Archimedes vs. Hooke
Archimedes' principle, or the law of upthrust, is: "When a solid body is partially or completely immersed in water, the apparent loss in weight will be equal to the weight of the displaced liquid."
In other words, when a body is partially or completely immersed in a liquid, then it experiences an upward buoyant force which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the immersed part of the body.
In other words, when a body is partially or completely immersed in a liquid, then it experiences an upward buoyant force which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the immersed part of the body.
Hooke's law of elasticity is an approximation that states that the amount by which a material body is deformed (the strain) is linearly related to the force causing the deformation (the stress). Materials for which Hooke's law is a useful approximation are known as linear-elastic or "Hookean" materials.
As a result of the late posting of this event, voting will be extended until noon on Tuesday, mountain time.
5 comments:
After a rather lengthy hiatus, I have returned to the fold of Badanswer to take part once again in the grand spectacle that is "Answers For Common Science Questions."
I find it difficult to really see any sort of fairness in this match due to the fact that Archimedes is so awesome and Hooke is so ordinary. Archimedes' principle derives its awesomeness directly from the fact that its concepts are utilized in many branches of science and industry. Everything from shipbuilding to car manufacturing to medicine have based methods upon the law of upthrust.
Hooke's law, on the otherhand, has a very small and specific target group: Hookean materials, such as the springs that measure the weights of produce in the supermarket which, I might add, always seem to be a little off. I don't know about any of the other illustrious posters on the site but I for feel that the only thing worse than a Hookean system is a Fickian system, which is terrible.
What it boils down to is that Archimedes' principle is far more useful and ubiquitous in society than any sort of approximate measure of elasticity.
Archimedes with the easy win.
In addition to Beanholio's comments, I would like to add that were it not for elastics (and Lycra) we would not have stretch pants. As stretch pants are one of the greatest abominations the world has ever seen, as I'm sure we all can agree, Hooke can only be derided for his contributions on their behalf.
Sadly, I just can't quite take the minority position on this one. It was close, but Archimedes' Law barely edged it out.
Hooke's Law actually has a lot in its favor. I for one, TommyP, like elastic and spandex and such if they are used correctly- waistbands, bicycle shorts, football pants, etc. The misgivings you and I seem to share lies not with the existence of stretchy pants, but who chooses to wear them. That debate is very much for another forum. I also enjoy the benefits of springs. I think of all the springs in my life: in my mattress, in my car's shocks, in my bicycle seat, and the little springs that recoil the buttons on my keyboard as I type. All of these, in their small way, make my life much more pleasant. Clearly, a world without Hookean materials would be quite stiff and uncomfortable.
On the other hand, Archimedes law allows dirigibles to do what they do. Score 1 for Archimedes.
Ahhh... it feels good to be typing on my own keyboard again.
I am going with Hooke on this one, despite, as tommyp pointed out, the abomination called stretch pants. I just do not feel it is approprate to pin this one on Hooke. That would be like blaming Murphy for all the bad things that have ever happened.
In addition, as nickg pointed out, stretch pants are not evil when worn by (goodbye political correctness) hotties, but are when worn by, um, full figured ladies?.
There are also abhorent trends in fashion which do not involve hookian materials, the muffin top is but one example (you can search google at the top of the page if you are unfamiliar with this one).
In the end, Hooke gives us sling shots and "Red Rider BB guns" and Archimedes gives us targets to shoot at.
I am swayed by badanswer's unimpeachable logic here.
Hooke gives us weapons.
Archemedes gives us targets.
Hooke wins.
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