Why do chemists like nitrates?
They are cheaper than day rates, that's why!
The Science Joke Book is an almanac of nerdy jokes to lighten and entertain yourself. Science is treated as a serious business, but it also provides scope for humour like no...
What do you get when you cross a mosquito with a mountain climber?
A: You can't cross a vector and a scalar!
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Explanation:
Fasten your seat belts, folks, and prepare for some interdisciplinary understanding (because this joke exemplifies nerdiness).
In biology, a vector is an organism that transmits diseases from one animal or plant to another; a mosquito, e.g. Mosquitos can transmit malaria, West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever, etc.
In mathematics and physics, a vector is a quantity that has both a magnitude and a (unique) direction, e.g., velocity, acceleration, force, etc.
To scale a mountain is to climb it, so a mountain climber might be called a scalar.
In physics, a scalar is also a quantity that has a magnitude but does not require direction to describe it completely, e.g., mass, speed, energy, etc.
In math/physics, crossing is a specific mathematical operation that can be performed on two vectors in three-dimensional space.
The cross product of two vectors A and B is written as A x B (read as "A cross B") and is calculated using the following formula:
A x B = |A||B| sinθ n, where |A| is the magnitude (or length) of vector A. |B| is the length of vector B, θ (theta) is the measure of the angle between A and B, and n is a unit vector to help figure out which way the cross product points in three-dimensional space.
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Why can't you cross a vector with a scalar? This is because you specifically need two vectors – two quantities that have directions. Sincea scalar has no direction, you cannot cross a vector with a scalar (as thecross product can be applied only to two vectors and not a scalar and a vector,or two scalars, for that matter).
(If you see a scalar crossed with a vector, it is most likely a typographical mistake or an abuse of notation.)
So, you cannot cross a mosquito and a mountain climber, by the laws of vector algebra.
Insert uproarious laughter.
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