Best flamewar EVER!

[mzteris]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2833602


:rofl:

Seriously, an interesting topic - but the passion and vehemence. Just wow.

Pssssst - if you ever wondered where all the aspies are on DU, I think I found some!

[mainegreen]

1. Dude, there is some seriously bad understanding of physics in that thread!

I mean seriously, :wtf:!

[mzteris]

2. But I think they really really

like SCOTCH!

:toast:

[mainegreen]

5. That's part of what makes it so funny!

I can imagine ice shelfs floating in a sea of scotch!
:rofl:

[mzteris]

7. I know - some of those posts

were hysterical. I think it was wasted in GD; it should have been in the Lounge! (Or at least the science forum!)

[billyskank]

3. The dumbass was half right

Ice floating in water does indeed add nothing to the waterline when it melts, because it displaces a volume of water exactly equal in mass to itself.

However, Antartica is a continent. The ice is on land. :rofl:

[mzteris]

6. I guess what I was wondering

(but was afraid to ask in THERE - :scared:) was

If you have a full glass and then DROP a big ass chunk of ice into it, aren't you going to get some spillage. Even if, say part of the ice chunk is "in" the water, but it's frozen to the side of the pitcher standing next to the glass - so the ice is only partially displacing the water, and then it breaks off and the whole thing plops in - there'd be some issues with volume, right?

And, if that ice chunk was holding back an avalance of more ice that would then fall in - well - I think then you'd have a problem.

[billyskank]

8. Yes, exactly

If you had a glass filled right to the brim with water (or Scotch, if you prefer), and THEN put an ice cube in, sure it would overflow. It would overflow by a volume of water almost (but not quite) equal to the volume of the cube, because ice is only very slightly less dense than water.

So what that guy was arguing was that Archimedes' principle says that the melted water would not affect the waterline, which is true if the ice cube is floating in the drink to begin with. This is the case in the Arctic, where there is no land, but not in the Antarctic, which is a continent.

[mzteris]

10. Thanks.

I think I'll go have that Scotch now. :)

[LSK]

4. I had to walk away from that one

:rofl:

[mondo joe]

9. Normally in a battle between science and liquor I'd be hard pressed to pick

a side. But in this case the liquor seems better than the science.

[mzteris]

11. Well think of the experiments you can do

all day! Do different types of liquor make a difference?

Tequila, Scotch, Vodka, Bourbon, Rum . . . hmmmmmmmmm

[buddhamama]

12. Locking...

From the Rules: Do not start a new topic in order to continue a flame war from another discussion thread.

Sincerely,
buddhamama- DU Mod