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You are here: Home > Forum > A Place of Safety > General Talk > I have an idea for a useful scientific study
I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40645] Sun, 21 January 2007 20:19 Go to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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When one have a single pen, that pen will disappear within a certain amount of time (let's call it d, for average disappearance time). It might fall on the floor, or disappear under something, or get swiped by a colleague. I assume that it's in some way proportional to the size of the room (s, for size), for there are more places for it to go in a larger room. When one has lost one's pen (which is a statistical near-certainty) it takes a certain amount of time to find it again (let's call that f, for average time to find it).

Okay so far?

When one has two pens, the same applies for each -- it will disappear on average after d amount of time. But when one comes to look for it one will find at least one of them within half of d. Thus, though one can only use one pen at a time, there is an obvious advantage to having two pens as it means one can find one more quickly.

My question is this: can someone do a study to establish what d, f and also n (the time it takes to reach out and take a pen without frustration setting in) are for a specific or average person, and then produce an equation so that for a given size of room (s) one can work out the pen saturation point, p: the number of pens required to ensure that one will always have a pen to hand when one wants one?

David
I think there is such a thing as over-impersonality  [message #40646 is a reply to message #40645] Sun, 21 January 2007 20:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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A non-scientific approach  [message #40647 is a reply to message #40645] Sun, 21 January 2007 20:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
kupuna is currently offline  kupuna

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At last, something useful for the scientists!

(I know I had a pen on my desk early on Thursday, but later the same day it was gone. I tried to accuse my colleagues, but they laughed at me and told me to get lost.)

There is a non-scientific solution to the problem.
1. Buy a box of cheap pens.
2. When back at work, throw them around, on random, making sure that there are pens in every corner.
3. Tell the cleaners to stay away.

[Updated on: Sun, 21 January 2007 20:27]

Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40657 is a reply to message #40645] Mon, 22 January 2007 07:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

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My attic has a black hole for screwdrivers. All I have to do is to put one down and it vanishes. Can we do the same for that scenario? I have never yet found one that has gone.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40661 is a reply to message #40645] Mon, 22 January 2007 11:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
marc is currently offline  marc

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I think there are a couple of variables you overlooked.

P...... the pay attention to what you are doung variable.

W...... the watch where you put things variable.



Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40673 is a reply to message #40661] Mon, 22 January 2007 15:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

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How about the E variable, that stands for the quantity of exasperation when you turn around and the thing is gone?



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40676 is a reply to message #40673] Mon, 22 January 2007 16:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
marc is currently offline  marc

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That follows through to the P variable..... which is more than likely a constant rather than a variable.....

P..... ay attention to where you put things.

LOL



Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40677 is a reply to message #40676] Mon, 22 January 2007 16:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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We've already got a small p -- using a capital P is rather confusing. However --

Marc said:
>I think there are a couple of variables you overlooked.
>P...... the pay attention to what you are doung variable.
>W...... the watch where you put things variable.

What are P and W measured in?

All the variables I measured have units of time (seconds) except for s, which is an area (square metres) and small p (a number of pens).

David
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40678 is a reply to message #40677] Mon, 22 January 2007 16:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
marc is currently offline  marc

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Deeej wrote:

>
> What are P and W measured in?
>

Brains....



Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40680 is a reply to message #40678] Mon, 22 January 2007 16:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jack is currently offline  jack

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what you need to do is tie 20 pens around your neck in a chain formation,
they would be mounted on pull down springs, this way no one could remove a pen without causing you some injury.

I thought this was easier than spending too much time on the theory.



life is to enjoy.
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40685 is a reply to message #40678] Mon, 22 January 2007 18:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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I forget: what's a brain in SI units, again?
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40687 is a reply to message #40685] Mon, 22 January 2007 18:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jack is currently offline  jack

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mass density=kg/m3:-O



life is to enjoy.
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40688 is a reply to message #40687] Mon, 22 January 2007 18:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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But the intelligence of a brain is not directly proportional to density ... unless you're talking about the colloquial meaning of the word 'dense', I guess. Smile
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40689 is a reply to message #40688] Mon, 22 January 2007 19:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jack is currently offline  jack

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perhaps not but does have rather a dense mass of ergs in it!

i do assume we are talking electrical activity since it is a brain.

or are we talking about dense pens!:-/



life is to enjoy.
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40690 is a reply to message #40689] Mon, 22 January 2007 19:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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I'm afraid you've lost me. Ergs?

David
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40691 is a reply to message #40690] Mon, 22 January 2007 19:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jack is currently offline  jack

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just playing i know you know what an erg is.;-D



life is to enjoy.
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40692 is a reply to message #40691] Mon, 22 January 2007 19:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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Actually, I didn't. I'd never heard the word in my life.

Now I've looked it up on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erg

It seems to belong to a rather obscure system of units (CGS, which is non-SI).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimetre_gram_second_system_of_units

According to that page it's been deprecated since the 1940s. Everyone learns SI units in school these days, i.e. joules.

Has anyone else heard of it? Smile

David

[Updated on: Mon, 22 January 2007 19:27]

Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40694 is a reply to message #40692] Mon, 22 January 2007 23:12 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NW is currently offline  NW

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Deeej wrote:

> Has anyone else heard of it? Smile

It was in common use when I did physics O-level in 1970: we were "taught" in SI units, but expected to know about ergs and other CGS stuff, also imperial stuff like foot-pounds ... and horsepower, come to that.

All of which slumbers gloriously unheeded and un-needed in the attics of my mind ...



"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40708 is a reply to message #40694] Tue, 23 January 2007 21:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

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You were lucky. We were taught half in old units and half in what I suppose should be called "SI Unit" since there are no plurals. We had to convert to do our exams.

It was also great fun working out interest sums in pounds, shillings and pence. That sucked.

Car maintenance was more fun. The torque wrench settings became known for some reasin as foot-herberts instead of foot-pounds.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: I have an idea for a useful scientific study  [message #40709 is a reply to message #40708] Tue, 23 January 2007 22:05 Go to previous message
Deeej is currently offline  Deeej

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I notice no young people have chimed in!

It's just occurred to me that I seem to be the only young regular poster on the board at the moment (by which I mean, literally in the last few days). That is interesting. I wonder if it can possibly be a seasonal thing? I know things tend to wax and wane, but I don't remember it being as quiet as this before.

David

[Updated on: Tue, 23 January 2007 22:05]

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