If we’re only supposed to do ragebait answers, then anyone who passed 3rd grade science would be able to tell you the answer is obviously B
If you actually played the game, and paid attention in physics class in highschool, then you would know the answer is clearly A, and everyone who says it is B really needed the simplified explanation from GLaDOS to understand how to play the game.
Ragebait successful. College physics here. The only correct answer is B. You can only get A if the box is securely anchored to the pillar then released after the portal stops.
I love the games, but you can’t trust a game physics engine to properly track what’s going to happen with moving and especially accelerating portals. They (usually) track an entire object from one reference point against one absolute world grid.
Think of a portal as moving a plane of particles from one location to another. An entire object passing through a portal is just a bunch of successive planes being moved. One particle plane entering the portal plane on one side must displace the previous particle plane at the same rate on the exit side. Therefore, an object’s speed through a portal must remain consistent relative to the portal on both sides, and with nothing to magically cancel that inertia, that motion will continue even after the object has completely left the portal.
GLaDOS specifically states “Momentum, a function of mass and velocity, is conserved between portals.”
If scenario B was correct (which it is not) then if the portal was put on an object lighter than the box and then quickly moved over the box, the box would be launched at a speed equal to the speed of the lighter object, while it has more mass, this is not a conservation of momentum.
The best way to explain movement through portals is that momentum is only conserved from a perspective that encompasses all of the objects involved, this is true for regular physics as well actually. Consider this, what if the portal was shoved very quickly over the box down to it’s halfway point? The obvious answer is that the box would only appear halfway out of the other portal, but if you subscribe to the “logic” that leads to answer B, then the box is actually sucked up by the portal, while the actual logical and intuitive answer is that only half the box sticks out of the portal, and it stays where it was placed.
Portals aren’t objects, they don’t have mass, or even a velocity, they are a shortcut in space, and that was what GLaDOS was explaining when she said that momentum was conserved. Although B seems to initially make sense, it is not correct from a game lore perspective, nor from an actual physical perspective.
I’ve played the game, you maintain speed whether you jump or fly in using your jet pack, no idea who this GlaDOS character is or what that funky cube is though. Abyss is the best map.
If we’re only supposed to do ragebait answers, then anyone who passed 3rd grade science would be able to tell you the answer is obviously B
If you actually played the game, and paid attention in physics class in highschool, then you would know the answer is clearly A, and everyone who says it is B really needed the simplified explanation from GLaDOS to understand how to play the game.
Ragebait successful. College physics here. The only correct answer is B. You can only get A if the box is securely anchored to the pillar then released after the portal stops.
I love the games, but you can’t trust a game physics engine to properly track what’s going to happen with moving and especially accelerating portals. They (usually) track an entire object from one reference point against one absolute world grid.
Think of a portal as moving a plane of particles from one location to another. An entire object passing through a portal is just a bunch of successive planes being moved. One particle plane entering the portal plane on one side must displace the previous particle plane at the same rate on the exit side. Therefore, an object’s speed through a portal must remain consistent relative to the portal on both sides, and with nothing to magically cancel that inertia, that motion will continue even after the object has completely left the portal.
Incorrect. The answer is A, and here is why.
GLaDOS specifically states “Momentum, a function of mass and velocity, is conserved between portals.” If scenario B was correct (which it is not) then if the portal was put on an object lighter than the box and then quickly moved over the box, the box would be launched at a speed equal to the speed of the lighter object, while it has more mass, this is not a conservation of momentum.
The best way to explain movement through portals is that momentum is only conserved from a perspective that encompasses all of the objects involved, this is true for regular physics as well actually. Consider this, what if the portal was shoved very quickly over the box down to it’s halfway point? The obvious answer is that the box would only appear halfway out of the other portal, but if you subscribe to the “logic” that leads to answer B, then the box is actually sucked up by the portal, while the actual logical and intuitive answer is that only half the box sticks out of the portal, and it stays where it was placed.
Portals aren’t objects, they don’t have mass, or even a velocity, they are a shortcut in space, and that was what GLaDOS was explaining when she said that momentum was conserved. Although B seems to initially make sense, it is not correct from a game lore perspective, nor from an actual physical perspective.
I’ve played the game, you maintain speed whether you jump or fly in using your jet pack, no idea who this GlaDOS character is or what that funky cube is though. Abyss is the best map.