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Feynmann discusses this problem in one of his lectures on symmetry. He seemed to suggest that chirality of any physical system was relative, though you may have
by Triumvark 15y ago
Feynmann discusses this problem in one of his lectures on symmetry. He seemed to suggest that chirality of any physical system was relative, though you may have to down to the subatomic level to completely reverse everything.
If I recall correctly, this segment ended urging listeners to beware of new friends who, after hearing about all our customs, reach out to shake with the wrong hand.
- Jach 15y agoYes, one of my favorite Feynman lectures I was going to comment on, it re-appears in written form in the symmetry chapter in "Six Not-So-Easy Pieces". (Originally from his massive Feynman Lectures on Physics.) He starts from after you've described the basic exterior human anatomy, which is mostly symmetrical, then he starts with the interior and tells the alien to 'put the heart on the left'. But the alien doesn't understand the direction. So Feynman says: "Listen, build yourself a magnet, and put the coils in, and put the current on, and then take some cobalt and lower the temperature. Arrange the experiment so the electrons go from the foot to the head, then the direction in which the current goes through the coils is the direction that goes in on what we call the right and comes out on the left." For anyone who doesn't get the wrong hand joke, the physical reason to watch out is: "matter to the right is symmetrical with antimatter to the left."