Know Your Presidents - The best bloopers are a click away Did you know that the word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin? The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant. The only classification that matters in this society is intelligence. Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, (see genius baby video), but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers--the diverse list goes on and on. I have decided, in my 37 years of life on this earth, that I know (personally) about 8 certified geniuses. I can't count Hugh Nibley, because I only sat in on a lecture, and have read his work, but never met him in person. These 8 acquaintances of mine collectively hold more than a dozen advanced degrees from prestigious universities in fields of study ranging from law, langauge, and music, to engineering, rocket science, and nuclear physics.
Last weekend I was out on the Sacramento Delta, wakeboarding. There was a moment in choppy waters when the boat owner made reference to the possibility of cavitation within his engine. Kristie's response? "Cavi-what?" Oh well. Engineer, I am most certainly not. I am, however, a very naturally curious person, and I spent Saturday evening reading up on cavitation as it pertains to the Bernoulli principle. Ahhh, I love to learn about things I've never heard about! It really does make me happy! So... let's see... for those of you reading this posting, what can you tell me about cavitation as it pertains to Bernoulli's principle? Here, I'll give you a little hint (see picture below), but you can't cheat and go look it up. If you think you might be a Mensa candidate, or, perhaps, you took college physics, post a comment, and we'll see who our newest Mensa member is! 
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
My Mensa Friends
Posted by Kristie at 10:15 PM
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2 comments:
I've never heard of cavitation. But I know a little about the Bernoulli principle. Gives you information about pressure differentials based on various properties of the fluid, particularly the velocity (all else being equal, the higher the velocity, the lower the pressure). If I'm not mistaken, it's this principle that explains how an airplane attains lift (wing geometry forces air to go faster over the top of the wing, decreasing the pressure on top... extra pressure from below pushes up).
I'm guessing here (since I'm not allowed to look up), but I wonder if cavitation allows differential velocities and pressures to form in a fluid because there are "cavities" at strategic places within the flow... is the propeller in the picture chopping the fluid flow to create cavities? Again, guessing here...
Phew! Do I get to be one of your mensans now? ;) I bet that *you* would qualify for mensa. You underestimate your brilliance.
Cavitation as it applies to the Bernoulli principle. Bernoulli was the Italian philosopher that came up with the theory that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. He concluded that cavitation occurs when the validity of a Martian's principles have been challenged. He then retreats to a secluded place (cave) to sulk. Thus cavitation occurs.
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