> > That would be me. I remember being you saying > something like you could predict rain or wind > but not both, which reminded me of the Heissenburg > Uncertainty Principle that you can know the speed > or direction of a particle, but not both. OK, --- it doesn't really matter, but I can't let this one slip by. Your statement of the Heissenburg uncertainty principle is wrong. The correct statement is a bit complicated, but in its simplest form, it says that you can't simultaneously determine the position and momentum of a particle with arbitrary precision. As you more precisely measure one, you degrade your precision in the measurement of the other. Momentum is a vector quantity equal to the mass times the velocity of a particle. Hence, it includes both the speed and the direction of motion. According to my limited understanding of the problem (I'm a quantum mechanic not a meterologist), the problem with predicting wind and rain is due to issues that fall under the heading of complexity theory. I could explain this, but it would take more typing than my fingers could handle right now. Also, it doesn't really matter in a discussion of sea kayaking (but its fun --- I just love physics). --Tim *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Dec 22 1998 - 10:22:40 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:02 PDT