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nikhilisvalid 4 hours ago

Wolfram Alpha says it's approximately _one-sixth_ the kinetic energy of a mosquito in flight

tczMUFlmoNk 4 hours ago | parent [-]

When we're talking scales like 10^-23, "one" and "one sixth" are comparable enough to warrant an "approximately".

idiotsecant 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm not sure! One is just barely within human scale and one isn't. I think I could feel the impact of a mosquito on a sufficiently sensitive patch of skin. I'm not sure I could do the same with one sixth of a mosquito. Its like the difference between something I can lift (100 lb) and something I definitely cannot lift (600lb)

Zancarius an hour ago | parent [-]

It's also the difference between 1lb and 6lbs also, so the analogy isn't perfect. The problem is that once you approach the limits of the average human ability, multipliers can transform something possible into something impossible.

I'm pretty sure I could feel one sixth of a mosquito hit me, because I've been pelted by much smaller gnats before!

(It does depend on where, of course.)