u/Qininator

Yesterday I accidentally dropped a ceramic plate and it broke into two pieces.

Out of curiosity, I picked up one of the pieces and dropped it. It didn't break when dropped once, and I have to drop it harder a few times to break it into smaller pieces.

Then I picked up one of the smaller pieces and repeated the same process. No matter how hard I dropped it and how many times I dropped it, the smaller piece simply will not break. It's as if the smaller piece became indestructible.

Why is smaller piece of ceramic significantly harder to break than larger piece of ceramic?

Yesterday I accidentally dropped a ceramic plate and it broke into two pieces.

Out of curiosity, I picked up one of the pieces and dropped it. It didn't break when dropped once, and I have to drop it harder a few times to break it into smaller pieces.

Then I picked up one of the smaller pieces and repeated the same process. No matter how hard I dropped it and how many times I dropped it, the smaller piece simply will not break. It's as if the smaller piece became indestructible.

Why is smaller piece of ceramic significantly harder to break than larger piece of ceramic?

I heard some said that particle beam (both charged and electrically-neutral) can be considered a kinetic weapon because particles have mass (albeit each particle has extremely small mass), therefore the particles in particle beam behave like nano/microscopic bullets that deliver kinetic energy to mechanically punch through target just like how regular bullets (with significantly more mass compared to particles) also deliver kinetic energy to mechanically punch through target.

I also heard some said that particle beam should be considered a thermal weapon because particles have too little mass, therefore particle beam is incapable of delivering meaningful amount of kinetic energy to mechanically punch through target. Instead, particle beam behaves more like laser weapon by transferring concentrated heat to melt/vaporize through target just like how laser beam also transfer concentrated heat to melt/vaporize through target.

So is particle beam a kinetic weapon like regular bullets, or a thermal weapon like lasers?

Assume that we have two composite solid rods with cylindrical shape:

1. Rod A has hard brittle core and soft ductile skin
2. Rod B has soft ductile core and hard brittle skin
3. Both rods use the same type of hard brittle material and soft ductile material in their constructions
4. Both rods use the same amount in mass of hard brittle material and soft ductile material in their constructions
5. Both rods have the same length

How will these two composite rods differ with each other in terms of how they will behave when subjected to various external mechanical forces?

Assume that we have two composite solid rods with cylindrical shape:

1. Rod A has hard brittle core and soft ductile skin

2. Rod B has soft ductile core and hard brittle skin

3. Both rods use the same type of hard brittle material and soft ductile material in their constructions

4. Both rods use the same amount in mass of hard brittle material and soft ductile material in their constructions

5. Both rods have the same length

How will these two composite rods differ with each other in terms of how they will behave when subjected to various external mechanical forces?

Let's say we have two steel swords, both have the same amount of carbon in their blades.

Sword A: Both the edge and the spine of its blade have the same level of carbon content.

Sword B: The edge of its blade has higher carbon content, but the spine of its blade has lower carbon content.

Is there any difference in performance between these two steel swords? Is one better than the other, or does each of them have unique advantages that make them useful in different scenarios?

Before the invention of steel, wrought iron sword in early iron age was significantly softer and weaker than bronze sword, which meant wrought iron sword was an inferior weapon compared to bronze sword.

Does this mean that in a sword duel during early iron age, a swordsman with bronze sword would always win against another swordsman with wrought iron sword because bronze sword can easily slice through a wrought iron sword and split the wrought iron sword into two halves, while the bronze sword itself remained undamaged?

Victory type: Science @ turn 92

Difficulty: Serious

Speed: Fast

Post-gameplay commentary:

This faction is even more overpowered than the last one I made. Every aspect of FIDSI in this faction is significantly more productive than the last: https://www.reddit.com/r/EndlessSpace/comments/1t5fa2c/rate_my_custom_faction_people_of_qin/

I could've won a Conquest victory 5 turns earlier but I decided to go for Science victory instead this time around. I highly recommend to give this custom faction a try.

Faction trait

Approval

Politics

Economy

Military

Primary (and the only) combat ship in all my combat fleets. Unfortunately this time around, my Hunter-class ship is weaker than the one in People of Qin custom faction because I don't have much access to both Adamantium and Antimatter.

Support ship for sieging in each combat fleet. This time around, the support ship is way more powerful than the one in People of Qin custom faction.

Fleet tactics

Empire relationship

Galaxy (I have full control over Eridanus, Canista, Capricornus, and Huran constellation)

My empire territory (Red)

Trade route (I finished building three Trade HQs around turn 50 and also completed the Imperial solo campaign around the same time)

War with Horatio

Guarding my southern borders with Riftborn after capturing five systems from Riftborn (I imposed truce on Riftborn so that I can shift focus to Horatio because Horatio was getting stronger)

The most powerful system with 5.9k Industry (This system can produce seven Hunter-class ships in a single turn)

Science victory at turn 92

Most iron-based ancient swords/spears (if not all) have blades made of wrought iron or steel with varying level of carbon content.

However, I was curious about whether someone have tested swords/spears with cast iron blades before?

If anyone has actually tested cast iron blades before, is it true that cast iron blades are so brittle that it's completely useless for combat, or is it actually tough enough to be usable for combat?

Does wrought iron mean:

1. Iron-based alloy with strictly less than <0.05% carbon, or

2. Any iron-based alloy that's forged (which means percentage of carbon content is less relevant)?

I've heard some said wrought iron in the context of historical weapons and armors means (1), but I also heard some said it means (2) because sometimes historical blacksmiths could "accidentally" forge steel using the same method depending on how lucky they are with the carbon content of the iron pieces they were working with.

How can a material have high tensile strength but low compressive strength?

Conversely, how can a material have low tensile strength but high compressive strength?

What are the examples of both sets of characteristics above?

How can a material have high tensile strength but low compressive strength?

Conversely, how can a material have low tensile strength but high compressive strength?

What are the examples of both sets of characteristics above?