Advanced search

Answers


Altered images

Driving along in the car the other day, my four-year-old son asked why things that were closer to us were moving faster than those further away. What should I tell him?Milton Inverdale, London, UKThanks for a vast number of answers to this question, many of which were probably more suited to undergraduate level than to a four-year-old. However, one notable group of wags insisted on sidestepping the answer at all costs.Among these was the inevitable "Ask your mother", from Tony Turner of Tuross Head, New South Wales, Australia.Stephen McIntosh of Hull, UK, suggested: "You are far too intelligent for a four-year-old... have a lolly."More encouraging was the answer from Dave Oldham of Northampton, UK, who offered: "If you can ask a question like that at four years of age it won't be many more years before you can explain it to me."And congratulations to Peter Gosling of Farnham, Surrey, UK, for his unashamedly literal view of the world. His advice was: "I think you should tell your son that it is illegal for him to be driving at four years old." - Ed
 media
sssss
 (no votes)

submit an answer
  • Member status
  • none

Categories: Transport.

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

 

Report abuse

26 answer(s)

<< First   < Prev   [1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   Next >   Last >>  


Reply

 Anonymous says:
This is an oversimplified explanation, but one a child might grasp. If you can see something that is far away then it has to be pretty big and tall. You have to move alot farther to hide (get out of the range of sight) from something that large. For example think of the eye of Sauron as an example in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, although that might be a bit scary for a young tyke.
sssss
 (no votes)

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

top

posted on 2008-05-22 23:33:00 | Report abuse

Reply

 Anonymous says:
Remind your child that the near and far trees are all moving at the same speed. Which is to say they are standing still, it is your child that is moving. And as there is only one of him, he is moving toward both the far trees and the near trees at the same speed. Add that he should learn to judge speed based on how far away something is. If something is very far away it is moving much faster than it seems. This will help him correct his mistaken idea and learn the correct way to judge things.
sssss
 (no votes)

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

top

posted on 2008-05-23 02:53:00 | Report abuse

Reply

 matt says:
No point in giving a child an explanation that basically requires them to answer the question themselves.Just be honest, tell them you don't know, and get them to Google it.
sssss
 (no votes)

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

top

posted on 2008-05-23 14:31:00 | Report abuse

Reply

 James says:
It's called "Motion Parallax", and it is accentuated by car travel.
sssss
 (no votes)

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

top

posted on 2008-05-24 12:34:00 | Report abuse

Reply

 Anonymous says:
related to this, things look smaller when further away, and parallel lines seem to converge as they go towards the horizon. But there must be some angle to place the lines (let's assume railway lines) at so the rate of divergence matches the apparent rate of convergence to one's eye, giving the effect that they look parallel to the observer (providing, of course, you are standing at the right end).does this angle have a name? and what value is it?disclaimer: please do not attempt to drive a train on such non-parallel lines.
sssss
 (no votes)

Tags: technology, transport, planet earth.

top

posted on 2008-05-25 01:37:00 | Report abuse

<< First   < Prev   [1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   Next >   Last >>  

The last word is ...

the place where you ask questions about everyday science

Answer questions, vote for best answers, send your videos and audio questions, save favourite questions and answers, share with friends...

register now


ADVERTISMENT