Explain why a small volume of water in a kettle can fill a kitchen with steam?
Water in its liquid state, the molecules are much closer together. Water when boiled turns into a gaseous state. The molecules move much further apart as a result of heating. That's why a small volume of water in a kettle can fill a kitchen with steam. It also helps if the kitchen isn't very dry because if it is, the steam will be absorbed into the dry environment to a point and then steam will fill the room.
Why is it that a small amount of corrosion on an auto battery terminal can prevent the engine from starting?
Your two batteries are tired out and not able to hold a charge after coming off of a charger. When you measure the battery voltage in isolation it may read 12volts but as soon as any load is put in it the voltage drops to a much lower level. It only needs to drop to 10 volts before it's effectively useless. The "click" is just the starter solenoid trying to engage, but it cannot work properly because the voltage is too low. The red light indicates that your alternator/charging system has a fault. It may be a loose drive belt, or a fuse blown due to trying to charge a clapped out battery, or it may be more serious. You should get it checked at a garage with proper test equipment, a small domestic volt meter isn't good enough. When you are running the ignition system doesn't take much current and the car will run with no alternator and a crappy battery. But as soon as you switch on anything else the drain on the battery becomes very noticeable. A weak battery will soon fail when under electrical load, which is what you're experiencing.
Help my bedroom.................very small???
It depends on what overall style you want, and what matches your current furniture. Pick a colour palette that matches the style. Carpet I would keep neutral, either cream or beige/stone or taupe depending on the overall tone of your colour scheme (carpet is expensive, paint less so - you don't want to go with crazy colours for carpet). Some options: - Country style : French blue, cream/beige, white e.g. http://cdn.stylisheve.com/wp-content/upl... - Masculine : Aqua, taupe, white e.g. http://www.timticks.com/bedroom-inspirat... - Modern : Very white, cool blue, e.g. http://www.interiordesign-news.com/wp-co... - Beach : warm blue, wood, some yellow or ochre highlights, cream, e.g. http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/y1/family-room-blue-palm-beech-0511-Braff06-de-69333230.jpg - Retro : some modernist/1950s touches in the furniture, cool modern blues e.g. http://homeklondike.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/6-modern-childrens-bedrooms-design-ideas.jpg - Kitsch : baby blue with floral prints and cream, e.g. http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01488/p_somerset-cottage_1488319c.jpg - Period : formal blue with cream and period furniture e.g. http://houseandhome.com/sites/houseandhome.com/files/images/Atelier-de-l-opera-house-home-designer-blue-bedroom.jpg
Gases will expand to fill a vacuum. Why do Earths atmospheric gases not escape into the near-vacuum of space?
Your first statement is correct - up to a point. More correctly, the internal pressure of a gas will cause it to expand indefinitely as long as no force opposes that expansion. Does that sound reasonable? Think about it for awhile. If gas is pumped into a container, it is still trying to expand, but the walls of the container supply an opposing force that prevents it from doing so. In the earth's atmosphere, the lower parts of the atmosphere cannot expand because of the weight of the air above it. This air pushes down with enough force to keep the lower regions from expanding. At the top of the atmosphere, the gas does indeed expand off into space. But then something else happens: The gas becomes so rarified that it no longer behaves like a gas. In a gas, all the atoms are bumping each other resulting in the measured pressure. But when the air at the top of the atmosphere expands, there is so much room between the atoms that they no longer bump each other. Instead they all behave like miniature projectiles that are tossed upwards. Then like any projectile, gravity controls them and after a few kilometers they follow a long arching trajectory and head back down again towards the earth. On small planets like the moon, the gravity is not strong enough to bring those individual atoms at the op of their atmosphere down again, so for those planets, their atmosphere does indeed expand off into space! Hopefully that explains it for you. Cheers!
What was your most embarrassing moment as a foreigner in another country?
So I went for an internship during my second year of college to Italy.Now it’s just my 3rd or 4th day and I just met my local host of Aiesec comittee member(let’s call her kate) whom I am meeting for the first time and another Brazilain girl (let’s call her paula) who was supposed to be my flatmate and was working with me.Now Kate was showing us the flat and the place we were supposed to live with other members who would be joining very soon from other countries in the coming week.Now while showing us the flat, I noticed one curious thing , being an inquisitve person I asked.Now it was something like this two pots adjacent, wothout the fancy design ofcourse.Me : Why are there two adjacent pots in the bathroom, I mean why would two people sit together to shit?(Both looking confused and exchanging glances with each other)(Me being polite thought they didn’t understand or maybe my accent wasn’t clear enough since no one among us had english as native)I ask againMe : Why are there two adjacent pots in the bathroom, I mean why would two people sit together to shit?(They both started laughing hysterically, to which I got offended as I thought they were laughing at my accent or something)So I go infront of them, sit on one pot with the lid on,ofcourse and sayMe: Now if I am shitting here, why would someone sit beside me to shit again?*with hand gestures showing shit and pot*To my surprise which they both laughed again,but making sure I don’t get offended started explaining.Kate: In Italy, we shit in one pot and wash in another.To which I understood, but seeing the look on my face, Paula went and sat on the seat and showed me again with the hand gestures.And I was literary so embarassed as I wished my first impressions on these girls was not about the toilet seat!Paula : Then how do Indians do it?Me: Not like this.That was the only thing I could say for a long time and they just laughed.
