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3 results

Philosophy of Physical Magnitudes

Philosophy of Physical Magnitudes
  • Niels C. M. Martens
  • Published online:
    26 February 2024
    Print publication:
    04 April 2024
  • Dimensional quantities such as length, mass and charge, i.e., numbers combined with a conventional unit, are essential components of theories in the sciences, especially physics, chemistry and biology. Do they represent a world with absolute physical magnitudes, or are they merely magnitude ratios in disguise? Would we notice a difference if all the distances or charges in the world suddenly doubled? These central questions of this Element are illustrated by imagining how one would convey the meaning of a kilogram to aliens if one were only allowed to communicate via Morse code.

  • 20 - Computing in Soil Mechanics

  • Dimitrios Kolymbas, University of Innsbruck
  • Book:
    A Primer on Theoretical Soil Mechanics
    Published online:
    14 July 2022
    Print publication:
    04 August 2022, pp 170-176

  • Summary

    For civil engineering, calculations are of central importance; they provide a sense of security. However, in soil mechanics the reliability of calculations is reduced for several reasons: aside from incomplete constitutive equations and their calibration based on experiments burdened with errors, some other problems are the spatial scatter of soil properties, missing knowledge of the initial stress field and infinite extending of the considered bodies. Validations reveal the poor reliability of computation results. To cope with such problems increased margins of safety, cautious building (observational method) and reliance upon authorities like experts, computer codes and codes of practice are used.