Chapter 7 Chapter 6 Questions and Answers

On December 4th, when all the chronometers pointed to five o'clock in the morning on the earth, the three travelers woke up, having traveled fifty-four hours.In terms of time, they had already spent half of the time they should have been in the projectile plus five hours and forty minutes; but in terms of distance, they had completed seven-tenths of the time.This strange phenomenon should be attributed to the normal decreasing velocity of the projectile. When looking at the Earth from the porthole at the bottom, they could only see a black spot drowned in the sunlight.Neither its crescent nor the gray disc could be seen.The earth will not enter the new moon phase until midnight the next day when the moon is full.The celestial body of night above them gradually approached the course of the projectile, and only at the appointed moment could the two come together.Looking around, the dark dome is covered with bright stars, and they seem to be moving slowly.However, due to the great distance, their size remains unchanged, whether it is the sun or the stars, they are exactly the same as those seen on the earth.The volume of the moon is very large, but the telescopes of the three travelers are too small to make effective observations on the surface of the moon, so they cannot understand its topography and geological distribution.

Therefore, they can only pass the time with endless conversation.What they talked about most was the moon.Each spoke of their own special knowledge.Barbicane and Nicholl always keep the seriousness of the scientist, Michel.Adam is always whimsical.The projectile, its position, its direction, what accidents might have happened, and what measures should be taken to land on the moon, were inexhaustible sources of information for their speculations.Precisely because Michel asked a question about projectiles at breakfast, Barbicane had a rather strange conversation, which deserves our account here.

Michel asked what would happen if the shell, propelled by its formidable muzzle velocity, came to a sudden stop. But, replied Barbicane, I do not see how the projectile should stop. That's an assumption, Michelle replied. Impossible assumptions, the practical Barbicane refuted him.Unless the power to push it is suddenly lost.Even so, its speed can only decrease slowly, and it is impossible to stop suddenly. Let's say it hits an object in space. what object? For example, the fireball we encountered. Then, says Nicholl, the projectile will be crushed with us. Not only that, replied Barbicane, but we shall be burned alive.

Burned to death!Michelle said loudly.oops!I'd love to bump it so I can see it. Of course you can, answered Barbicane.We have now seen that heat is nothing but the transformation of motion.We heat the water, that is, increase the temperature of the water, which means to increase the speed of the water molecules. aha!That's your ingenious theory again, said Michelle! And it is the correct theory, my esteemed friend, because it explains all the phenomena of heat.Heat is nothing but the motion of molecules, that is, the vibrations of the particles of an object.The train stopped just as we were pulling the bumpers.Where is the movement that propels the train forward?It has been converted to heat, so the buffer heats up.Why do we put oil on the axles?Just to keep the axle from heating up, because heat is the product of the transformation of lost motion.Understand?

understood!Michelle replied, I understand too well!So: let's say I've been running for a long time, and I'm sweating and sweating, why do I have to stop?Simple, because my exercise is converted into heat! Barbicane couldn't help laughing when he heard Michel's answer.He then goes on to elaborate on his theory: Therefore, he says, if our projectile collides with a bolide, it will heat up like a bullet bounced off a metal plate.This is because its motion has been converted into heat energy.From this principle, I can assert that if our shell hit the large meteor, its velocity would be converted into heat energy, and it would be reduced to a puff of smoke in an instant.

Excuse me, asks Nicholl, what would happen if the earth suddenly stopped working? Its temperature would immediately rise, answered Barbicane, so that it would immediately be vaporized. Great, said Michelle, it would be easy, and the whole world would end like this. What if the earth hit the sun?Nicholl asked. According to calculations, Barbicane replied that the heat generated by the impact of the earth on the sun is equivalent to the heat produced by coal in the volume of 1600 earths. For this part of the temperature increase of the sun, Michelle.Ardan went on to say that the inhabitants of Uranus or Neptune would never complain, because they were freezing to death on their planets.

From this it follows, my friends, Barbicane goes on, that every sudden stop of motion produces heat.According to this theory.We can say that the temperature of the sun is caused by many bolides constantly falling on the surface of the sun.someone even calculated Don't believe him, Michelle said to himself, and he will say a series of numbers next. It was even calculated, Barbicane continued quietly, that each bolide falling on the sun could produce as much heat as coal four thousand times its volume. What is the temperature of the sun?Michelle asked. It is equivalent to the temperature of burning coal twenty-seven kilometers thick on the surface of the sun.

what temperature is it? Its temperature is capable of boiling 290,000,000,000,000 cubic meters of water in one hour. But it didn't burn us, did it?Michelle said loudly. No, replied Barbicane, because the earth's atmosphere absorbs four-tenths of the sun's heat; besides, the earth's interception of solar heat is only one-two-billionth part of the sun's thermal radiation. In my opinion, it's always happy in the end, Michele retorted, saying that the atmosphere is really a useful invention everywhere; because it not only allows us to breathe, but also protects us from being scorched.

Yes, said Nicholl, it is a pity that there is no atmosphere on the moon. Come on, said Michelle, he was always confident.If there are people on the moon, they have to breathe too.If there is no one, there is always at least enough oxygen for three people to breathe; it doesn't matter if the oxygen is concentrated in the depths of the ravine due to weight!If so, let's not go to the mountains!Isn't this the end!After Michelle finished speaking, she stood up and went to watch the dazzling moon disk. hell!He said it was probably hot up there. Not only that, replied Nicholl, but the lunar day is very long, three hundred and sixty hours!

