Elephants and needles.

Page 1 of 2 [ 29 posts ] Go to page 1, 2 Next

Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Age: 59
Gender: Male
Posts: 87

24 May 2011, 3:39 pm

I was wondering what temperatures would be generated if you could squeeze an elephant through the eye of a needle in less than one second. There would be lots of gamma rays and x-rays generated. Assuming the elephant weighs 4 tonnes and passes through the eye of the needle in one second how could the temperature be calculated. I would'nt try doing this for real because it would be very cruel.

TallyMan
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Mar 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 40,061

24 May 2011, 3:50 pm

robin45 wrote:

I would'nt try doing this for real because it would be very cruel.

You would probably get thrown out of the zoo too.

_________________
I've left WP indefinitely.

Oodain
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,022
Location: in my own little tamarillo jungle,

24 May 2011, 6:29 pm

i have no idea but it is very intriguing :scratch:

_________________
//through chaos comes complexity//

the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.

Cornflake
Administrator

Joined: 30 Oct 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 70,696
Location: Over there

24 May 2011, 6:33 pm

robin45 wrote:

I was wondering what temperatures would be generated if you could squeeze an elephant through the eye of a needle in less than one second.

Indian or African?

_________________
Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.

leejosepho
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,011
Location: 200 miles south of Little Rock

24 May 2011, 6:39 pm

Cornflake wrote:

robin45 wrote:

I was wondering what temperatures would be generated if you could squeeze an elephant through the eye of a needle in less than one second.

Indian or African?

Yes, them large African ears could be troublesome ...

_________________
I began looking for someone like me when I was five ...
My search ended at 59 ... right here on WrongPlanet.
==================================

Oodain
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,022
Location: in my own little tamarillo jungle,

24 May 2011, 7:08 pm

what sort of compression device could be used?

_________________
//through chaos comes complexity//

the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.

DNForrest
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,198
Location: Oregon

24 May 2011, 10:52 pm

It depends on which chemical bonds are physically broken (thus releasing their heat), and the heat caused by friction against the needle, again dependent on how and which bonds are broken and how they affect the resulting mush's physical properties (viscosity and so on). This would all be dependent on the size of the elephant and their positioning (facing the needle, facing away from it, standing, sitting, on its head, etc).

You'd need to do hundreds of experiments to get an average amount of heat generated per pound elephants, then use an adiabatic calorimeter to determine the average heat capacity of the elephant mush, and then you're a simple energy balance away from the answer for any sized elephant!

leejosepho
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,011
Location: 200 miles south of Little Rock

24 May 2011, 11:03 pm

DNForrest wrote:

All of this is far beyond me, but I can imagine what MythBusters might do ...

1) Find a large-holed needle that can withstand extremely-high temperatures;
2) Mix up some of their "body gel" stuff with some sand in it (to represent bone fragments);
3) Place the gel mixture into a pressure vessel with the needle fastened at its end-mount nozzle valve;
4) Get all sorts of cameras and sensors placed and secured;
5) Pressurize the vessel to its allowed/permitted maximum;
6) Stand behind some kind of shield and pull the release rope.

After doing all of that, they would come up with at least some kind of plausible numbers or formula related to heat and so on.

_________________
I began looking for someone like me when I was five ...
My search ended at 59 ... right here on WrongPlanet.
==================================

Titangeek
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 22 Aug 2010
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 7,696
Location: somewhere in the vicinity of betelgeuse

24 May 2011, 11:18 pm

What inspired this strangeness?

_________________
Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.
- Bruce Lee

leejosepho
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,011
Location: 200 miles south of Little Rock

24 May 2011, 11:33 pm

Titangeek wrote:

What inspired this strangeness?

I hear it as an honest, curious pondering, and I have just posted it over at MythBusters:

http://community.discovery.com/eve/foru ... 6319546801

_________________
I began looking for someone like me when I was five ...
My search ended at 59 ... right here on WrongPlanet.
==================================

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

25 May 2011, 3:55 am

DNForrest wrote:

Naw
Just take a gnat and force it throught the head of needle- measure the heat output- and then multipy the figure you get by the ratio of an elephants mass to the mass of the gnat.

Cornflake
Administrator

Joined: 30 Oct 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 70,696
Location: Over there

25 May 2011, 6:34 am

naturalplastic wrote:

Just take a gnat and force it throught the head of needle- measure the heat output- and then multipy the figure you get by the ratio of an elephants mass to the mass of the gnat.

Hmm. I don't think that would be very accurate because the elephant bones would need much more energy to push them though the needle, compared to the equivalent mass of a soft gnat's body.
Unless the elephant is processed to a pulp first, but that's probably cheating. :wink:

_________________
Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.

robin45
Blue Jay

Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Age: 59
Gender: Male
Posts: 87

25 May 2011, 9:35 am

This is a thought experiment so a needle that can withstand alot of heat is insignificant. We are not talking about the energy required to breaking chemical bonds because that is insignificant. The densities reached as a 4 tonne elephant goes through the eye of a needle in one second would be similar to the density found in a white dwarf star. We are talking nuclear physics here. Why a unusual subject matter. Why not.

kxmode
Supporting Member

Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,613
Location: In your neighborhood, knocking on your door. :)

25 May 2011, 12:36 pm

Here's an elephant holding a really big needle.

robin45
Blue Jay

Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Age: 59
Gender: Male
Posts: 87

25 May 2011, 3:07 pm

Here's an elephant holding a really big needle.

It looks like a caricature of an elephant holding a saw.

DNForrest
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,198
Location: Oregon

25 May 2011, 4:30 pm

Cornflake wrote:

naturalplastic wrote:

Just take a gnat and force it throught the head of needle- measure the heat output- and then multipy the figure you get by the ratio of an elephants mass to the mass of the gnat.

The solution: Genetically modified lab rats.

Page 1 of 2 [ 29 posts ] Go to page 1, 2 Next

Jump to:

Elephants and needles. Post Reply New Topic

Elephants and needles.