The full expression is "Going down faster than a lead Zepplin".
First, let me deal with the pedants or as I like to call them, "Unionists".
According to current physics thinking all things fall at the same rate (v) in a vaccuum under gravity, so technically the statement is meaningless as all bodies with mass fall at the same rate. It also follows the maximum energy contained within any body equals its mass times the speed of light squared; E.
Under the basic law of momentum E is conserved; consider a collision between two objects - object 1 and object 2. For such a collision, the forces acting between the two objects are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction (Newton's third law). The relationship of momentum and the stored or kinetic energy of a body can be expressed in equation form as follows:
OK pedants; so far?
So why is the kinetic energy of a body only half of its total available energy according to Einstien's formula?
This is due to terminal velocity:
terminal velocity formula, v = the square root of ((2*m*g)/(ρ*A*C)). Plug the following values into that formula to solve for v, terminal velocity.[1]
So how does "Going down faster than a lead Zepplin" apply to Brexit you ask, apart from being quite a funny description of the current farce playing out at Westminster. Let's try applying the terminal velocity formula to current Tory Party thinking and actions to see if I am right in my contention.
Mass: is easy to define as you can observe the 'dead weight' that makes up the current UK Cabinet so we will assume the mass of the Tory Brexit negotiating body is around the same as the average neutron star on a volume basis; 1100 tonnes per nanolitre (millionth of a litre) or the equivalent of the mass of 900 great pyramids of Cheops.
Gravity: While we all observe the gravity of the situation is high, in terms of the equation it is fixed at 9.8 metres per second per second
Density: While we would agree the Tory Party is being extrememly dense with its thinking that it controls all the Brexit negotiating levers, we are actually looking at the density through which said Brexit negotiations are falling within the EU, this is clearly a very high number indeed
Area: You can hardly call the current thinking of the Tory Party "stream lined" and given the corpulence that abounds within the Tory Party we can consider this figure to be in the region of half a square kilometre
Drag: The Tory Party continue to drag their heels and alter their latest spun press release on Brexit to face the current wind of popular thinkng within their own party. Most of the rest of us see this as a drag as we are fed up being treated like little kiddies who should just do what the "nice" Tories tell us to because they know best. There is a lot of drag around Brexit.
Given all the apparent agencies acting to slow the velocity of Brexit it appears, at first glance, I am potentially wrong in my contention of Brexit "Going down faster than a lead Zepplin" but mass will out. The average human being has a volume of 95 Litres, multiply by the number of Tory Brexiteers, times 1100 tones, times ten to the power 6 and I think you will agree the mass of Brexit under the Tories means the UK will "Go down faster than a lead Zepplin", creating a political, social and economic abyss, courtesy of its kinetic energy, we will never again see daylight from, welcome back to the dark Satanic Mills, UK. You just can not ignore the maths or the physics involved (let alone quantum).
Simply put, we Scots are going to be fucked over, big time, if we stay in this UK Union.
First, let me deal with the pedants or as I like to call them, "Unionists".
According to current physics thinking all things fall at the same rate (v) in a vaccuum under gravity, so technically the statement is meaningless as all bodies with mass fall at the same rate. It also follows the maximum energy contained within any body equals its mass times the speed of light squared; E.
Under the basic law of momentum E is conserved; consider a collision between two objects - object 1 and object 2. For such a collision, the forces acting between the two objects are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction (Newton's third law). The relationship of momentum and the stored or kinetic energy of a body can be expressed in equation form as follows:
OK pedants; so far?
So why is the kinetic energy of a body only half of its total available energy according to Einstien's formula?
This is due to terminal velocity:
terminal velocity formula, v = the square root of ((2*m*g)/(ρ*A*C)). Plug the following values into that formula to solve for v, terminal velocity.[1]
- m = mass of the falling object
- g = the acceleration due to gravity. On Earth this is approximately 9.8 meters per second per second.
- ρ = the density of the fluid the object is falling through.
- A = the projected area of the object. This means the area of the object if you projected it onto a plane that was perpendicular to the direction the object is moving.
- C = the drag coefficient. This number depends on the shape of the object. The more streamlined the shape, the lower the coefficient.
So how does "Going down faster than a lead Zepplin" apply to Brexit you ask, apart from being quite a funny description of the current farce playing out at Westminster. Let's try applying the terminal velocity formula to current Tory Party thinking and actions to see if I am right in my contention.
Mass: is easy to define as you can observe the 'dead weight' that makes up the current UK Cabinet so we will assume the mass of the Tory Brexit negotiating body is around the same as the average neutron star on a volume basis; 1100 tonnes per nanolitre (millionth of a litre) or the equivalent of the mass of 900 great pyramids of Cheops.
Gravity: While we all observe the gravity of the situation is high, in terms of the equation it is fixed at 9.8 metres per second per second
Density: While we would agree the Tory Party is being extrememly dense with its thinking that it controls all the Brexit negotiating levers, we are actually looking at the density through which said Brexit negotiations are falling within the EU, this is clearly a very high number indeed
Area: You can hardly call the current thinking of the Tory Party "stream lined" and given the corpulence that abounds within the Tory Party we can consider this figure to be in the region of half a square kilometre
Drag: The Tory Party continue to drag their heels and alter their latest spun press release on Brexit to face the current wind of popular thinkng within their own party. Most of the rest of us see this as a drag as we are fed up being treated like little kiddies who should just do what the "nice" Tories tell us to because they know best. There is a lot of drag around Brexit.
Given all the apparent agencies acting to slow the velocity of Brexit it appears, at first glance, I am potentially wrong in my contention of Brexit "Going down faster than a lead Zepplin" but mass will out. The average human being has a volume of 95 Litres, multiply by the number of Tory Brexiteers, times 1100 tones, times ten to the power 6 and I think you will agree the mass of Brexit under the Tories means the UK will "Go down faster than a lead Zepplin", creating a political, social and economic abyss, courtesy of its kinetic energy, we will never again see daylight from, welcome back to the dark Satanic Mills, UK. You just can not ignore the maths or the physics involved (let alone quantum).
Simply put, we Scots are going to be fucked over, big time, if we stay in this UK Union.
Good to see you back.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I really missed you. This post tested my 60's Higher physics, but the meaning is spot on. I hope you are back with more.
ReplyDelete