A question for devil

[Pete the highwayman]

Morning devil
I was watching James Bond in moonracker last night and when Jimmy gets into the spaceship
We see the world is round,so if you look at the top of the circle then look at the bottom of the circle there is land and a load of ocean my question is at the bottom of the circle
Why don’t the ocean drain into space this is a genuine question no joke or trick
And devil if you answer me please use a form of English no mumbo jumbo please
Keep smiling and be lucky
Pete

[Jimgward]

While Devil composes his scientific and accurate response...

The world is not set such that the arctic is the top and the Antarctic is the bottom. In space, there is no up and down, left and right in the sense we think.

Therefore, if water was to drain, it could be from any point of the globe... however, Gravity is the thing that stops water, us and everything else flying off into space. Gravity is a bit like a magnet, that attracts everything and holds it close to it. That’s why when you jump off a wall, you fall down to earth and not head upwards (or outwards really). The earth spins around the sun because of the gravitational pull of the sun. The moon spins round the earth because of the pull of the earth. However, the moon also imparts a pull on the earth, which is what causes tides. The oceans are attracted towards the moon, when the moon is closest - as the pull from the moon can do that - even though the individual pull on drops of water is very slight, overall, it can attract an ocean a fe metres towards it - not very much in real terms but a hugely influential part of the earth’s environment.

[Uncle D]

To put it in more simple terms, God wont let the water drain into space.

[Kili01]

Jimgward, what a brilliant and easily understood version of how the earth functions within the solar system. Most educational. Are you a schoolteacher?
You've probably saved Devil trying to put things simply....

Dee

[Dominic]

Pete, you have to understand the gravity of the situation.

[memory man]

Pete, you have to understand the gravity of the situation.

I use Bisto!

[Jimgward]

Jimgward, what a brilliant and easily understood version of how the earth functions within the solar system. Most educational. Are you a schoolteacher?
You've probably saved Devil trying to put things simply....

Dee

I was a teacher of engineering and science and computing, many years ago

[Dominic]

I think Pete was just winding Devil up, but instead he's wound all of you up! Pity it's not April 1st.

Nobody's wound up at all.

[Devil]

Jim's explanation is very good and I do not really need to expand on it. What I am going to say is an analogy, which means that it is an explanation which is not the truth but gives a picture. Imagine the earth with a whacking great big magnet stuck in the middle, but a magnet with only one pole. Imagine everything on the surface of the earth being made of iron, including yourself! You cannot fall off the earth because the magnet is keeping you in place. If you left the surface of the earth on, say, a satellite, the magnetic field would be weaker and you would be less attracted to the surface.

300 years ago a very clever guy called Newton sat under an apple tree and had the unfortunate experience of a Cox's Orange Pippin falling on his head. He started to wonder why it fell (according to legend!). He decided there was a force pulling it towards the centre of the earth. That force was called gravity and is a result of the combined weight of the Earth and of the apple; I will not get into the maths of it but you can take my word that it is always the combined weight of two objects that are attracted to each other, the earth and the apple. In my first paragraph I likened gravity to a magnetic field, which of course is absolute nonsense but I use it as something visual which you can understand. So you can imagine the earth as a great big tennis ball where all the bits of fluff on the outside are being pulled down into the centre – or, everything on the surface of the earth is pulled down towards the centre and not out into space. That is why the oceans do not drain away; they are held in place by gravity, just as Newton's apple fell to the ground. Because gravity appears to come from the centre of the earth, everything falls towards the centre, no matter where you are!

[Pete the highwayman]

Afternoon
I have never had a science lesson in my life and if you turn a glass upside down water falls
Out of it,so to me if onthe bottom of the world why don’t the oceans drain away.
Jim explained about the atmospheric conditions so now I get it but I think it was a good
Question but when it comes to science I’m a thicko
Keep smiling and be lucky
Pete

[Dominic]

If you haven't had a science lesson you can't call yourself thick. If you can kick a ball into a goal when there is a breeze in the air, you are actually doing some complicated maths in your head, even though you don't know it.

No, to be thick, you have to have the stuff explained to you many times, and still not get it. And even then, so what?

Take The Beatles, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and Tim Minchin.

None of them could read music. It bloody annoys me, because I can, and it doesn't help me compose anything!

Anyway, here's a nice bit about gravity, that may make things a bit clearer still. It was designed with children in mind, but isn't twee.

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/

And here's a bit of Tim Minchin!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0RY6n000LU

[Pete the highwayman]

Evening Dominic
When I drove a London cab almost 50 years ago ,
There was a saying if you know it it’s as big as Buckingham Palace
And if you don’t know it then it might as well be Buckingham Palace
That was my question I did not know it
Keep smiling and be lucky
Pete

[Uncle D]

If you past 'The Knowledge' Pete you are no thicko.

[Pete the highwayman]

Morning uncle d
I don’t think I’m a thicko but when it comes to science I certainly am.
As for the knowledge of London you can pack it in but you can’t fail it
You can take ten years if you want but nobody tells you you’ve failed
I done the knowledge in 17 months if you worked at it it took 18 months to 2 years
I done it in 1965 to 1966 and packed up driving a cab in 1983,
The reason I packed up I got fed up with the great British public
Hope that clears that little episode up
Keep smiling and be lucky
Pete

[Uncle D]

Oh sorry, I thought that you had to pass it before you could even drive a London taxi cab

[Aargent]

Gravity doesn't exist - the Earth Sucks

[Pete the highwayman]

Afternoon uncle
Yes you have to pass the knowledge before you can drive a London cab
But there is no timescale to it you can take as long as you like
Keep smiling and be lucky
Pete

[Dominic]

Afternoon uncle
Yes you have to pass the knowledge before you can drive a London cab
But there is no timescale to it you can take as long as you like
Keep smiling and be lucky
Pete

The same applies to most qualifications. Don't underestimate your own achievements.