Saturday 22 June 2013

Hot Air Balloons and Aeroplanes

Les Folles Marquises, a gorgeous little etsy store, sent me some of the cutest ever necklaces! I can't even tell you how in love I am with this handmade doll necklace. I wore it to my exam as my good-luck charm (not that I'm at all superstitious nor believe she bestowed good luck upon me, but being able to look at the necklace during my exam did make me smile! Which has gotta help, right?)

As a side note, Les Folles Marquises, according to google translate, is "The Crazy Canopies" in English - any French speakers want to tell me if that is at all correct? What a cute name for a cute store, though! And although you'll all know me as an advocate of cheap clothes, if something is handmade this well, it's definitely worth paying more for.

I've been making some pretty great thrift-shop finds lately, like this pink cardigan and velvet fitted blazer. Every winter I only ever seem to have one cardigan and one coat which I end up wearing every day, which just makes winter even more depressing, so this year I am making an effort to own quite a few different coats, sweaters and cardigans so I can mix and match them (almost) as frequently as my dresses! Op-shops are definitely the best place to get coats and cardigans from, especially as they are usually under $10 - I don't think I've owned many "new" ones in quite a number of years.

dress - c/o Sheinside
necklace - c/o Les Folles Marquises
cardigan - Thrifted
blazer - Thrifted
hat - c/o Wholesale
socks - c/o OASAP
shoes - Yeswalker

And isn't this balloon-print Sheinside dress super cute, and just the perfect amount of quirky? Speaking of Sheinside, I have the winner of the Sheinside giveaway to announce. Is this you below? If so... congratulations! You have won a $100 gift voucher to spend at Sheinside. And I highly recommend the dress I am currently wearing ;)

So I'm going on an plane to Italy in just a week's time from now. Whenever I go on an aeroplane, at at least one point in the flight I will freak out and go "HOW ARE WE POSSIBLY DOING THIS?!" Knowing really nothing about physics, I am as ignorant as caveman trying to comprehend a smartphone (in fact... I don't really know much about that one, either). I just think that the fact that something as big and heavy as a plane full of people hanging around apparently weightless in the air is insane. And if anyone asked me how planes stayed in the air, I probably wouldn't be able to give them a very good answer, either, apart from mumbling something vague about thrust and lift. And I like to know how things work, rather than just blindly accepting them as fact.

So flight is actually kind of simple on the surface. There are four main forces all vying for dominance of your aircraft. You have thrust, which is what the engines provide - propelling you forward - drag, which pulls you backwards, weight, which drags you back down towards the earth, and lift, which is the one that holds you up in the air and is provided by the wings.

Lift is the one that helps hold a super heavy object up in the air, and is the cause of my freaking-out.
(Image source)
Aeroplane wings give you lift, because of the relative differences in speed between a solid object (the wings) and a fluid object (the air). The wing deflects the air above and below the wing, splitting it into two directions. The shape of the wing makes sure that the air that goes over the top moves faster than the air on the bottom. And when air speeds up, its pressure drops, so there is more pressure pushing up from the bottom of the wing, than from the top of the wing. That's how you get lifted up into the air!

The speed of sound is what is known as "Mach 1", and commercial planes don't fly this fast, however, the plane I am going on travels at Mach 0.85. That is 85% of the speed of sound, or about 280 metres per second. That is just a little over 1000 kilometres an hour (621 mph). That's... really, really fast. And a good way to segue into this XKCD comic. Speculative physics is even more fun than actual physics.

If you could make a stereo fly past someone at twice the speed of sound (Mach 2), then would it sound like it was playing backwards to someone who was sitting by?

The answer is yes, the song would sound like it was playing backwards. The stereo is flying faster than the sound it is playing can travel (sound travels at the speed of... well... sound), so the stereo would reach you first, followed by the sound it emitted one second ago, then two seconds ago, then three seconds ago, etc.

I can hardly wrap my head around it, but I think that it is one of the coolest thought experiments ever (plus, it's an awesome fact to tell people at parties). Read the whole comic here (especially if you've never seen XKCD's 'What If?' site before.)








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23 comments:

  1. pretty dress! love it! :)
    Irene Wibowo

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  2. Oh my word, that blazer is an absolute dream! And your over the knee socks - so amazing. Your pictures are making me wish for fall. :)

    xoxo,
    laura
    http://lauraisthriftingthroughlife.blogspot.com/

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  3. You look great!
    That's exactly why I hate flying (also cramped seats). I'm always like "this shouldn't be possible!" But I guess I'm no physicist!
    If something travelled faster than the speed of sound, wouldn't it sonic boom? That sure would drown out the sound of the radio haha! Or maybe I just don't understand sonic booms.

