Chapter 156: [Law of Conservation of Energy]

Forehead wrinkles: "First, it is a decimal system, which is more convenient for recording and calculation. In contrast, the imperial system does not even have a unified system."

In fact, in this era, the imperial system of units is not so stupid or out of date.

This was mainly because the measuring tools at that time were relatively crude, the industry was not developed enough, and the various measurement units were mainly used in the market.

In the market, the most important feature of the unit of measurement is that it is easy to divisible. For example, binary and hexadecimal are both very easy to divisible numbers. The former can be divided by two, three, and four, while the latter can be divided equally three times.

The same principle applies to the ubiquity of the sexagesimal system, which is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The reason why metric units replaced traditional units is that with the development of industrial society, people's realization and requirements for precision are getting higher and higher.

"Okay." Gauss said nothing more. "Now the next question. Please prove the Pythagorean theorem."

Gauss felt that proving the Pythagorean theorem might be the insurmountable limit for this Indian.

Other artillerymen thought so too.

If they had not been prisoners, they might have laughed at him in advance without any concealment.

Even so, there was still a hint of anticipation of making a fool of themselves on their faces, as if they would soon see the embarrassment on their foreheads when they couldn't answer the questions.

However, what happened next was far beyond their expectations.

He took out a pen and paper and silently completed the proof of the Pythagorean theorem with a diagram and a few short lines of text.

Moreover, a new method was used, which made use of the area of ​​a right trapezoid to complete a simple and efficient proof.

Gauss looked at the brief proof on the paper, his eyes widened in disbelief: "Who... who taught you this method of proof?"

"Of course it's our chief, the one who just left." Forehead wrinkles said, "I'm just an ordinary student of the chief."

The method used to identify forehead wrinkles is actually the "Presidential Method" of later generations, which was proposed by US President James Garfield in 1876.

To nineteenth-century men, proving the Pythagorean theorem was nothing special, but the proof was novel and concise, and it earned Garfield some fame.

The President of the United States could gain reputation through this, but it was obviously a miracle that an Indian came up with this proof.

Looking at the proof in front of him, Gauss fell silent.

He realized that these Indians were truly different, much more different than he had imagined.

"Okay... now it's your turn to ask questions." Gauss said a little unwillingly. He had a premonition that he might be in trouble.

He smiled slightly with his forehead wrinkles and started with a physics problem.

One of the simplest application problems of the law of conservation of energy.

If Ma Shao were asked to evaluate this question, it would undoubtedly be: an easy-to-point question.

However, people of this era were basically unaware of the law of conservation of energy.

It cannot be said that there is no such law. Strictly speaking, this law has existed for several years.

But at this time, the law of conservation of energy was not perfect enough, nor was it popular enough, at least it had not yet become one of the most recognized and basic laws of physics.

Top physicists knew this law, but the artilleryman with the same name as Gauss was clearly not among them.

So when he tried to solve the problem, his mind was a mess and he had no idea where to start, as if it was an unsolvable problem.

He wrote a lot on paper, listing various equations, but when he simplified them, the results were all like "x=x".

Gauss took a deep breath and said, "A question setter cannot set questions that he himself does not know the answer to. I think this should be a self-evident basic rule, right?"

Forehead wrinkles nodded: "That's right."

Gauss asked again: "So, can you do this problem?"

Forehead wrinkles: "Of course, this is easy... You admit that you can't solve this problem, right?"

Gao Si was silent for a moment: "Yes... Then, tell me your answer."

He solved the problem in no time, and in just a few lines, he came up with the answer: "This is the law of conservation of energy. In fact, if you pay more attention to the news about physics, you should have heard of it."

"Energy...conservation?" Gauss looked confused, unable to understand this concept.

However, this did not prevent him from checking the answer.

"You lost, right?" he said with a smile.

"I..." Gauss was speechless.

Several white artillerymen couldn't help but say, "No way, Gauss, you actually lost? Are you worthy of your last name?"

"Oh my god, you lost to the Indians!"

"Weren't you always pretty sure about math and physics?"

Gauss grabbed his hair and said in distress: "I really don't understand this question... Conservation of energy? What does this mean?"

"Let me do it!" The other artillerymen couldn't help but try to solve the problem, but like Gauss, they were still confused and couldn't get the answer.

The wrinkles on his forehead said, "White people, do you still think we are illiterate and barbaric? Or, if we are illiterate and barbaric, what are you?"

Several artillerymen were speechless.

Mental blows are often more severe than physical blows.

They could be forced to submit to barbarians by force, and in their eyes, barbarians were like wild beasts, and humans would not feel ashamed to be defeated by strong beasts.

But now, the same beasts that had just defeated them in force defeated them in mathematics and physics.

This made them feel like their three perspectives were completely shattered.

"Arrogant but stupid white people, your level of mathematics and physics is even lower than I thought. You are not even qualified to be the students of the great chief!" He said with contempt in his forehead wrinkles. He felt that this was more satisfying than killing the enemy with bullets.

Several artillerymen stood in front of the question in silence for a long time, as if they had lost their parents.

Forehead wrinkles continued, "I hope your artillery skills are better than your physics skills. If you don't even have a skill, you might as well just do hard labor."

"By the way, if you want to accept the bet, hand over the ten dollars." He stretched out his hand.

"..." Several artillerymen remained speechless, and after a while they said, "Where do we have the money?"

An Apache soldier immediately asked, "Why are you betting without money?"

"I..." The artillerymen opened their mouths.

He glanced at his companions with wrinkles on his forehead: "Obviously, they think they have a sure win."

Then he said to the white people: "You have no money, so make some money first. The artillery instructor can earn $20 a month."

In the end, with mixed feelings, several artillery prisoners became artillery instructors at Fort Sutter, responsible for teaching artillery skills to Apache soldiers.

There are naturally feelings like humiliation and confusion, but there is also inevitably some comfort and joy.

After all, a monthly salary of twenty dollars is really not low, and it's a good way to make money. Who wouldn't be tempted?