On the contrary, says Barbicane, the night will be so long, and the temperature will be lowered to that of planetary space due to the radiation of thermal energy. What a lovely place!Michelle said.But it doesn't matter, I wish we were on the moon now!Why!My dear friends, it is interesting to be on the moon, we can take the earth as the moon, we can see all the continents on the earth, we can say: here, this is America, and that is Europe; and we can see it Slowly disappearing into the sun's radiance!By the way, Barbicane, are eclipses of the sun and earth visible from the moon? Yes, can be seen, answered Barbicane, and an eclipse can be seen when the three celestial bodies are in a straight line and the earth happens to be in the middle.But only an annular eclipse can be seen, because most of the earth's shadow cast on the sun can still be seen.

Why is there no total solar eclipse?Nicholl asked.Isn't the conical shadow of the earth able to extend beyond the moon? If the refraction effect of the earth's atmosphere is not included, there should be a total solar eclipse; otherwise, if the refraction effect is calculated, there will only be a solar annular eclipse.Therefore, we replace the transverse parallax with d prime, and replace the apparent radius with P prime oops!Michel said, another half v0 squared!Algebraists, please speak in popular language! Well, in popular language, Barbicane replied, the average distance between the moon and the earth is sixty times the radius of the earth, while the conical shadow of the earth is shortened by refraction to less than forty times.Thus, during a solar eclipse, the Moon happens to remain outside the true shadow, allowing sunlight from both the edge and the center of the Sun to reach the Moon. What's the point of an eclipse when you can see the sun, Michel said sarcastically? It is precisely because the sunlight has been greatly weakened at this time, because the sun's rays have lost most of their brightness when they pass through the atmosphere. This reason is satisfactory, Michel replied, and besides, we can see it naturally when we go to the moon.Now tell me, Barbicane, do you believe that the moon was once a comet? Another novel insight! Perhaps, Michel replied triumphantly, I have my own opinions on such questions. But that's not Michel's own opinion, Nicholl said. very good!You mean I'm plagiarizing the ancients? No doubt, Nicholl replied.According to ancient sources, the Acadians say their ancestors inhabited the earth before the moon became a satellite of the earth.According to this fact, some scientists also believe that the moon was a comet in the past. They say that the orbit of the comet is so close to the earth that it is attracted by the earth and becomes a satellite of the earth. Is there a real part to this assumption too?Michelle asked. Not at all, answered Barbicane, for the proof is that no trace of the gas that surrounds comets can be found on the Moon. However, Nicholl went on to say that before the moon became a satellite of the earth, maybe because it was too close to the sun when it passed the perihelion, the gas was absorbed by the sun? It is also possible, my friend Nicholl, but unlikely. Why? Because honestly, I don't know either. oops!We could literally write hundreds of books about what we don't know, exclaimed Michelle! Forget it!What time is it? Three o'clock, Nicholl replied. Scientists like us chatting together, Michelle said, how time flies!To be honest, I really benefited a lot!I feel like I'm now a well of science!Having said this, Michel climbed up the projectile vault, and said he was going to take a closer look at the moon.Meanwhile, his companions were also observing the space from the porthole below.There is nothing worth writing about here.Michelle.After Ah Dang got down, he approached the side porthole and suddenly yelled. What's up?asked Barbicane. The club president approached the window and saw what looked like a squashed sack floating a few meters outside the projectile.This body also seems to be as stationary as the cannonball, which means that it too has the same upward motion. What is this thing?Michelle.Adam kept talking.Could it be that this is a kind of miniature celestial body in space, because it is attracted by our projectile, it will go to the moon with us? It struck me as strange, said Nicholl, that this object, which was obviously much lighter than the cannonball, should be able to remain absolutely parallel to us! Nicholl, replied Barbicane after a moment's consideration, I do not know what this object is, but I do know why it is kept parallel to our projectile. Why? Because we are floating in a vacuum, my dear captain, in a vacuum, all objects fall or move at the same speed regardless of their weight, size or shape. In fact, falling and moving are the same thing.The difference in falling speed is caused by air resistance.In a sealed vacuum tube, the thrown objects, whether dust or lead, all fall at the same speed.Here, too, in space, for the same reason, and for the same result. Quite rightly, said Nicholl, whatever we throw out of the projectile will go with us all the way to the moon. oops!How foolish we are!cried Michelle. Why use this quality adjective?asked Barbicane. For, we should have filled the projectile with everything we could use.Books, utensils, tools, etc.We can throw everything outside and it will follow us.Why!I remembered.Why don't we go for a walk outside like this bolide?Why don't we jump through the porthole into space?Being able to feel yourself staying in the ether.What a pleasure it is to swim more freely than a bird whose wings are balanced by flapping its wings! I agree, said Barbicane, but how to breathe? Damn the air, but at the critical moment, there is no air again! Even with air, Michel, your density is less than that of a projectile, and you will fall behind very quickly. So, is this a vicious circle? The worst vicious circle. We have to be locked up in our compartment? It had to be like this. ah!Michelle cried out in a terrible voice. what happened?Nicholl said. Now I know, at least I can guess what this so-called bolide is!It's not an asteroid!Nor is it a fragment of a planet! So what is it?asked Barbicane. It's just our unfortunate dog!That is Diana's consort! It turned out that this disfigured, almost unrecognizable object was really the corpse of a satellite, flat and flat like a deflated bagpipe, rising, rising.