Have you ever been really stuck for words when a customer has made a ridiculous complaint?
I was working at a call center, doing technical support for a computer manufacturer. My customer had just unpacked her brand-new machine and set it up, but was getting no sound from the speakers. I thought to myself that this would be an easy call - our setup guide was good, but not great, and there were about five audio jacks on the back of the machine, only one of which would give you sound. This was, perhaps, one of our most common calls.“No problem,” I assured my customer. “We just need to double-check the connection. One of your two speakers has a ‘volume’ knob. Hooked into the back of that speaker are three wires: a skinny one, a flat one that goes to your power outlet, and then a thicker round one. Do you see the thick round wire? Excellent. Please follow that wire around to the back of your computer, and tell me whether it is plugged in to the green port.”I hereby solemnly swear that I am telling you the absolute, straight, 100% unvarnished truth: she asked me, in all seriousness and in the most exasperated tone imaginable, “Ugh. Which one’s the green one? I’m not a technical person.”I was ready for a hundred different questions, but that sure as hell wasn’t one of them. I had about three seconds to come up with a response before the pause became unprofessionally awkward. In that brief instant, a million possible responses swirled around in my mind, and none of them were great. Somehow, I managed to pick this winner:“The one most closely resembling a frog in color, ma’am.”As soon as I said it, I buried my face in my hands. Obviously, she had misheard me. Nobody would take “green” to be a technical term. I should have just said “the port with the green-colored plastic”, or even just “the green-colored one.” But no. I had to go and tell her to think about frogs like she’s a friggin’ preschooler. I expected her to read me the riot act, but this is what I got instead:“Well why didn’t you just say that in the first place? You people make everything so difficult.”I froze. I had to say something, but I couldn’t afford to give my brain a second ticket for the inanity lottery. I had to say something reasonably intelligent, or at least justifiably professional, but I had nothing. Nothing at all. Fortunately, she finished up the call for me: “Okay, it’s working now. Thanks for your help. Bye.”I’m truly lucky she closed the call for me. This happened almost twenty years ago, now, and I still don’t know what I would’ve said.
What are some small things that matter a lot?
While browsing Quora , I suddenly came across an answer…The question was :what should I wear when traveling to China?But what triggers my attention was, from where does India serve the context of the question?The answer and comment section was heavily focused on rape issues in india.People suggesting not to take offend, blah…blah….Two things here…India doesn’t have a rape culture. (no country does)Graph: rape density of different countries per 100,000 population.India is a country of 1.33 billion people so it ranks 3rd/4th in terms of highest rapes. on the other hand ,other countries have a very low population.Rape cases per lakh population in 5.7 in India. Which is nowhere near other countries(see the graph above).So why did he picked India as his main target, and why China isn’t in the list? I won’t say anything over it,as i’m not here for tit for tat.Rape in China - Wikipedia (comment section does have claims about china being safest, sorry to burst your bubble.)2.Stop insulting and tagging truth as offense.There are crimes in every part of the world and it’s a wise move to raise a voice against it,but without sufficient knowledge of subject and just for the sake of your grudge, stop deteriorating other country's image.These small things does matter a lot. Quora is a nice platform,use it to enhance your knowledge,spread love ,raise issues without being Biased.Instead of clearing doubts, you just choose to satisfy your grudges(not just for an individual,from an individual country).Stop contributing to problems, start contributing to solutions.I joined quora so that I could interact with people of different countries and religions and learn from them. but now-a-days when I read something on quora, I have to cross verify the data from various sources about it’s validity. There are grudges everywhere ,nobody wants to learn ,everyone wants to teach.Note:No hate towards China. I'm not blaming them for anything.I’m not pointing rape isn’t an issue.There are crimes in every part of the world,what differs is degree and intensity of crimes.India does have issues but only India have issues and is worst, that’s not a valid argument.I love my country and respect other countries. If I seems as a person taking offense then I’m not sorry for it.
Why are some paintings, which mean nothing to most people, sold for millions of dollars?
