Questions tagged [xkcd]

A webcomic created by Randall Munroe, tagline: "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language."

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
1 vote
0 answers
52 views

If earth span fast? [closed]

Imagine earth spinning at very high angular speed. What it would feel like at various latitudes from 0 to 90 degree ? Like at 0 degree one may feel lighter than his weight. At 45 degree one is going ...
zephyr0110's user avatar
  • 2,911
16 votes
3 answers
3k views

What pushes a spacecraft during a flyby?

xkcd today posted the following graphic: Of these, the only one that I really don't understand is "What pushes a spacecraft during a flyby?" I don't understand why this is an issue. How energy is ...
PearsonArtPhoto's user avatar
  • 121k
28 votes
4 answers
13k views

Could the sun be used as a gravity assist outside the solar system (with current tech)?

I think I might have understood what this XKCD comic is trying to do. The diagram is proposing to use the Oberth effect at closest approach to the sun to escape the solar system! (image license: CC ...
AlanSE's user avatar
  • 16.3k