    Rachel

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    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, that's the obvious flaw with it - it's addressed in the comic as well, haha. But ignoring both that and flying shards of the stereo... it would play backwards to an observer ;)

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  4. So cute, love the balloons! I keep forgetting you are in opposite weatherland, it's too hot for a cardigan here!

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  5. You look adorable! I have a similar dress by Nishe (I think this dress is probably a knock-off of their dress, but it's just as cute!), and I need to wear it more. Great finds with the blazer and cardigan! I can't think about the physics of flying too much (not that I'd probably really understand them anyway, but it'd probably make me scared to fly, really). You must be so excited about going to Italy! I can't wait to see photos!

    xox Sammi
    www.thesoubrettebrunette.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Definitely a Nishe knock off. I just don't know where I stand on this, though. On one hand I feel bad, because it's a knock-off of the design. On the other hand, it's almost definitely come from the exact same manufacturing company. One is just marked up 5x more because it's got the label, and the manufacturer gets paid the same price, regardless. And I could never afford a Nishe dress, either.

      I didn't think I'd understand the physics of flight either, but it's actually kind of easy to get your head around: read this how stuff works article on it!: http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/airplanes.htm

      I will definitely be taking photos in Italy! :D

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  6. Aww Annika you look so cute c:

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  7. OH MAH GAWD! It's a NISHE dress, my new favourite brand. I have actually been oogling this dress but have thus far limited myself to one Nishe dress. The patterns are perfect: seahorses, ice cream sundaes, shells, and hot air balloons!! And you've accessorised it wonderfully :D

    http://meggymoo0.blogspot.com

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  8. It must be a hell of a lot warmer in Sydney than in Melbourne, and for that I am insanely jealous! I was running a cake stall for school today and it was so cold that I couldn't properly use my hands! Plus dressing for such extreme cold is such a drag, lucky I have a super cute red coat or I would give up on winter altogether haha!

    Maeve

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    Replies
    1. Ugh, yes I could imagine that Melbourne weather is much like the blue mountains (just west of Sydney) where I have spent my weekend - I have needed to wear thermals and several pairs of tights, and even then, I was freezing when I went outside. I am very grateful to be living in sydney now, and only needing a cardigan or two when I go out!

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  9. I Love vintage balloons! Like your blog :)

    www.modernismandvintage.com.es

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  10. That blazer is awesome! What a great find!

    Becky
    xx

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  11. Lovely dress and I really love the shop that sent you the necklace, it sure is very adorable :)

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  12. i love how the dress has a transparent panel on top with the collar! looks so great!

    Sarah
    xoxo

    http://absolutelysarahx.blogspot.com

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  13. Hi Annika. Your dress is definitely gorgeous !

    Thank you so much for wearing my jewellery with so much elegance, and writing about it with such sweet words !
    I hope the Jolie Poupée pendant brought you good luck or at least more confidence for your exam.

    Les folles Marquises, you're right, could be translated by The Crazy canopies, I never thought about that before, but the real meaning of Marquises in my name would rather be marchionesses (I just checked, Google Translate doesn't know this word ! ;) )

    Thank you for the story about planes (and for the link to What if blog), I'm always wondering too how those magic engines can stay in the air, actually I'm totally freaked out by airplanes (but I love to travel, can you see my problem ?).

    Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy your trip to Italy, it is such a beautiful country ! In which part of Italy are you going ?

    Have a nice day !

    Dorothée / Les folles Marquises

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  14. I love hot air balons and I'm in love with that dress *_*
    Necklace is also amazing, reminds me of my own illustrating style:)

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  15. Oh wow, I love the necklace! Thanks for the science/physics lesson! I'm pretty much afraid of flying. Have fun in Italy!

    Mabel
    Life of Mabel

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  16. I love this outfit, especially the socks and shoes combo! :)
    Rebecca @ tr[i]b[e]cca

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  17. I love the whole look! I think I'm kind of weak for red x black combos :P

    Jezz, I think you freaked me out with the planes explanation. I have never been on a plane, and I think I will need someone to give me a pill to fall asleep or something, or else I'd never step into one XD.

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  18. That dress is perfection! I love that print. I've always had a slight obsession with hot air balloons, just because they're so beautiful and have an old-fashioned, whimsical air to them. I don't think my fear of heights would ever let me near one, though! Also, that necklace is super cute!

    ~Vicki
    Decked Out in Ruffles

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  19. Hello from Spain! Now you are in my bloglovin!

    I want to order this dress but I'm not sure about size. Is an elastic band what it has in the waist?

    Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Hello :) It doesn't have elastic around the waist, although the waist is actually a little bit large on me, I think I will have to wear it with a belt! (And I got the medium)

      If you have any other questions I'll be happy to answer them, although i hope that helped a little bit!

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