What is Confusion: Definition and 1000 Discussions

In medicine, confusion is the quality or state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion" is often used interchangeably with delirium in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and the Medical Subject Headings publications to describe the pathology. These refer to the loss of orientation, or the ability to place oneself correctly in the world by time, location and personal identity. Mental confusion is sometimes accompanied by disordered consciousness (the loss of linear thinking) and memory loss (the inability to correctly recall previous events or learn new material). The term is from Latin: confusĭo, -ōnis, from confundere: "to pour together", "to mingle together", "to confuse".

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  1. M

    Light and Faraday Cage confusion

    Hi guys, The other day I found myself asking the question below and couldn't quite manage to re-align my own personal experience with E&M theory. I am sure it will just be a gap in my knowledge base of E&M. The Question: If you are contained within a metal mesh cage which acts as a...
  2. A

    Confusion in uderstanding the concept of viscosity

    Hello friend... I have confusion in understanding the concept of viscosity. Please help me. Viscosity is the property of the fluid which offers resistance to the movement of one layer of fluid over another adjacent layer of the fluid. Here both top and adjacent layer causes shear stress on each...
  3. M

    Help - Confusion acid-base equilibrium in water

    Help -- Confusion acid-base equilibrium in water Hello, I have been reading about the acid-base equilibrium in water. I don't understand what my book explains however. The theory may be information lacking(in my opinion). Because I've read it so many times I just decided to rewrite everything...
  4. bcrowell

    Solving Confusion about Hans Ohanian's One-Dimensional Gas Example

    This is about Hans Ohanian, "Einstein's E = mc2 mistakes," http://arxiv.org/abs/0805.1400 , a historical paper that discusses whether Einstein's original proofs of E=mc2 were really valid. My general understanding of the topic is as follows. I'm just discussing SR, not GR. What's really...
  5. S

    Confusion regarding pinch off voltage in a JFET

    I can't figure out what actually is the Pich-off voltage of a JFET. I basically have confusion between these two definitions: Pinch off voltage is that gate source voltage at which there is no drain-source current Pinch of voltage is that 'Drain-Source' voltage after which the drain source...
  6. M

    Confusion about special relativity

    So I just started taking Modern Physics and we are currently discussing special relativity. And needless to say, its giving me a headache. Here's my confusion: First, my Professor is Russian, and while his accent isn't so thick that I can't understand him, his grasp of English itself, is such...
  7. D

    Why Are Electrons Not Attracted to Holes in a MOSFET Without Gate Voltage?

    Homework Statement I currently reading about transistors in a solid state course. And the transistor is a MOFSET, which I have to describe. I can't really find a nice figure of the one I have in my book, so I will just try to explain my confusion. It says that you make a MOFSET by having a...
  8. D

    EPR Paradox Confusion: Understanding the Violation of Locality and Uncertainty

    Hello, I've read through several sources about the EPR Paradox but I'm not sure I'm understanding everything. I know that: -the paradox in question seems to be due to a violation of the principle of locality -there is no useful transferred faster than c regardless of which axes the two...
  9. Q

    Confusion over Axiom of Choice.

    Hello, What "choice" does the Axiom of Choice permit us to make? I've searched high and low and not found a satisfactory answer. To me it seems to add no new information to its hypotheses: Given an arbitrary collection of non-empty sets, isn't it true, without assuming anything and just by...
  10. S

    Light Clock Confusion in Special Relativity

    When students are first introduced to special relativity, the first thing they are taught is the derivation of the gamma factor and time-dilation, and it goes something like this: Suppose there are 2 observers in space, let's call them Alice and Bob. Let's assume Alice is stationary from our...
  11. F

    Higgs Boson Confusion: Answers to Your Questions

    Hi, please could someone kindly answer a few questions regarding the higgs boson. Everywhere I read about this topic I seem constantly faced with information that is not consistent. I have focused on sources (mainly YouTube videos) of well known physicists and other Physics Forum threads in an...
  12. H

    How can the residue theorem be used to calculate contour integrals?

