The Reason why the answer to the Universe is 42

[Ichingcarpenter]

The Reason why the answer to the Universe is 42

It is impossible for an observer to manoeuvre to see any rainbow from water droplets at any angle other than the customary one of 42 degrees from the direction opposite the Sun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow


I was answering a science question a discovered the answer

[Lint Head]

1. I have noticed this when the Sun is behind me and I'm watering my garden.

Is there an arc because we are actually seeing a reflection of the curvature of the Sun? Guess I'm a little dumb in this regard.

[digonswine]

5. I don't believe so-

light from the sun strikes the balls of water and they refract and reflect it back to your eyes at that certain angle.
Imagine you are misting you garden near dusk, but with the sun out. Your back is to the sun. The sun's rays are basically running parallel to the ground surface.
When you see the rainbow, you see the light reflected at that(42?) angle from all angles. Think of a clock in front of you. The sun can be reflected from the 6 o'clock position back to your eyes, or the 12 o'clock position, or 3 or 9 or ALL positions. This is what you are seeing--not the curvature of the sun's surface.
This is quite hard to explain w/o diagrams!

[Lint Head]

10. Thanks! Great explaination. Now when I talk about it will sound like I know what I'm talking about.

[TheMadMonk]

12. There is one "part" of every rainbow that remains forever constant.

The observer. Thus the "Pot of Gold" at the foot/origin of a rainbow is....?

[freshwest]

2. Hey, thanks. That was a lot I didn't know about Rainbows. And why 42 is important.

[targetpractice]

3. That particular question didn't occur to the mice...

...when they were brainstorming substitute questions to avert the public relations fallout after Earth's demolition.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. The mice were merrily manifestations

of our human conceptions of alien intelligence. The Greys are tricky.
and that was another cosmic joke ...... BTW the author claimed
he was abducted............ by irony.


I don't know but somehow, Carlos Castaneda
book

The Active side of infinity might help explain the mice.


http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/cienciareal/esp_donjuan10.htm

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. Who are you who is so wise in the ways of science?

[deutsey]

11. LOL

[zbdent]

7. The reason why the answer is 42 is because it's not something else ...

now ...

what was the question?

[pokerfan]

8. It's also the time (in minutes)

to fall through the center of the Earth and reappear on the other side (assuming a frictionless, airless tunnel, and a bunch of other things).

It was one of the first differential equations I was ever asked to solve. It also works for any straight tunnel not going through the center provided its still frictionless. And it would also be the time for half of the lowest possible Earth if the atmosphere (and mountains) weren't in the way.

http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/poster-earth.cfm

[longship]

9. Origin of Dark Matter

The packing materials from all the cartons of all the precise instruments used by physicists to study the origin of Dark Matter

.

Douglas Noel Adams, a writer, science advocate, and humorist of some note.