How does Santa go down all the chimneys? Physics explains!
You already know the legend, don't you? On the night of December 24, Santa Claus travels with his sleigh to distribute pampering around the world, and in many homes he needs to come down the chimney - chubby like that and carrying a sack of presents! - to leave the packages under the Christmas tree. And he still takes a break to drink milk and eat cookies left by the children!
Now, let's say you are super Christmas and love the Christmas spirit - and some child asks you how Good Old Man can deliver all the presents. After all, if Santa were a real person and had to do the prowess of handing out treats to every little child in the world (or to about 700 million people!) In a single night, how would that be possible? Physics explains!
Einstein, help!
According to the Phys Org portal, Exeter University physicist Katy Sheen relied on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity to find an answer to the mysteries surrounding Santa's superpowers - and the explanations are, to say the least, ingenious. .
According to Katy, to distribute all the presents on Christmas Eve, Good Old Man needs to move very quickly, right? More precisely, physics calculated that to complete the task of delivering toys to all children on Earth within 31 hours (considering the different time zones on the planet), Santa must travel at a speed of 10 million kilometers per hour.
For, as Katy explained, according to Einstein's theory, anyone who travels at this — breakneck — speed would shrink in size or become more tapered in the direction of travel, which would explain Santa's ability to go down any chimney, for example. closer as it is. He just had to keep moving very, very fast.
Plus, the speed itself explains why little kids can't see Santa on Christmas Eve, even those who are on duty by the tree or the fireplace! He is able to travel so fast that first his clothes would “change” color from red to green thanks to the Doppler Effect - since electromagnetic waves are affected by speed - and secondly, he would disappear.
The Doppler Effect also serves to explain why children do not hear Santa's arrival - with his bells, jingle bells and his familiar "Ho, Ho, Ho ..." - as he will be traveling much faster than the noises made by him. On the other hand, if anyone hears a popping noise on the roof of the house, that would be the Good Old Man overcoming the sound barrier with his reindeer as he leaves for his next stop!
And going back to the Theory of Relativity, it can also explain why the Good Old Man apparently doesn't age - although he's been active for centuries. It stays more or less the same because, when traveling so absurdly fast, time passes much more slowly for him than for us!
* Posted on 12/19/2016
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