(Not) Appropriate for class

[steuard]

I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for my flight back to LA after a job interview in Michigan, and I just took a look at the most recent xkcd comic. I'm torn: we just covered special relativity last week in my intro physics class, and I emphasized the fact that observers who move relative to one another may disagree on whether events are simultaneous or not. So this comic is remarkably timely and applicable: ideal to share with my class! (We talked about the twin paradox, too, so the mouse-over text is relevant as well.) Nevertheless, I think perhaps I'll opt against.

(If you're interested, you can take a look at the space-time diagrams handout that I wrote for the class. It's a bit terse, especially for me, but I think it covers the essentials. It's not really meant to stand on its own without lecture and class discussion, but it ought to be comprehensible at least to people who have encountered the subject before.)

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Ah! Thank you; now I get that, er, strip.

[kirin]

Yes, I am now slapping my head at missing the point on that one. The title text should've tipped me off, really.

[steuard.livejournal.com]

I see that the comic on the xkcd site has now been turned into a hyperlink to a Wikipedia article on simultaneity in relativity. I guess a lot of people must have been confused. (Heck, I might have taken longer to figure it out if I hadn't just taught the stuff.)

[nemene.livejournal.com]

I understood it the instant I read it (In my reference frame at least)