Him: Daddy, what's zero-point energy?
Me:
Him:
Me:
Him: ...
Me: (Googles.) "In physics, the zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may possess; it is the energy of the ground state of the system. All quantum mechanical systems have a zero point energy. The term arises commonly in reference to the ground state of the quantum harmonic oscillator and its null oscillations. In quantum field theory, it is a synonym for the vacuum energy, an amount of energy associated with the vacuum of empty space. In cosmology, the vacuum energy is taken to be the origin of the cosmological constant. Experimentally, the zero-point energy of the vacuum leads directly to the Casimir effect, and is directly observable in nanoscale devices."
Him:
Me:
Him: What's zero-point energy?
Me: It's the least amount of energy in a system.
Him: Okay.
Me: Whew.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
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2 comments:
You did better than I did. Today I was asked "what's genetically designed?" Sigh... I can't even begin to answer that in a way a 5 year old can pretend to understand.
How about "it's when they use the little building blocks of living things called genes to make better living things. Like when they take plain old wooden boards and use them to design a building."
=o)
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