"If a vacuum cleaner could suck itself up...

[Maddy McCall]

would it disappear into thin air?"

My 12YO son just asked me this.

:shrug:

[Deja Q]

1. When he's 16, he'll ask it in a slightly different way...

"...would it ever need to date?"

:hide:

[Maddy McCall]

2. You are on a roll today.

:rofl:

:spank: for you, HT.

:hi:

[Deja Q]

3. White, wheat, or the one with those little seed things squished in on top?

:D

:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

4. Crescent.

With cheddar cheese melted inside.

:D

[Deja Q]

5. Naturally...

:evilgrin:

[trof]

6. I used to wonder about extension cords.

If you plugged one end into the other would there be electricity inside?
I thought I had discovered a perpetual motion machine or something like that.
duh

[Maddy McCall]

7. good way to store them, tho.

:hi:

[BrotherBuzz]

8. You bet there is electricity inside...

and you can even save on consumption by shortening the cord. Be careful when you reconnect the plug to wire it correctly so you don't short the circuit and lose all juice. Electricity is funny that way. :shrug:

[Deja Q]

9. So are men...

Never short their circuit! :wow:

[BrotherBuzz]

10. If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

Note to self: Duck tape is a lousy insulator.

[IndyBob]

12. The piece of paper from school says electrical engineer

so maybe I can help explain. The black electricity juice and the white electricity juice are pumped down the wires, when they meet in an appliance or light bulb they react and do their thing. Some outlets have a green wire, this is the ground (or drain) wire, a safety thing to collect any spills. Spilled electricity, especially if the two kinds mix, can cause fires.

Therefore plugging a cord into itself will do little if anything. All the juice is used up. Not much different than connecting a garden hose to itself, water does not just start to flow.

It is a good idea to shake the cords out before you store them, it prevents spills. I suppose plugging the cord into itself may help keep things tidier as well.

[trof]

13. OK, but what if

you plug the extension cord into the wall outlet and let it get real full of electricity and then REALFASTUNPLUGITANDPLUGITINTOTHEOTHEREND wouldn't you have a whole extension cord full of electricity?
I mean if you practiced until you could do it really really fast?

[BrotherBuzz]

14. I'm from you school, trof

Don't let some damn shave tail with a silly piece of paper splain away the mysteries of the universe, even if he did inject an interesting theory about some damn green wire. Cripes, my finest extension cord my Grandpa gave me doesn't even have one, so there.

[IndyBob]

16. Shave Tail !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_spur

I'm getting so old, I think the tail has fallen clear off.:P

[IndyBob]

15. I must admit I don't know....

IF you were fast enough, perhaps it might work. I think this is related to one of the fundamental questions Steven Hawkings is working on.

[ashling]

20. I used to turn out the light

ANDTHENRUNREALLYREALLYFASTANDTOJUMPINTOBEDBEFORETHELIGHTWENTOUT. I never made it and finally gave up trying ... a couple of years ago.

[conscious evolution]

17. question

How do they get that pretty blue light and smoke inside of them?

[ashling]

19. If the juice starts to spill

would it be dangerous to collect it in a metal bucket, ot should I use left over plastic milk jugs?

[IndyBob]

27. Depends:

If you want to store it for later use, putting it in an insulated plastic jugs is better. If you are trying to dispose of it properly, a grounded metal bucket is best.

[ashling]

29. Thank you n/t

[Solon]

37. Oh, oh! An electrical engineer, I got a question...

When I was a kid, I used to mess with electricity all the time, fascinated with it really. Wasn't stupid enough to stick a butterknife in an outlet or anything, but I did something similar but most likely just as stupid. Anyways, I used to pull the plug out for a lamp, about halfway, so that the light was still on, I then stuck my finger sideways, moving it towards the flat side of the now exposed prong, only one of them though. Anyways, something weird happened that I just couldn't figure out, I could never touch the prong itself, once my finger was on the cusp of touching it, it would vibrate back and forth, really rapidly, and I just couldn't get it any closer. It reminded me of two magnets of the same polarity when you try to get them close to each other.

There were no sparks, and I really didn't feel anything from the finger when this happens, besides the vibration, it would be a blur really, and would get really wild with the pinky finger, since it had more room to move, so to speak. I came up with a theory, back at the age of ten, that I was polarized, either positive or negative, at the time, from either static electricity, or, more likely, from by own bio-electric charge, of sorts, and as such, I tried to touch the same polarity I was with the prong, and we repelled each other. I don't know if this actually is possible, the voltages are RADICALLY different, I don't think I emit 120 volts! I also never suffered any aftereffects from these "experiments".

[mike_c]

11. it goes to the same parallel universe that socks disappear to...

...in the clothes dryer. The only way back is via gateways that open beneath couch cushions, but they seem to be closed to most objects except unidentifiable crusty particles.

[Maddy McCall]

30. And stale popcorn.

I could live a month on the popcorn I've found under the cushions.

:D

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. I LOVE the What if/What would happen years...

Perhaps you should tell him to test the theory by turning it on and running it around. :D :hug: Good to see you Miss Maddy!

[trof]

23. I found out what happens if you put a hairpin in a wall outlet.

And damn fast.
:silly:

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. My brother did that when he was 2!

I thought he was the only one. He still has the imprint on the palm of his hand. :D

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

25. Haha...I looked at it quick and I read that as "my brother did that when he was 21"

I was like, "woah, he must've been really drunk." Then, I realized he was two.

[ScreamingMeemie]

26. ...Although I wouldn't put it past him now, at 40, if he didn't already

know what would happen. :rofl:

[Maddy McCall]

31. Well, thank you, Mrs. G.

It's good to see you, too!

The only thing I don't like about the "what if" years is when those questions come up while I'm driving in very frustrating traffic.

:hi:

:hug:

(It's good to be back. :D)

[momophile]

21. I hope you told him 'yes'

I love lying to children.

[Maddy McCall]

32. Are you sure that would be a lie?

:shrug:

:D

[GOPisEvil]

22. Your son is destined to be one of the world's great thinkers.

:hi:

I, on the other hand, forgot a word. :dunce:

[Maddy McCall]

33. Ha!

It is a very ponderous question, eh?

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

28. This could be construed as a sex thread! IBTL!!!

:P

[Maddy McCall]

34. Ummm.....

You need a spanking, too! :spank:

[Generic Brad]

35. If it could, that would suck!

It would suck big time!

[Maddy McCall]

36. Especially if you had one of those Orecks.

Imagine a $2000 vacuum cleaner sucking itself into oblivion.

:D