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Re: [Phys-l] Star Trek



On May 19, 2009, at 14:01 , John Clement wrote:

The original post did question what happened to the momentum during
transport. The characters did fall to the floor, implying that some
momentum was still there. But I interpreted it as being the fall due to the
materialization over the floor. It is wonderful how they can always
materialize the people contacting the floor. One would think they might
miss by an fraction of a cm or more. So why were the characters
materialized in the middle of the air in this case?


I recall an episode of the Next Generation, somewhat late in the series, where there is an explosion during a transporter event and LeForge and Ro Laren get "phased", where they pass through matter. No one could see them, they walked through walls, but seemed to have no problem with the floor! I noticed the floor problem immediately, but chalked it up to minor bad thinking for the sake of the story (which was actually pretty good). Then, later in the episode, they fight with a Romulan who was also "phased", and they kick him through the wall of the ship into space. My first thought, at the time, was "That's bad for him!", and then I realized that the other characters wouldn't have been able to breathe in the ship if they were passing through matter, because the air would pass them through. Being out in space, or on the ship, would make no difference!

Of course, the writers will use some tech device to tell a story, when convenient, and ignore any issues with it when not. The transporter itself was created to save money for the producer, so they wouldn't have to make a set for the shuttle craft immediately. Then, all sorts of issues arise!

We ask whether momentum is conserved, but another (and possibly more important) question is whether humanity is conserved: are you the same person after transport as before?


Brian Blais

--
Brian Blais
bblais@bryant.edu
http://web.bryant.edu/~bblais