Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on Sept 22, 2021 12:08:50 GMT -6
Nerd moment:
Was thinking of planting against a south facing brick wall and was wondering how far the shadow from the roof overhang would extend along the wall.
So........
My latitude: 30.4° N. Earths tilt: +/- 23.5°
Summer Solstice: 90° - 30.4° + 23.5° = 83.1°
Vernal & Autumnal Equinox: 90° - 30.4° = 59.6°
Winter Solstice: 90° - 30.4° - 23.5° = 36.1°
My roof overhang is 13.75". How far down the outside wall of my house will the shadow be cast?
So on Summer Solstice: 13.75"/tan(90 - 83.1) = 113.62"
Vernal and Autumnal Equinox: 13.75"/tan(90 - 59.6) = 23.44"
On Winter Solstice: 13.75"/tan(90 - 36.1) = 10.03"
My wall is about 100" from the ground to the overhang, so the shadow on Summer Solstice will encompass the whole wall plus 1.65" horizontally onto the ground away from the wall.
Since today is the Autumnal Equinox, I took a photo of the shadow on my south-facing wall.
Trig works....looks pretty damn close to the calculated 23.44".
Not really.....just trig....and knowing/reading up on the tilt of the earth with the seasons (in this millennia at least).
If the Greeks could calculate the circumference of the earth to within 15% in the 3rd century BC, then I should figure out how to calculate the shadow the sun casts on my house wall.....
Not really.....just trig....and knowing/reading up on the tilt of the earth with the seasons (in this millennia at least).
If the Greeks could calculate the circumference of the earth to within 15% in the 3rd century BC, then I should figure out how to calculate the shadow the sun casts on my house wall.....
Just saying.
How existential.
"Let's work the problem, people; don't make things worse by guessing!"
Not really.....just trig....and knowing/reading up on the tilt of the earth with the seasons (in this millennia at least).
If the Greeks could calculate the circumference of the earth to within 15% in the 3rd century BC, then I should figure out how to calculate the shadow the sun casts on my house wall.....
Just saying.
How existential.
I'm blown away at what people were able to puzzle out about the world just through their own observation, thinking, and experiments....which of course is the basis of science.
It makes me wonder what kind of person I would have been way back then....someone who just took things as they were without question, or someone who tried to understand the world anew.....
This reminds me of my favorite contemporary scientist, Richard Feynman.
Here is a great interview he did that shows how his mind worked and how he tried to look at the world by taking off the rose-colored glasses we all wear. I could listen to him all day long....such a great mind and a great teacher.
I'm blown away at what people were able to puzzle out about the world just through their own observation, thinking, and experiments....which of course is the basis of science.
It makes me wonder what kind of person I would have been way back then....someone who just took things as they were without question, or someone who tried to understand the world anew.....
This reminds me of my favorite contemporary scientist, Richard Feynman.
Here is a great interview he did that shows how his mind worked and how he tried to look at the world by taking off the rose-colored glasses we all wear. I could listen to him all day long....such a great mind and a great teacher.
I relate with being blown away by such things. It still amazes me that we are able to take an object that weighs several tons (a jumbo jet) and have it soar miles above the ground without giving it a whole lot of thought. When I'm flying, I myself try not to think about it too much. It's the same with my vehicle- all these hundreds of things have to be firing and working just right and in synchronicity with each other for the vehicle to operate properly and yet it does for many miles and many, many hours- all because of what we have learned through science.
I am always curious about my world, but I try so hard not to overthink it. I'm reminded of the story about the botanist who comes across a lovely flower, the likes of which he has never seen before, so he picks it and tears it apart and analyzes it and comes to a comprehensive understanding of the flower and why it is the way it is.........but then gazes upon his work and sees that all he now has left is a dead flower- and he realizes that he missed the whole point of the flower's existence in the first place.
I have found personally that science and faith can co-habitate quite well.
"Let's work the problem, people; don't make things worse by guessing!"