There are a variety of factors which come into play in assessing a work, let's take a look into a few of them:1. The notoriety of an artist: The work of an artist can be more famous because of the artist himself. Example: Salvador Dali (Salvador Dalí’s Eccentric and Extravagant Life, Illustrated) 2. The genius of an artist: The work of an artist could be famous because he invented a complete new style and movement like with Pablo Picasso and Cubism (What is Cubism? An Introduction to the Cubist Art Movement and Cubist Painters) 3. The popularity/mystique of an artist and/or art: Well, this one is hard to explain, but an example would be that the popularity of an artist might grow after he is dead. Upon knowing his/her story and his/her passion for art despite being poor, critics might see the work in a new light (like the case of Vincent van Gogh mentioned in previous answers) or the artist might be mysterious like Banksy (Banksy: The Elusive Street Graffiti Artist ) 4. The rarity of collection and the hype surrounding it: Serious art collection world is a small circle dominated by a few 100 players at the maximum. If a serious art collector raves about some collection and it is quite rare, chances are other will try to acquire it. The art world also works on rarity principle, i.e. rarer things are more valuable. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, like Monet's water lilies paintings, which are estimated to be around 250 in number and still extremely valuable. (15 Things You Might Not Know About Monet's 'Water Lilies' )5. Provenance: This is an extension of number 4, but quite an interesting and lesser known fact. The value of a painting increases exponentially if it has a documented history of ownership. According to Wikipedia "A good provenance increases the value of a painting, and establishing provenance may help confirm the date, artist and, especially for portraits, the subject of a painting. It may confirm whether a painting is genuinely of the period it seems to date from." (Provenance )
Why dont cops use more fuel effecient cars? Like Prius, mini etc?
There are many reasons why small, fuel efficient cars like the Prius are impractical. Cops regularly carry hundreds of pounds of gear. The cars need to have large trunks and powerful engines. Cops also need large flat seats because of all of the items on their duty belts. Then, there needs to be room for a prisoner cage. If you put all that weight in a Toyota Prius or a Mini Cooper (if it had the room), not only would the engine struggle to keep up at normal highway speeds, it would be usless for chasing vehicles or responding quickly to an emergency. And by the time all of that weight is on board, all of the heavy acceleration and hard driving would probably make fuel economy as bad or worse than a Crown Vic. With only a 150 lb driver on board, the Prius already takes 10 seconds to get from 0-60 mph. Add a 200 lb officer and 400 lbs of gear, and it would probably take 14 seconds. Crown Vics are even on the slow side. Loaded with an average amount of gear, they take about 8 seconds to get from 0-60 mph. Since Crown Vics were discontinued in 2011, the new Ford Police Interceptor (based on the Taurus), the new Chevy Caprice PPV and the Dodge Charger Pursuit have been competing to become the new law enforcement vehicle of choice. So far, the Charger has a very strong lead in sales. This is likely due to the fact that many police departments will not buy cars that are FWD (ruling out the new Police Interceptor) or made in a foreign country (ruling out the Austrailian made Caprice PPV). So in a few years, you can expect to see mostly Chargers on the road rather than Crown Vics. The Charger gets significantly better fuel economy than the Crown Vic with either the 305 horsepower V6 or the 375 horsepower V8, yet provides much more power. In fact, a V8 Charger loaded with the average amount of gear accelerates from 0-60 in just 5.8 seconds. The V6 Charger does the same in the mid-7 second range. That is quite fast for a vehicle that weighs 4,600 lbs when loaded. A Prius would probably be doing well to make it from 0-60 in 13-14 seconds when loaded with gear. Finally, even if a small car had the power it needed, it would not afford as much protection in a crash as larger, beefier cars like the Charger. And crash protection is a big consideration considering police vehicles regularly drive 80+ mph when responding to calls (or chasing cars).
Why do you like coding?
I started programming during my first semester of Undergrad since I was enrolled in an Intro to Programming course. We were taught how to code in Java, and honestly, I found it pretty dull. I mean, after typing all this crap:public class MyProgram{ public static void main(String[]args){ System.out.println("Hello, world!");}}All you get is a “Hello, world!” printed on a small console at the bottom of the window. Not even a pretty looking GUI pops up! (Later on I discovered that you need to type in a lot more additional code to implement an interface).All we did in class was printing prime numbers or printing out star patterns! I had so many questions, like for instance, what the hell is that “String[]args”?During the semester holidays, I found a Java book which completely changed my perception about coding:Image Source: Head First Java, 2nd Edition: Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates: 8601404235726: Amazon.com: BooksIt was intuitive and easy to understand. The moment I started learning about objects, how they are made, what they can do and how they interact with each other, it made me see things from a perspective I was unaware of. Pure braingasm!I started following the book day and night and finished the first five to six chapters in a matter of days. Afterwards, I read a few chapters from a Python book just to get acquainted with the basics - lists, list methods, functions etc.Whenever I did a bit of Java, and then immediately opened up the Python IDLE and sliced some list elements, it made me feel like a superhero!“I can tell a computer what to do in two different languages!”So the thing is, once you get a grasp of the underlying concepts and realize what you can accomplish with them, there’s no turning back.