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What is the Strongest Force on Earth?

2013-06-14 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Science & nature · explainer learning

Hank over-analyses a geology-quiz question ('What is the strongest force on Earth?') whose answer 'love' was marked wrong: physically it is the strong nuclear force; the teacher probably meant water; read as what now shapes geology it is humans, so arguably love (really sex); ultimately the Sun's energy. He then launches a Nerdfighteria census.

What is said

00:00:00 — Hank, still making videos for John though John isn't making them for him, found a Tumblr photo of a science quiz: 'What is the strongest force on Earth?' answered 'Love' and crossed out

  • ★ Hank says he supposes he should still be making these videos for John, even though John is not making them for him. (hedged) — 00:00:00 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank found on Tumblr a science quiz asking 'What is the strongest force on Earth?'; the student wrote 'love' and the teacher crossed it out. He sets out to find the real answer and what the teacher meant. — 00:00:04 · Tumblr

00:00:27 — The physics answer: four fundamental forces; gravity weakest, strong nuclear force strongest (10^39 times gravity)

  • ★★★ Hank: physicists say there are only four forces in the universe: gravity (the weakest), electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force. — 00:00:27
  • ★★ Hank: as its name suggests, the strong nuclear force is the strongest force, 1 x 10^39 times stronger than gravity. — 00:00:48
  • ★ Hank tells viewers who do not know scientific notation to watch Crash Course Chemistry. (playful) — 00:00:55 · Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank: the definite physics answer is the strong force, but the teacher would probably still have marked it wrong. — 00:01:01

00:01:06 — What the geology teacher meant: water/hydrological cycle, or life; currently humans; the force driving humans is love (sex); actually the Sun's energy

  • ★★★ Hank guesses that, since the quiz mentions igneous and sedimentary rocks, the teacher meant 'what has the greatest impact on Earth's geology?' and wanted water or the hydrological cycle. (hedged) — 00:01:11
  • ★★ Hank: one could also argue life has the greatest impact on geology, by creating soils, preventing erosion and transpiring moisture into the atmosphere. (hedged) — 00:01:28
  • ★★★ Hank: the poorly worded question can be read as what is currently having the greatest impact on geology, and then the answer is easily humans, who turn mountains inside out, dry up lakes and turn deserts into gardens and forests into deserts. — 00:01:38
  • ★★★ Hank playfully argues the force driving humans to keep together, feed children and reproduce is love (really, sex), so 'love' answers the question the teacher thinks they asked: how to BS an A on a geology test. (playful) (hedged) — 00:02:02
  • ★★★ Hank: the real answer is the Sun's energy, without which the hydrological cycle, trees and people would not exist. — 00:02:33

00:02:41 — Nerdfighteria census survey launch; thanks to Craig, sign-off to Grace

  • ★★★ Hank: he and John think they probably do not understand the community as accurately as they like to believe, so they decided to do a census of Nerdfighteria. — 00:02:43 · Nerdfighteria, John Green
  • ★★ Hank asks viewers to fill out the census survey linked in the description: about 30 questions, taking 10 to 30 minutes. — 00:02:56

Humor (significant)

  • Gravity is always trying to make us fall over, which is super annoying, unless you are in bed — 00:00:40 > «in which case I'm jealous.»
  • 10^39 times stronger: for people who do not know scientific notation, watch Crash Course Chemistry — 00:01:00 > «Also, it's- it's a lot.»
  • Hank builds to the force that keeps humans together, feeding children and coupling: 'It's love. It's love, isn't it?' — 00:02:16 > «It's really- it's sex.»
  • Having argued that 'love' answers the question the teacher thinks they asked — 00:02:28 > «And that, my friends, is how to BS your way into an A on a geology test.»

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