The idiot is back.

It’s not exactly 50/50 because there is the remote possibility that it lands on its edge 😀

I have an “idiotic” question. If I flip a coin, say, 10 times and each time it comes up heads, what are the odds/chances of it also coming up heads on the 11th flip? Are the odds very remote because 11 in a row seems very unlikely, or are they even (50/50) because there can only be 2 possible outcomes? :confused:

http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-59904.html

I have an “idiotic” question. If I flip a coin, say, 10 times and each time it comes up heads, what are the odds/chances of it also coming up heads on the 11th flip? Are the odds very remote because 11 in a row seems very unlikely, or are they even (50/50) because there can only be 2 possible outcomes? :confused:

[QUOTE=BumbleBee;1696836]Oh don’t be like that,it never stops anyone else 🙂

😀 well said BB 😉

That’s because no one does! Lots of theories but nothing conclusive. Don’t react negatively, Merlin, everyone is helpful most of the time………….:)

Clearly I wont be offering an opinion on things I clearly have no understanding off in the first case.

Oh don’t be like that,it never stops anyone else 🙂

I’ve read all the replies and I still don’t get it.

Apologise to all.

My mistake was in thinking that the cycle in the websites statement was for a dusk till dawn cycle and not for a complete month.

I think you will find I didnt make a statement but meerly misunderstood the information given to me in the website making the statement.

Sorry for trying to understand better myself. Clearly I misunderstood quite a lot of things.

Clearly I wont be offering an opinion on things I clearly have no understanding off in the first case.

Just remembered why I dont post much anymore.

Bye.

I can Google with the best of ’em,so here’s an explanation from a site called Windows to the universe –

Why does the moon or the sun look bigger at the horizon than when overhead? Two effects cause the Sun and Moon to seem bigger near the horizon. One is an optical illusion – these objects seem larger because you have trees, buildings, etc. to compare them to.
The other effect is due to the fact that near the horizon, the light of the Sun or Moon is passing through more atmosphere than at higher altitudes. Imagine yourself standing on the surface of the Earth, with the atmosphere as a sphere around the Earth, centered at the Earth’s center. The distance through the atmosphere above you *must* be shorter than the distance through the atmosphere to either side (the horizons). The refraction, or bending, of the light of the Sun and Moon by the atmosphere is therefore greater at the horizon. More refraction means the more spreading out of light and so they appear larger.

No, I don’t understand it either. But they’re selling jewellery on the website,so it was worth looking.

I’m sure this question was asked on the radio last week, I would guess Simon Mayo on Radio 2, probably in the “homework sucks” section. Had a quick look but can’t find previous answers, maybe someone else knows how to find them?

One of the theories is that it is to do with light refraction. Apparently there is a magnifying effect if the viewing angle is quite shallow, ie looking through more atmosphere.

A good theory (thanks QI) is that as a result of this refraction, the sun appears to move slower as it sets, and ACTUALLy sinks below the horizon before the viewer perceives it. In short, this means that you can still see the complete sun AFTER it has sunk below the geometric horizon.

Merlin your statement makes no sense at all, this is the difference in size at
perigee and apogee, as you can see not a great difference.

What you seem to be saying is that the moon on the horizon is bigger because it’s closer to the earth, well if I’m at point A with the moon on the
horizon and somebody else is at point B 400 miles closer in a straight line to
the moon then the moon at point B will be well above the horizon, and by your reckoning smaller, so why does it look bigger to me at point A 😀
sorry but it’s like sky high and flygirl say, just an illusion.

Your explanation would only make sense if the moon’s orbit took 12 hours, but it doesn’t, it takes just under 28 days. Therefore the difference between the perigree and the apogee is about 14 days.

As posted earlier there seems to be no clear explanation, other than it is an illusion.

“For over 100 years, research on the Moon illusion has been conducted by vision scientists who invariably have been psychologists specializing in human perception. After reviewing the many different explanations in their 2002 book The Mystery of the Moon Illusion, Ross and Plug conclude “No single theory has emerged victorious”.[5] The same conclusion is reached in the 1989 book, The Moon Illusion edited by Hershenson, which offers about 24 chapters written by different illusion researchers.”

I guess this is the answer to the first question then.

“The Moon’s orbit is an ellipse with the Earth at one of the foci, and it obeys Kepler’s Laws in the same way that planets do. Perigee is the point in its orbit when it is closest to the Earth and at this time the Moon will appear largest in the sky. At apogee the Moon is at its furthest from the Earth and appears smallest in the sky.”

The webpage has an illustration if your really interested.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/gcse-astronomy/sun-and-moon/moon-movement/the-moon’s-movement

I guess the earth moves around the sun in the same fashion so it creates the same effect.

I thought it was kinda obvious. I never took any classes about the planet and only visited the Edinburgh Observatory once. Clearly must have made an impression. lol.

Got your answer then. LMAO :D:D

What brain?

😀 Easy, it is all to do with the eyes and Brain .

Birds too. That’s funny. And men. Do a you tube on “Streaker – Epic fail”. You will laugh at the situation and more so at the laugh of the cameraman.

Like a Dog that can see its target through a fence…..won’t run 6 feet left or right to get through a gate.

Fly’s and Moths go round a lightbulb because they are attracted to the light. WRONG. They still do it when it’s off. Redidual heat? Nope, they do it when it’s stone cold. Maybe they circle round in anticipation of it coming on, and like to be first to land. A Fly’s “Musical Chairs”.
erm, I’m way outside the box and over the left hand Horizon again. Time for bed.

The stills of this were in the papers over the weekend.
Yes Anna thank you, kindly leave the room. I am well aware that it’s an illusion. I want to know why it happens not what it is.:D

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a thread where we can ask stupid questions,and not be told off for being idiotic ?

I recently had a streaming cold,which prompted me to ask,where on earth is all that stuff being made ?

And every time I go to Brighton I have to go through the South Downs,shouldn’t they really be the South Ups ?

This is what happens when old gits like myself and my exact contemporary,Mr. C,have too much time on their hands and access to a computer.

Hey watch it you or it’ll be a duel with feather dusters at 25 paces.

Village idiots answer. “Well it is closer to the ground then”

:D:D That’s the kind of answer I give.

Can someone answer a question for me please. Why do the Sun and Moon appear larger just when they are rising or setting than at any other time?
See I told you the idiot is back, I know very well this is a stupid question but I would still like to know the answer.

It’s just an illusion.:D