the questions.
In their view, this issue is full of academic research value.
You can even find the solution to the problem in an instant:
Start with microscopic particles!
After all, the macroscopic volume of a drop of water is absolutely impossible to affect the earth.
However, even they found it difficult to come up with a reasonable answer for a while.
This requires a lot of imagination.
At the same time, they were keenly aware that Professor Bruce had specifically emphasized the need to use computing power.
This shows that a lot of calculations must be required.
Maybe this is also some kind of hint.
Geniuses are geniuses and can notice details that ordinary students cannot.
For a time, all the students, including many teachers and professors, began to think with great interest.
This question is really interesting!
Italian Education Minister Croce and Rome University President Vecchio smiled at each other.
They finally understood why so many universities were trying their best to get Professor Bruce to give a lecture.
Because it’s so exciting!
There are thousands of teachers and students present today!
If it were an ordinary person giving a speech, he would probably be so nervous that he would just read from the script.
How can one be like Professor Bruce, who can lift a heavy weight with ease and with ease.
Just one question brought the atmosphere on the court to a climax.
Croce glanced towards the back row and found countless people scratching their heads and discussing among themselves.
Everyone's face was full of excitement.
At this moment, science is no longer boring, but full of fun.
Croce sighed:
"This is the charm of Professor Bruce!"
"If only he could give a lecture every day in Italy."
"I'm afraid the quality of our students will improve exponentially!"
For Croce, who studies history, this question is seriously out of scope.
He had absolutely no idea.
Rather, we evaluate the significance of Professor Bruce’s speech from a higher level.
As an official of the Ministry of Education, he feels this deeply.
Many people like to talk nonsense, clichés, and gobbledygook when giving speeches.
A simple thing, told over and over again.
After an hour or two, there is no really useful content.
I think I appear to be very high-minded and unpredictable, but in fact I just don’t have much information.
Of course, there is another situation where what he said is wrong, so he needs to cover up the error with nonsense. After listening to Li Qiwei's speech, Croce instantly felt that they had met each other late and had the same goals.
Vecchio nodded with deep understanding.
As a university president with a background in science and engineering, he can appreciate the shock of the speech better than Croce.
He smiled and said:
"Yeah."
"Professor Bruce is best at using simple things to elicit the most profound physical theories."
"He allows students to give full play to their imagination and creativity."
"This is the ability that education most hopes to cultivate."
"I can't even think of this problem for a while."
"You can imagine how enthusiastic those students will be."
"Professor Bruce took advantage of young people's winning mentality to stimulate their own potential."
Just when Croce and Vecchio were sighing.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Finally someone brave enough to stand up and try to give an answer.
A tall male student stood up and said:
"Hello, Professor Bruce, I am an undergraduate student majoring in physics at the University of Rome."
"I have an idea about this problem."
Li Qiwei said: "Please tell me."
The tall boy said:
"The volume of a drop of water is approximately 0.05 ml. Calculated based on a density of 1 kg/cubic meter, the mass is 0.05 g."
"According to the mass-energy equation E=mc in the special theory of relativity, it can be calculated that the energy contained in this drop of water is 4.5×10 joules."
"It is currently recognized that the equivalent of TNT explosives is used to visually measure the energy level."
"Each gram of TNT explosive produces approximately 4,200 joules of energy."
"After conversion, the energy of a drop of water is approximately equivalent to 100,000 kilograms of TNT, which is the equivalent of 100 tons of TNT."
"Such a large amount of energy would probably be enough to destroy one-tenth of the center of Rome."
"If it's more extreme, if so much energy bursts out at a certain point at the same time, will it cause huge cloud fluctuations?"
"The result is a sudden change in the earth's environment, thereby destroying the earth."
Wow!
The boy's answer made countless people present take a breath.
It’s not that I don’t know, it’s just that I was shocked.
The energy contained in just one drop of water is equivalent to the energy of 100 tons of TNT explosives.
This is too exaggerated!
