10 Brilliant Paradoxes in Physics and Philosophy
The mind-bending conflict between reality and illusion
Physics:
1. Archimedes Paradox
We all know the principle of floatation states that ‘when an object floats in a liquid, the buoyant force acting on the object is equal to the object’s weight. This means, the heavier the object, it has to displace an equally large amount of water to be able to float on it. But this paradox is contrary to that. This paradox states that
“if the average density of an object is less than that of water then it can float on quantity of water that has less volume than the object itself “
Rather than taking a concern on the volume of water displaced, we need only take into account the volume of water surrounding the object. Thus arises the paradox where no fluid actually needs to be displaced for Archimedes’ principle to take effect.
2. Aristotle’s wheel Paradox
This is a mathematical conundrum that has left many mathematicians scratching their heads over the years. We could practice this experiment in real life by attaching a small wheel to the larger wheel but they both should be concentric (i.e. having the same center). When the wheels are rolled over a…
