Your right, If our train starts to reach the speed of light your ball may become heavier and the distance would contract.
The scene at 2:50 shows it's possible.
Gotta love Nazis on the moon.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX2cS8wvQHI
Although gunpowder/cordite contains its own oxidizer I still don't think a flintlock would work due to the fact that the flint striking mechanism has no oxigen so I don't think it would provide a spark for the gun power in the flash pan. Anything percusion lock and later ought to work I think.
Although gunpowder/cordite contains its own oxidizer I still don't think a flintlock would work due to the fact that the flint striking mechanism has no oxigen so I don't think it would provide a spark for the gun power in the flash pan. Anything percusion lock and later ought to work I think.
Science education in this country is abysmal. Luckily, American Idol's numbers are still doing pretty good.
The flint striking steel does not need oxygen to create a spark. The spark is simply hot metal flakes shaved off. That heat ignites the powder.
Oh no, the spark you see is the metal oxidizing. While the metal particles are hot due to the strike, they aren't hot enough or contain enough mass to hit the ignition temperature of the powder. The heat from the strike and the sudden exposure of unoxidized surface and increased surface area is what causes the metal to ignite (in the presence of air).
Oops... I learned something today. Just Googled that after I posted. After reading this article (Flint and Steel: What Causes the Sparks? | Survival Topics) I had a giant . Duh, I knew that.
The biggest problem with firing a gun on the moon, I'm afraid, is getting there. So unless you are an asstronaught I guess you are just going to have to be happy with firing a gun, at the moon.
Relativistic effects happen no matter the speed differential as long as it's above zero. Whether you can measure it is a whole different matter, but just because you can't measure it doesn't mean it doesn't exist
Fundamental difference between an Engineer and those pesky scientists. In my world pi ends.
In my world pi are round.
Mathematicians are the worst though.
There is a classic Sci Fi short story about an exchange of gunfire between a US lunar base and a Russian lunar base. I won't ruin it here, but it's a humorous story about unintended consequences.