    Greetings, I am a bit confused on an aspect of contour integrals. Wikipedia gives the following example of an integral where the residue theorem can be used (it also finds the integral in a couple of other ways, but I am mainly interested in doing it using residues): We want to calculate...
  13. S

    Confusion about the nature of Diffraction.

    Why does the size of an obstacle have to be comparable to the wavelength of radiation for diffraction effects to be noticable ? Secondly, if the size of an opening is much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation , how does the radiation interact with the opening ? Third, can the same things...
  14. N

    Confusion regarding 2 dimension motion

    Projectile motion consist of horizontal and vertical motion. The horizontal motion consists only of constant velocity, that is, the velocity of the object The vertical motion consists only of constant acceleration, that is, acceleration due to gravity. Yet... we have vx = vcos and vy =...
  15. Entanglement

    Why Doesn't Agglutination Occur in Blood Transfusions from O Group Donors?

    I'm really confused about blood transfusion, I know that O group is a universal Donner but how since it has both antibodies A,B, why doesn't agglutination happen? For an example o group is donated to an individual with A blood group why doesn't the antibody A of O group cause Agglutination in...
  16. binbagsss

    Pseudo Force Direction Confusion.

    Q1) What angular velocity would be required for your effective weight at the equator to be third of that the north pole? You may neglect all inertial forces except the centrifugal. I understnad the majority of my books solution which is that: At the equator, the centrifugal force is...
  17. P

    Equating Heat and Einstein's equation confusion

    I should start by saying that I am a bit embarissed by asking such a silly question By simply equating the mass-energy formula with the temperature dependence of heat... M*c2 = M* cm *ΔT it strikes me as odd that the mass cancels, c2 = cm *ΔT I was doing this in order to calculate...
  18. L

    Calculating Rotational Inertia (A Bit of Confusion)

    Hey all, Perhaps this is a bit stupid... I'm familiar with the normal procedure of calculating rotational inertia (using integration, parallel axis theorem, etc.). However, I had a confusing thought: if the center of mass of a body is the point at which you can treat as all of the mass being...
  19. G

    What is the Correct Method to Solve this Trigonometry Problem?

    Not homework just my own revision. If sin a = –cos b = 3/5 and a and b are both in the second quadrant, what is cos (a – b)? Now keep getting the answer 0, but the answer is apparently 24/25, now they use the trig subtraction formula, I just did cos ((arcsin(3/5) - arccos(-3/5)) I got 0 as...
  20. D

    What Forces Act on a Static Cylinder on an Inclined Plane?

    Hi everyone, If I have a static cylinder on an inclined rough plane at an angle alpha supported by a chord under tension, which leaves the surface of the cylinder at a tangent upwards and parallel to the plane. Does the weight component trying to pull it downwards equal the sum of the friction...
  21. H

    Where Did I Go Wrong in My Analysis of Orbital Motion?

    Hi, I stumbled upon this while working on a problem on my physics homework. I still want to solve the problem myself if possible though so I won't post it here, instead, I'll post what is confusing me. Consider orbital motion with potential U(r), where U(r) is any arbitrary function of r. I...
  22. M

    So, the webpage title could be: Collision Force: How is it Determined?

    I have a confusion: If we push an object of 10 kg with force of 60N once, does it accelerate constantly with 6m/s/s forever neglecting any resistance ? So, does this mean if this moving object collides with something the maximum force it applies is 60N?
  23. G

    Confusion on applying right hand rule

    Hi guys I always get confused when I do the right hand rule like here when I apply it to this problem I am getting different answer than what the book have. A uniform magnetic field B, with magnitude 1.2 mT, points vertically upward throughout the volume of the room in which you are sitting...
  24. J

    How does acceleration= final velocity - initial velocity divided by time work?

