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[MagmaMcFry]

I tried to explain him that a lightyear is a lightyear because it's the distance light travles in a year, but he just vaguely said "we need time, not distance"

Ask him how much time it takes for light to travel a lightyear. If he says something else than a year, ask him why it's called a lightyear. If he says a year, then ask him how much time it takes for light to travel 4.3 lightyears.

I'd call this strategy "binary dissonance amplification", but I'm still looking for a better name.

[Scelly9]

Although that does remind me, earlier today, on a whim, I did some quick calculations and worked out that between the Earth and the Sun there are about 6*10^24 hydrogen atoms (assuming one atom per cubic metre). That seems like way too large a number, even though it's not really that big considering.

That... can not be right. A mol of hydrogen is 1.204*10^24 hydrogen atoms, and we have a hell of a lot more hydrogen than that.

[Descan]

Yeah. <1 atom per meter is intergalactic. The best number I can find is the particle-count, which is about 5-10 particles per cubic centimeter. But it could go as high as 100.

[Graknorke]

Yeah. <1 atom per meter is intergalactic.

Oh, alright. I was doing this mostly in relation to someone else's speech so I let them find the numbers.

[Skyrunner]

I'd be more, "only 10^24 hydrogen atoms between the Sun and the Earth?!"

[SealyStar]

The number of hydrogen atoms per cubic meter in the sun is probably higher than most people could even comprehend, most definitely not one.

[Blargityblarg]

I'd be more, "only 10^24 hydrogen atoms between the Sun and the Earth?!"

That's a bit more than one and a half grams, mind you.

[Sheb]

The number of hydrogen atoms per cubic meter in the sun is probably higher than most people could even comprehend, most definitely not one.

He was speaking about the space between here and the sun.

[SealyStar]

The number of hydrogen atoms per cubic meter in the sun is probably higher than most people could even comprehend, most definitely not one.

He was speaking about the space between here and the sun.

Oh.

That might make sense, though in turn I'm curious how you measure the space (presumably volume) between two spher(oid)s of vastly different sizes millions of miles apart. Is it, like, a cone-type shape?

[Mini]

Most likely a rectangular prism, with the two short sides both being 1 meter long.

[Graknorke]

I'd be more, "only 10^24 hydrogen atoms between the Sun and the Earth?!"

I am not a person who feels things intuitively. Unless I know a thing then I am not at all good at guessing what it is.

And while I don't remember exactly what I did, I'm pretty sure I got the volume of a frustum going from a circle round the radius of the sun to one around the Earth. And even then I probably got it wrong.

[Mr Space Cat]

Slap him. With a book. Preferably a math, science, physics, or astronomy book. Anything by Carl Sagan on Neil deGrasse Tyson would also be acceptable.

Astrophysicists are writing books on their fellow astrophysicists? That's getting too deep for the field of astrophysics. It risks forming a singularity of awesome mindsploding science that anyone can understand.

sorry, thought the typo made a pretty funny mental image. I assume you meant *or

[scrdest]

Yesterday as I went out for dinner:

And now for something oldschool...

Cue said radio playing Nickleback.

I didn't know you can lol and bang your head on the wall at the same time, but I have empirically proven it possible.

[Putnam]

That's not that stupid. Nickelback is as old as I am.

[scrdest]

That's not that stupid. Nickelback is as old as I am.

Same. I find it somewhat embarrassing. Guilt by association and everything.

But the median age for music I listen to is 40-ish, so when I hear 'Too Bad' being called 'oldschool', I have a Pavlovian wall-banging reaction.