this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025
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Science Memes

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top 37 comments
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Why does it remind me of Max Payne for some reason ?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Any good link for a simple explanation on how there cant be smaller length?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I think the best way to understand the Planck length is to understand how we came to Planck's constant in the first place. ~~Science~~ Physics girl has a good video on it (she shared today that she's getting better, which is fantastic news)

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

To accurately measure the size or location of something requires energy. The more precise the measurement, the more energy is required. The amount of energy required get the precision below the Planck length would literally create a black hole.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Why does it require more energy?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Because the uncertainty in the measurement is related to the wavelength of a photon used to make the measurement and smaller wavelengths (higher frequencies) lower that uncertainty but are more energetic.

PBS Spacetime has an excellent video on this very subject.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've never found a good link, and I'm not certain that I know best, but I can try to explain it to you.

First: an understanding of the Pauli exclusion principle. Often people ask "Why can't there be 3 electrons in that orbital, there's plenty of space?" The thing is that the electrons are completely¹ defined by just 4 numbers: spin (±½), shell (positive integer), subshell (integer from 0 to shell-1) and magnetic (integer form -subshell to +subshell). Why there can't be more than 2 electrons in the 1st shell is that you can chose spin from (±½), shell is 1, subshell has to be 0, magnetic has to be 0. Its like asking "Why can't there be 3 integers between 0 and 3, there's plenty of space?" and the answer is that whatever integer you come up with will be one of the 2 already known (1, 2).

Similarly, as I understand it, the fundamental laws of physics don't distinguish between "things" closer than 1 Planck length apart. That doesn't necessarily mean that the universe operates on a 1 Planck length grid, just that any two "things" separated by less than a Planck length are indistinguishable from one new "thing" with different properties.

I'm fairly confident in the PEP description, the Planck length one I'm less 100% sure about, but its how I understand it at least.

¹assuming a universe comprised of only a single hydrogen atom, otherwise the states of everything else in the universe can perterb the state functions and things can get messy, but usually not enough to merge shells.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thank you for trying, your explanation is not nearly dumb enough. I feel like the match girl smelling the roast while having a bite of stale bread. There is knowledge I just can smell but not taste. The one thing I got though that clarified a bit is that Planck lengths is not a statement that space, the 3 dimensions, is quantized but rather that it's mathematically insignificant when trying to distinguish two particules separated by Less than that length.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

The smallest particles are not actually balls, but are wibbly wobbly. To measure something we need to interact with it, even if we interact with it using light. But because those particles are all wibbly wobbly, we can't say for sure where they are exactly. And that unsure distance is Plancks length.

Disclaimer; I am not theoretical not a physicist, now eat your vegetables.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Not American enough. I need it in football fields.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

5.303×10^-35^ feet

1.0043×10^-38^ miles

4.20x10^69^ OP's dicks

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Absolutely fathomable.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

Planckiest violin, play me Despacito.

[–] [email protected] 109 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Max Planck: I also just discovered the shortest amount of time something can last any ideas what I should name it?

Marie Planck: Planck time

Max Planck: :'(

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Minor Planck

[–] [email protected] 79 points 1 month ago (9 children)

Would you rather it be called Max length?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Unhesitatingly

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Insidiously

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Indubitably

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Doubtlessly.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

Definitely.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

Half planck

doggirl-smug centrist wowee

[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 month ago

Planck died before he finished his Grower/Shower addendum to the scale.

[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 month ago

See it's funny bc his name is max

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Nah, I can imagine half a planck length

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

Any smaller and it’s not even there at all!