"Oh my god, this is wrong, how can a drop of water be so powerful?"
"You don't understand this. In the mass-energy equation, the square of the speed of light is a very large number. Even if it is multiplied by a small mass, the result will be horrifying."
"This is the charm of physics."
Pauli, Fermi and others nodded. They did not agree with this answer, but agreed with the calculation result.
No problem at all.
In real history, the equivalent of the "Little Boy" dropped by the United States in Sakura Country was 20,000 tons of TNT, which is about 200 times that of a drop of water.
In other words, the nuclear material lost by the little boy who shocked the world was actually only equivalent to 200 drops of water, or 10 grams.
But the damage it caused was devastating.
Everything within the core area of 1.6 kilometers was instantly vaporized.
It’s unknown how far the shock wave spread.
Coupled with the most terrifying nuclear radiation, it makes people miserable.
This is the terrifying power of the atomic bomb.
In front of it, the Emperor of Sakura Kingdom's "100 million jade pieces" plan was just like a joke.
The shock that physics brings to mankind appears for the first time in such an intuitive and terrifying way.
But now, the tall boy's answer is equally scary.
100 tons of TNT can destroy one-tenth of the center of Rome, but it's not far behind.
The world war that just passed made everyone no longer unfamiliar with war.
A bomb as big as a washbasin can even destroy a building.
Everyone still has a certain feeling about the power of explosives.
However, the power of a concentrated explosion of 100 tons of TNT still exceeded everyone's imagination.
No one can imagine the extent of its power and destruction.
At this moment, the mass-energy equation left a deep impression on everyone.
"Fortunately, it only exists in physical formulas and is impossible to do in reality."
"Otherwise, if I carry a bucket of water, I can bomb the whole of Europe."
"Oh my god, it's too scary."
Many people think this should be the correct answer.
So, they asked in unison:
"Professor Bruce, this should be the answer."
However, Pauli, Fermi, Vecchio and others shook their heads slightly.
They felt it was definitely not the case.
Because it's too simple.
As long as students have carefully read the relativity papers and memorized the mass-energy equation, they should be able to calculate it.
Of course, it is simple for some people.
Even now, few universities offer courses on relativity at the undergraduate level.
Teaching yourself the theory of relativity is not an easy task.
But even special relativity belongs to high-end knowledge in physics.
There are thousands of people here today. How could there be so many teachers and professors who don’t know the special theory of relativity.
Under the gaze of everyone, Li Qiwei smiled and said:
"This classmate gave a very good answer."
"According to the theory of special relativity, a drop of water does have such a large amount of energy."
"But even with 100 tons of TNT, it is still a bit fanciful to destroy the earth."
"In the war that just passed, the total amount of explosives dropped by all countries was not just 100 tons, but probably tens of thousands of tons."
"But our earth is still in good condition, not to mention destroyed, not even scratched."
"So, the energy of a drop of water is not enough to cause so-called cloud fluctuations and cause environmental changes."
"This answer is wrong!"
Wow!
Except for a few people who nodded slightly, showing a natural look.
Most of the people instantly burst into sighs.
This answer turned out to be incorrect.
However, everyone felt that what Professor Bruce said was indeed reasonable.
An example of this is the world war just past.
As a result, everyone became even more confused.
"Holy crap, is there a way to have greater energy than the one calculated from the mass-energy equation?"
"What could that be?"
At this moment, countless people were helpless.
Because the mass-energy equation is the theory with the largest known energy generation.
Nothing can surpass it.
But since Professor Bruce asked this question, it means that he must have an answer that can convince everyone.
Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a shame?
Given the other party's status at this time, he probably wouldn't be so bored with such a trivial matter.
Therefore, there must be another mystery to the answer!
Li Qiwei looked at everyone and smiled, his eyes staying on Pauli, Fermi and others for a few more seconds.
At this time, someone suddenly whispered:
"What if we don't think about it from an energy perspective?"
Wow!
A flash of inspiration!
(End of chapter)