DC Cookie

Friday, July 21, 2006

Sister Geekfest Part III - The Physicist

I love getting these e-mail debate forwards from my brainiac Lil Sis. The geekitude makes me so proud...

The Setting
From Lil Sis to Cookie: "I went to bar trivia last night at Fado and this guy and I got into a debate about what a neutron was made of (he said it's a proton + an electron; I said it's not. I mentioned that I thought there were quarks involved, but only took a stand on the fact that a neutron was NOT a proton and an electron mashed together). He then told me his sister was a particle physicist. I said my dad invented particle physics. You can imagine how the conversation went from there...at any rate, we wound up betting a beer on it (that I will not have to repay, since I will probably never hang out with him again)."

The Discovery
From Guy to Lil Sis: "...it is also well known that a neutron will decay into a proton and electron. Outside the nucleus, neutrons are unstable...decaying by emitting an electron and antineutrino to become a proton" I forgot the antineutrino. Still, though...I win teh internets!!!1!!"

The Rebuttal
From Lil Sis to Guy: "While I am impressed at your industriousness (googling neutrons at 2:30am), I'm not sure I agree with your conclusion. 'A neutron is classified as a baryon, and consists of two down quarks and one up quark.' I think I remember busting out the quark during our intellectual debate on particle physics last night. Not sure what's involved with the 'decaying process, but if it involves any sort of chemical change then I don't think you can actually say that a neutron is made up of what it decays into. And we've officially reached the bounds of my knowledge. Turns out 10th grade chemistry really only takes you so far."

The Counter-Rebuttal
From Guy to Lil Sis: "I don't think the bet was whether, at a quantum level, all this stuff was made of quarks. I was saying that you can treat a neutron, in terms of mass and charge, as a combination of a proton and an electron. And the articles I quoted say that a neutron is more massive than a proton, and its charge is different, by the mass and charge of an electron (plus an anti-neutrino, which I don't really know what that is, and frankly sounds made-up.) I'm really looking forward to that beer you owe me. You can go ahead and bring it to me at work. Because clearly I'm don't have enough to do."

The Closing Argument
From Lil Sis to Guy: "I believe your exact words were 'a neutron is made up of a proton plus an electron.' When, as everyone knows, a neutron is *actually* made up of two down quarks and one up quark. You're right enough that I'll buy you a beer, next time I see you out (safe bet - I'm leaving DC in a week and a half). But you gotta give me the quarks. We're talking about something I learned 11 years ago. High five?"

Definitely!

12 Comments:

  • At July 21, 2006 11:44 AM, Blogger Carrie Broadshoulders said…

    I think the last time I was at Fado, the only debate I had was whether to throw up on the floor or actually try to stumble to the bathroom. I clearly chose the latter...I am a lady after all.

     
  • At July 21, 2006 11:47 AM, Blogger The Senator said…

    Sounds like a wicked panda dance.

    They were simply flirting. There is NO WAY that anyone would talk like that in public unless there were other intentions involved.

     
  • At July 21, 2006 11:48 AM, Blogger roosh said…

    what a lame ass way to pick up a chick. reminds me of that seinfeld episode where dude makes bets he knows he will lose to get a date

     
  • At July 21, 2006 12:28 PM, Blogger Raincouver said…

    I thought neutrino was something you put in Gatorade. Who knew.

     
  • At July 21, 2006 12:28 PM, Blogger Raincouver said…

    I thought neutrino was something you put in Gatorade.

    I stand corrected.

     
  • At July 21, 2006 12:47 PM, Blogger Johnny said…

    when a bootyno and a penion merge it becomes a orgasmion.

    :P

     
  • At July 21, 2006 1:29 PM, Blogger Phil said…

    No, a Neutrino is a giant wharf rat that lives in Louisiana.

    While I know nothing of neutrons, I do know the absolute basics of an atom include a proton, neutron & electron, so why would the neutron be made up of the other 2 particles that already exist? He is wrong.

     
  • At July 21, 2006 2:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Cookie,

    I think it fair to say that for me, this may be the sexiest thing you've ever posted since I've been reading your blog. :)

    And yes, people do talk like this. This's standard flirting procedure at MIT, for instance. :)

     
  • At July 21, 2006 4:08 PM, Blogger Andie said…

    no, a neutrino IS NOT a rat in Louisiana. I hope that comment was meant as a joke. LOL

    The rat you're thinking of is a NUTRIA.

     
  • At July 21, 2006 4:22 PM, Blogger Kendrick said…

    This post is just bait for nerds. Hence, I am here leaving a comment.

    Your Lil Sis won this bet hands down. She is spot-on in all her points. You can't use reasoning from everyday logic and apply it to quantum models. The models in quantum physics have their own set of rules and they don't follow much of any natural intuition that we have. A neutron (udd, an up quark and two down quarks) removed from the nucleus does decay into a proton (uud), electron, and an antineutrino, but it does not imply that a neutron is composed of these particles. Just suspend common sense in quantum mechanics.

    > "...it is also well known"

    Almost as bad as, "This is left as an exercise to the reader."

    k.

     
  • At July 23, 2006 12:50 PM, Blogger Barbara said…

    I'm impressed! I thought a quark was a first cousin of a quack. What do I know?

     
  • At July 23, 2006 9:05 PM, Blogger Phil said…

    andie - I think "Nutria" is a delightful new beverage made by the people of Sunny Delight...

     

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