    Sorry I can't get latex working so bear with me as I am new to it. I start A-level physics in a week and during my own research I have come across something that confuses me. Acceleration= Final velocity - Initial velocity divided by time. What is confusing me is when your deriving other...
  25. U

    Chemistry: Ksp calculation confusion

    Homework Statement I have to calculate the Ksp value for calcium hydroxide from experimental data. We titrated 10.00 mL of saturated Ca(OH)2 aqueous solution with 11.00 mL of 0.01607 M EDTA. Homework Equations The Ksp formula is given in my manual as [Ca^2+]*[OH^-]^2 The Attempt at...
  26. B

    Confusion about using the t table or z table for confidence intervals

    Here's the question: The PCB concentration of a fis hcaught in Lake Michigan was measured by a technique that is known to result in an error of measurement that is normally distributed with a standard deviation of .08 ppm. Suppose the results of 10 independent measurements of this fish are...
  27. H

    Solving -x^n: Pre-Calculus Confusion

    Hello, This is my first post here. I am sorry if this is the wrong place for this question or if my phrasing is unclear. -x^n≠(-x)^n -x^n=-(x^2) I am slightly confused by this because at the level I am at right now (i.e. pre-calculus) and before, I have seen statements that contradict...
  28. AakashPandita

    What is the Unit of Angular Acceleration in SI Units?

    i solved a problem in all SI units and got certain value of angular acceleration. What is the unit of the value? Is it in radian/s^2 or what?
  29. N

    MHB Inverse signs on both sides of an equation [Confusion]

    [SOLVED] Inverse signs on both sides of an equation [Confusion] Hey everyone, I've just reinserted myself in maths after so many years, done a lot of review but I sometimes fall on small "glitches" between my test answers and the suggested answers in my textbook. I've been getting confused...
  30. S

    Gravitational potential energy confusion

    Hi, I've managed to get myself confused over the simplest thing. Intuitively I'd think that gravitational potential energy is proportional to distance as described by the near-body equation GPE=-mgh. The alternative for farther bodies (-G*M*m/R) has me confused because it is inversely...
  31. K

    What Is the Moment of Inertia About a Point One-Fourth the Length from One End?

    Homework Statement Small blocks, each with mass m, are clamped at the ends and at the center of a rod of length L and negligible mass Compute the moment of inertia of the system about an axis perpendicular to the rod and passing through a point one-fourth of the length from one end...
  32. H

    Shell Method Confusion: Explaining the Difference

    Greetings, If we have a function y=f(x), we can calculate the surface area traced by that function when rotating about the x-axis as 1: S=∫dx\,2πf(x), which makes perfect sense to me. I am told that, if we have x=x(t) and y=y(t), the equivalent expression is 2...
  33. P

    Understanding Dirac Notation in Quantum Mechanics

    1.) an inner product of a state vector represent by <\psi|\psi>. sometimes the notation is like <\phi|\psi> is mean transfer from state |\psi> to <\phi|.it mean the former 1 do not transfer the state? what is the difference between both? 2.) what is mean by <x|\psi>? is it mean x(position)...
  34. A

    Confusion regarding use of differentiation and unit vectors

    Hey, everyone. I am going to post a question—but it's not the question I need help with. It's something deeper (and way more troubling). Consider a particle of mass m subject to an isotropic two-dimensional harmonic central force F= −k\vec{r}, where k is a positive constant. At t=0, we...
  35. J

    Voltage: Clarifying Conflicting Definitions

    Hi, please could someone guide me to a correct definition of voltage. I have looked through previous posts and there seems to be conflicting definitions. My school book and some posts on the forum say voltage "pushes" the current. However, I can't see how this could possibly be true for the...
  36. J

    Solving Op Amp Confusion with PWM Circuit

    Hi In the waveform picture i attached, I don't know why the square wave is floating instead of being on the 0 of the x axis. I also attached schematic of the pwm circuit. By the way, this is a pulse width modulator circuit made of 4 op amps, U2D is a schmitt trigger to generate sqaure...
  37. S

    Confusion about length-tension relationship of muscle

    I am trying to conceptually understand this relationship. One thing that's not helping is I keep hearing the phrase "the resting length" of muscle. It's using the word "THE" as if there is one resting length. This phrase implies that the length stays the same no matter how bent my elbow is at...
  38. J

