Elephants and needles.

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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
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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.

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Oodain
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24 May 2011, 6:29 pm

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

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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?

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leejosepho
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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 ...

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Oodain
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24 May 2011, 7:08 pm

what sort of compression device could be used?

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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!

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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.

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24 May 2011, 11:18 pm

What inspired this strangeness?

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leejosepho
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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

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naturalplastic
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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.

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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:

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robin45
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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.

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25 May 2011, 12:36 pm

Here's an elephant holding a really big needle.

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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.

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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.

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