this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2024
523 points (97.8% liked)

Science Memes

11021 readers
3487 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
523
reDUcTIon iS gAIn (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by narwhal@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] fishos@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

Ummm.... Have you ever used a screw? Bottle cap? "Right tighty, lefty loosey"? A car wheel when going forward? Literally 99% of things tighten clockwise.

You're the person people have to say "no, your other left" a lot to, aren't ya?

[–] SqueakyBeaver@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Just wanna say, a car tire moves a different direction based on your perspective.

If you're looking at the driver side of the car, the tires move counterclockwise, whereas if you're looking at the other side, the tires appear to rotate the other way.

Perspective changes a lot of things, it's pretty cool.

edit: Driver side in my case is (when viewed from the back) the left side

[–] mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I thought you messed up the sides but then realised driver side is not the same on every country

[–] SqueakyBeaver@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

oh I also forgot that lol

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Fair point. Car wheels are a bit of a bad example. Probably shouldn't have included them, but I'll at least argue that means that 50% of wheels are clockwise and 50% are counter, so it negates itself.

[–] mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Also 99% of things loosen anticlockwise. So why preffer tighten over loosen?

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Tighten = on/activated. You use a cap buy putting it on to seal the container. You out a screw in to join the wood. You do the thing it's meant to do in a clockwise fashion.

What's the purpose of a cap? To keep things in. The purpose of the spout itself is to let them in.

Clockwise wins.

[–] mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The purpose of a cap is to both open and close the lid. A seal is usually used to keep it tight

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The purpose of the cap is to BE the lid. Otherwise it's a bottle.

[–] mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

*Be the lid that opens as well as close

Not just to close

[–] affiliate@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

i don’t ever use bottle caps or cars. but in the case of screws (and bottle caps), the choice to make them tighten clockwise and loosen counter clockwise is entirely arbitrary.

my main point is that i think it’s confusing that clockwise is negatively oriented and counterclockwise is positively oriented (in the mathematical sense). and the mathematical definition of orientation is ultimately dependent on trigonometry. and it just feels wrong that clocks are negatively oriented.

You're the person people have to say "no, your other left" a lot to, aren't ya?

no.

[–] blind3rdeye@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago

I'm not sure why you're saying its clocks that are wrong rather than the other stuff. Currently we have x = r cos(𝜃) and y = r sin(𝜃), and that's what makes anti-clockwise rotations mathematically natural. But if we instead just used x = r sin(𝜃) and y = r cos(𝜃) then clockwise would be the natural positive rotation. And in that case, the unit circle would start at the top and go around clockwise... like we do for compass bearing (and clocks of course). So perhaps that would be better than changing what clocks do.

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"the choice is arbitrary".

Except it's not as many other have pointed out. You're just confused and trying to spread your confusion to others. Yes, advanced math gets complex, that's advanced math. Don't drag trig into this when you're just confused.

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

"the choice is arbitrary".

Except it's not as many other have pointed out. You're just confused and trying to spread your confusion to others. Yes, advanced math gets complex, that's advanced math. Don't drag trig into this when you're just confused.

Also "I don't use bottle caps or cars"? Seriously just buzz off with that. You don't live anywhere where you're not using the simple machine of a screw. I hope Archimedes is rolling clockwise in his grave right now.