imbluedabedeedabedaa
imbluedabedeedabedaa t1_j5r6yvl wrote
Reply to comment by silvercup011 in If I had two cups of water, one normal size and one as big as a swimming pool and stirred them both with proportionally sized spoons, would the larger pool of water keep spiraling longer than the smaller? by r3volc
There's a big difference between a baby elephant and a scaled down adult elephant
imbluedabedeedabedaa t1_j5qdycm wrote
Reply to comment by colcob in If I had two cups of water, one normal size and one as big as a swimming pool and stirred them both with proportionally sized spoons, would the larger pool of water keep spiraling longer than the smaller? by r3volc
Otherwise known as the square-cube law!
Another great (but completely unrelated) example of this law explains the design differences between large and small animals. As a creature gets larger, its mass increases at a cubic rate (volume, m^3) but muscle/bone strength is proportional to their cross sectional area (m^2). This is why an elephant has such massive muscles/bones when (proportionally) compared to a dog.
It also impacts body temperature--since heat generation is proportional to body volume, but the ability to reject heat is proportional to the skin area. This explains the elephants' massive ears, and also why most cold blooded animals are very small.
If you scaled a dog up to elephant size it would collapse under its own weight before dying of heat. If you scaled an elephant down to dog size it would probably freeze to death. All because of math!
imbluedabedeedabedaa t1_jd0ywrk wrote
Reply to comment by bradorsomething in Got a question for Twitter's press team? The answer will be a poop emoji by carolinaindian02
Avery Bullock and it's not even close