    Confusion about this min() operator

    I'm reading about planning algorithms and I'm having some difficulty understanding a bit of notation here. The pdf I'm reading is "planning.cs.uiuc.edu/ch2.pdf" and the equation in question is on page 11. I'm not sure I understand what the min operator with all the subscripts actually means...
  39. C

    Confusion in centre of gravity and centre of mass differentiation

    Hi friends, I have Kinetic energy problem during collision. Please Help me in solving this. Thank you all in advance. The problem is as: https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/q71/s720x720/1380301_1432382870322152_49372184_n.jpg Attempt...
  40. A

    Rolling a Fair Die: Probability of Getting At Least One Six After Multiple Rolls

    Homework Statement How many times do we need to roll a fair die to get a better than evens chance of at least one six? The attempt at a solution Let n be the number of rolls. Am I trying to find how large n must be so P(At least one six)≥ 1/2? I'm working on the basis that I need to solve...
  41. E

    Is My Understanding of Star Delta Transformer Voltages Correct?

    Hi, From the basics of 3 phase power, I believed that if you had a delta source which had Line Voltages and Phase Voltages of 100V, if you converted this into a star source, the Equivalent Star Line voltage would still be 100V and the equivalent star phase voltage would then be 100V/sqrt(3)...
  42. JJBladester

    Confusion about open-loop op-amp comparator operation

    Homework Statement Determine the output level (maximum positive or maximum negative) for each comparator in Figure 4-52. Homework Equations A_{ol}=\frac{V_{out}}{V_{in}} The Attempt at a Solution I am new to comparators but I thought that since all of these op-amps are...
  43. G

    Nuclear Binding Energy Confusion

    I read that nuclear binding energy is the energy required to separate a nucleus into its comprising nucleons. Why then is mass defect calculated from this? How is the nuclear binding energy graph used to calculate energy released from fusion? Please explain in layman's terms, if you could...
  44. C

    Confusion with internal energy and enthelpy

    For incompressible substances you have a change in internal energy represented by ΔU = mcΔT where T is temperature. I've also seen ΔH = mcΔT and ΔQ = mcΔT where H and Q are enthalpy and heat, respectfully. Does that mean that all of these are the same? I heard H becomes U...
  45. J

    Confusion about the electron sub shells.

    Apologies for the long post this is going to be, but at the moment I am doing A-level chemistry and physics, and I am learning about electron orbitals and quantum physics at the same time, so I have reached a state of confusion. (At a higher level than that required for the A-level; I'm not...
  46. W

    2D Moments confusion, does d have to be perpendicular?

    Homework Statement http://imageshack.us/a/img812/8836/5tfn.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us Find F such that the moment around A will not exceed 1000N*m for any value of θ. Homework Equations M = fdThe Attempt at a Solution I got the right answer, I found the distance of a -> b AB= √( (2^2)...
  47. S

    Velocity to acceleration then conversion from km/h to m/s2 confusion

    A car travels in a straight line for 5.3 h at a constant speed of 60 km/h. What is its acceleration? Answer in units of m/s2 So far, to my understanding so far acceleration is change in velocity over time. So 60 over 5.3, which is 11.32 km/h2 Then I converted to m first, which is 1132...
  48. BruceW

    Extrinsic thermodynamic variable confusion

    Hi all, Something has been troubling me. To begin with, I have never been certain about this concept of 'extrinsic' thermodynamic variables. I mean, they don't have to be linear with system size, right? They just need to increase with system size? And also, I have a specific 'example problem'...
  49. teroenza

    Poynting Vector Direction Confusion

    Homework Statement I am trying to understand why, in an example in Griffiths E&M (3rd ed, 8.1) says that the Poynting vector of a current carrying wire that is being heated via resistance (Joule heating), has a Poynting vector pointing radially inward. The E field is parallel to the wire, B...
  50. G

    Basic confusion about a linear order.

    According to wikipedia a total order ≤ on a set X is one such that If a ≤ b and b ≤ a then a = b (antisymmetry); If a ≤ b and b ≤ c then a ≤ c (transitivity); a ≤ b or b ≤ a (totality). I'm wondering why antisymmetry is a condition since, as far as I can see, totality discounts...
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