# Questions you should know (the answers to) but don't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148 "2025-12-29T19:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/41 "2025-12-30T20:42:58Z")
What did you think the most common second guess would be? I knew the answer, but….could kidneys be your #2? heh. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/42 "2025-12-30T20:47:11Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I always thought it was capillary action. What is negative pressure, if not a vacuum? I’m not be argumentative, I just never heard of negative pressure in terms that did not equate it with a vacuum. > [@Chronos](#): > > But how does a tree create negative pressure? So far as I know, that mechanism is, in fact, capillary action. Though it’s certainly weird. It’s based on this definition of pressure: if you push on something, P \> 0, if you don’t touch it, P = 0 (vacuum), if you pull on it, P \< 0. Perhaps it’s not a valid definition in the strictest sense; I don’t know. At any rate, [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BickMFHAZR0) explains why capillary forces don’t pull the water up trees, and why it’s not pulling a vacuum. Hint: you can’t pull on a gas, but you _can_ pull on a liquid in certain situations. And when you pull on a liquid, you are exerting a pressure equivalent to _lower_ than a vacuum. Hence the reason, perhaps incorrectly, that some people refer to it as negative pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/43 "2025-12-30T20:47:26Z")
Most people would probably think of poop and pee, and the associated organs, in some order. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/44 "2025-12-30T20:55:59Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > At any rate, [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BickMFHAZR0) explains why capillary forces don’t pull the water up trees, and why it’s not pulling a vacuum. Except that video does still invoke capillary action, to explain how the pores are able to maintain such a pressure difference. And it also doesn’t really explain how water can sustain such a strong tension. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/45 "2025-12-30T20:59:59Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Also… if most of it is outside the conductor… how does cable shielding work? Why doesn’t the insulation block the fields? You mean like coax cable? In coax cable, \> 99% of the electric and magnetic fields are confined to the volume between the outer conductor and inner conductor, **in** whatever insulation is between outer conductor and inner conductor (air, polymer, etc.). And insulation tends to _not_ block fields. The conductors both _guide_ the fields and tightly _confine_ the fields. Oliver Heaviside was a genius. For other geometries, like the overhead power lines, the wires guide the fields, but they don’t do a good job of confining the fields; the fields are everywhere around the wires, but their intensity dies off pretty quickly with distance. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/46 "2025-12-30T21:04:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Except that video does still invoke capillary action, to explain how the pores are able to maintain such a pressure difference. And it also doesn’t really explain how water can sustain such a strong tension. [Here’s a Scientific American article](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-large-trees-such-a/) that supports the video. I think the third and fourth paragraphs are most informative. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/47 "2025-12-30T21:55:36Z")
It should also be mentioned that this is all for AC power transmission. DC is different. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/48 "2025-12-30T23:10:01Z")
The Poynting vector is still alive and well for DC. Energy is still transported in the fields, just like with AC. [Here](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2305.11827) is a paper published two years ago in The American Journal of Physics titled _DC Power Transported by Two Infinite Parallel Wires_. Here is the Introduction: > Consider a battery connected to a load resistor via two infinitely long cylindrical lossless conductors, as shown in Fig. 1. The battery has a potential difference ∆V, and the > current in the circuit is I. The two conductors have opposite charge polarities and current directions. The battery is delivering electrical power equal to I ∆V, which is absorbed and converted to heat by the resistor. However, how exactly does the electrical power travel from the battery to the resistor in the circuit? The power is shown to be transferred through the > electromagnetic field surrounding the conductors, as opposed to within them. Yet, the charges in the wires are still required, since they guide the electromagnetic field toward the resistor. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/49 "2025-12-31T02:43:57Z")
Ah, yes, I was overlooking the fact that the wires, being at different potentials, would each have a net charge. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/50 "2025-12-31T16:18:30Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > According to Google Siohban is pronounced Shih Vahn. Somehow I had the idea it was pronounced Sephan. That’s how the two Siobhans I’ve known have pronounced it. I always though Malachi was “MAL-uh-kye”, and that’s how it’s typically pronounced in English. In Hebrew, it’s apparently more like “mal-ach-kee”- more of a “ch” in the middle, and a short ‘i’ sound rather than a long one. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/51 "2025-12-31T17:51:28Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > What is the cause of the Earth’s seasons? Axial tilt ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/52 "2025-12-31T17:53:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > In Hebrew, it’s apparently more like “mal-ach-kee”- more of a “ch” in the middle, and a short ‘i’ sound rather than a long one. yup Means “angelic” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/53 "2025-12-31T17:57:09Z")
OK. If Hebrew is fair play, here’s one: Is the word “Seraphim” singular or plural? No one ever knows this, and while I don’t expect Christians to speak Hebrew, it’d be nice if they didn’t maul the words they borrow. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/54 "2025-12-31T18:17:45Z")
Well, now, let’s not just single out those poor, misguided Christians. I’m sure lots of irreligious types probably do a similar disservice. But, as you well know, when a word is imported from another language, all bets are off on how it will end up getting rendered. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/55 "2025-12-31T18:36:41Z")
I’ve always understood “seraphim” to be the plural of “seraph” (and likewise cherub/cherubim and nephil/nephilim). And I think that’s the standard English usage, though I’m not surprised if many people are ignorant. Is that right? I also recently learned that, in the original Polish, “pierogi” is plural, while the singular would be just “pierog”. And come to think of it, “spaghetti” sure looks like an Italian plural, while in English it’s mostly an uncountable noun. In both of those cases, the -i form has firmly embedded itself in the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/56 "2025-12-31T18:41:00Z")
Oh, and I would say that some of these (like the water in trees and the power flow of wires) really aren’t “questions you should know”, since the actual answers require knowledge of physics far more sophisticated than most people can fairly be expected to learn. The answers might seem like they should be easy, but they’re not. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/57 "2025-12-31T19:17:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And come to think of it, “spaghetti” sure looks like an Italian plural I just started learning Italian, and asked my teacher the same thing last month… apparently _uno spaghetto_ IS a thing, but you would no more eat that than you would a single strand of noodle. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/58 "2025-12-31T19:21:00Z")
Is there a term for word mispronounced because they’re read through seldom heard? (“Eppy-tome, fu-Kade,” etc.)? (The opposite of eggcorns: mangled words/phrases that are heard but not read: “for all intensive purposes” etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/59 "2025-12-31T19:24:05Z")
Maybe [Spelling pronunciation - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_pronunciation)? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/60 "2025-12-31T19:24:35Z")
I’m still wincing at the _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ scene where Larry discovers his parents were non-Jews and gasps “I’m goyim!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148.md?page=4)