chicot60
08-31-2012, 10:04 PM
Natural Laws
I was working in a scrap yard in Southern England during summer vacation at engineering university.
I used to work repairing construction equipment.
One afternoon, I was taking apart a piling hammer that had some very large bolts holding it together.
One of the nuts had corroded on to the bolt; to free it I started heating the nut with an oxy-acetylene torch.
As I was doing this, one of the dimmest apprentices I have ever known came along. He asked me what I was doing.
I patiently explained that if I heated the nut it would grow larger and release its grip on the bolt so I could then remove it.
"So things get larger when they get hot, do they?" he asked.
Suddenly, an idea flashed into my mind (I know not from where.)
"Yes," I said, "that's why days are longer in summer and shorter in winter."
There was a long pause, then his face cleared.
"You know, I always wondered about that," he said. :dancing_peng::dancing_peng:
I was working in a scrap yard in Southern England during summer vacation at engineering university.
I used to work repairing construction equipment.
One afternoon, I was taking apart a piling hammer that had some very large bolts holding it together.
One of the nuts had corroded on to the bolt; to free it I started heating the nut with an oxy-acetylene torch.
As I was doing this, one of the dimmest apprentices I have ever known came along. He asked me what I was doing.
I patiently explained that if I heated the nut it would grow larger and release its grip on the bolt so I could then remove it.
"So things get larger when they get hot, do they?" he asked.
Suddenly, an idea flashed into my mind (I know not from where.)
"Yes," I said, "that's why days are longer in summer and shorter in winter."
There was a long pause, then his face cleared.
"You know, I always wondered about that," he said. :dancing_peng::dancing_peng: