Distance is an interesting concept. We “go the distance.” We have a distant look in our eye. We gaze upon a distant star. I wonder if any astronomers have named their baby Distance. Perhaps they would be more likely to name their children after one of the more popular stars, such as Polaris, or Alpha Centari. They would be called Pol and Alfie.
We look at a map and find the distance between two cities. We do our homework and plot the distance between two points of the xy-plane. If something is attainable, we say it is within striking distance. The distance between two points on the earth can change, depending on if you stay on the surface, or dig your way there.
Long distance phone calls have given way to long distance education over the internet. The distance between the earth and the sun is one astronomical unit. Distance seems to be a vague concept that is defined by more precise words, such as inches or miles.
The distance light travels in the time it takes the earth to go once around the sun is called a light-year. In one second that is 186,282 miles. I think I’ll just stay home if I have to take my car.
If you measure the length of your living room, you would probably say 16 ft, 5 inches. However, if I tell you to measure it halfway and only measure ½ the remaining distance each time you measure, you would get old and die before reaching the wall. Try it sometime. I’ll come to your funeral, but don’t ask me to sing.
Distance can be relative. If I am an insect, California is far away. If I am a migrating bird, it’s only a few days. I picked my daughter up at the airport earlier this year. She had been in Uganda a few hours earlier. I consider that to be a great distance, but only because I think how long it would take to drive.
If there was a floating bridge to Hawaii, would you drive? How often would you have to stop and get gas? What if the engineers built the bridge, but forgot to put in any gas stations or rest areas? Would you wear a diaper and carry your own fuel and water?
Would you wear a life jacket while driving, just in case you encountered a bad storm?
These are deep thoughts.
We look at a map and find the distance between two cities. We do our homework and plot the distance between two points of the xy-plane. If something is attainable, we say it is within striking distance. The distance between two points on the earth can change, depending on if you stay on the surface, or dig your way there.
Long distance phone calls have given way to long distance education over the internet. The distance between the earth and the sun is one astronomical unit. Distance seems to be a vague concept that is defined by more precise words, such as inches or miles.
The distance light travels in the time it takes the earth to go once around the sun is called a light-year. In one second that is 186,282 miles. I think I’ll just stay home if I have to take my car.
If you measure the length of your living room, you would probably say 16 ft, 5 inches. However, if I tell you to measure it halfway and only measure ½ the remaining distance each time you measure, you would get old and die before reaching the wall. Try it sometime. I’ll come to your funeral, but don’t ask me to sing.
Distance can be relative. If I am an insect, California is far away. If I am a migrating bird, it’s only a few days. I picked my daughter up at the airport earlier this year. She had been in Uganda a few hours earlier. I consider that to be a great distance, but only because I think how long it would take to drive.
If there was a floating bridge to Hawaii, would you drive? How often would you have to stop and get gas? What if the engineers built the bridge, but forgot to put in any gas stations or rest areas? Would you wear a diaper and carry your own fuel and water?
Would you wear a life jacket while driving, just in case you encountered a bad storm?
These are deep thoughts.
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