2013-12-02
Original: 2013-12-02 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title (top): HOW INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS PROBLEMS ARE WRITTEN:
Panel 1 (text box):
Problem 4:
A steel wall has water on one side.
It is 30 meters tall and the water is 20 meters tall. Where should the axis be so that it doesn't tip over? Repeat this exercise for copper, ice, oak, osmium, neutronium, and solid xenon held together by magic. Then, repeat each case, with each of the following liquids replacing water: mercury, liquid nitrogen, blood, petroleum, and molten lead.
Panel 2 (two people talking):
Woman (holding a paper, with brown hair and round glasses): THIS PROBLEM IS A BIT DRY.
Man (bald, with glasses, green shirt, grinning): WHAT IF WE ADDED FUN?
Panel 3 (revised text box):
Problem 4:
A SUPERMAN with the properties of a steel wall has water on one side.
It is 30 meters tall and the water is 20 meters tall. Where should the axis be so that it doesn't tip over? Repeat this exercise for copper, ice, oak, osmium, neutronium, and solid xenon held together by magic. Then, repeat each case, with each of the following liquids replacing water: mercury, liquid nitrogen, blood, petroleum, and molten lead.
Votey:
A person's speech bubble: KIDS WON'T GO FOR THAT. LET'S MAKE IT A POKEMON.
Panel 1 (text box):
Problem 4:
A steel wall has water on one side.
It is 30 meters tall and the water is 20 meters tall. Where should the axis be so that it doesn't tip over? Repeat this exercise for copper, ice, oak, osmium, neutronium, and solid xenon held together by magic. Then, repeat each case, with each of the following liquids replacing water: mercury, liquid nitrogen, blood, petroleum, and molten lead.
Panel 2 (two people talking):
Woman (holding a paper, with brown hair and round glasses): THIS PROBLEM IS A BIT DRY.
Man (bald, with glasses, green shirt, grinning): WHAT IF WE ADDED FUN?
Panel 3 (revised text box):
Problem 4:
A SUPERMAN with the properties of a steel wall has water on one side.
It is 30 meters tall and the water is 20 meters tall. Where should the axis be so that it doesn't tip over? Repeat this exercise for copper, ice, oak, osmium, neutronium, and solid xenon held together by magic. Then, repeat each case, with each of the following liquids replacing water: mercury, liquid nitrogen, blood, petroleum, and molten lead.
Votey:
A person's speech bubble: KIDS WON'T GO FOR THAT. LET'S MAKE IT A POKEMON.
Alt text
Comic titled "How introductory physics problems are written." The first panel shows a dry textbook problem: "Problem 4: A steel wall has water on one side. It is 30 meters tall and the water is 20 meters tall. Where should the axis be so that it doesn't tip over?" followed by a tedious list of repeating the exercise for many materials (copper, ice, oak, osmium, neutronium, magically-held solid xenon) and liquids (mercury, liquid nitrogen, blood, petroleum, molten lead). In the second panel, a woman holding the paper says "This problem is a bit dry," and a grinning bald man replies "What if we added FUN?" The third panel shows the revised problem, identical except the opening now reads "A SUPERMAN with the properties of a steel wall has water on one side" - the only change is swapping the boring steel wall for Superman, with the rest of the dull list unchanged. The joke is that the writers' idea of adding fun is a token superficial reskin. Votey aftercomic: a faceless person says "Kids won't go for that. Let's make it a Pokemon," escalating the absurd attempt to make the problem appealing.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.