raising the next generation of geeks, part two

[falcongrrl]

Daniel: "I think I know why the bigger we are the heavier we are. It's because if you're wider, you have more space for the gravity to grip onto you and force you onto the ground."

Dave: "In general, you are correct--but it's not the actual space, it's how much there is of you. It's called mass. It's like your weight."

Me: "No, weight is with gravity."

Dave: "I know, but how do you explain mass?"

Me: "Dunno."

Dave: "Mass has to do with density and space, but that's..."

Daniel (moving on to computer chess, looking at one of the desktop monitors and starting to manuever the mouse): "So, anyway, which piece do I need to move next?" (long pause) "I may have just rearranged a few pieces on the board, so how do I get them back where they were?"

Comments

[virtualcourtney.livejournal.com]

That's a tough one! I've explained it before (not very well) by saying that we're built of little bits, and there's some space between them, so gravity can hang onto all the little bits--so the bigger we are, the more bits we have, and thus there's more for gravity to pull on.

I like how the actual reason wasn't interesting to him, though--he's got it all figured out already. ;)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

That's a great explanation--I think it helped me, anyway. :-)