On Being Wrong
Today in quantitative chemistry, the lecture topic was the difference between detectors in common spectrography equipment. One detector (the photomultiplier tube) is extremely sensitive, while the other (the photo diode array) is significantly less sensitive (but cheaper). So the professor proposed the following question:
If a PMT yields a limit of detection of 2 zeptomoles (10E-21) and a PDA has an LOD of 1 picomole (10E-12), how much more sensitive is one than the other?
I said “about one billion times” and another kid said “2.” Thankfully, I got the answer right, but I got to thinking about it. I mean, this kid was 500 million off from the right answer. And he wasn’t 500 million units away from the answer - no - he was off by a factor of 500 million. He responded with “oh … whoops.”
He saw the humor, and we all had a good laugh.
Comments
Dan McKeown
That post confused the heck out of me, you can actually hear the gears grinding in my head trying to figure out what that all means.
Mykala
Beep Bop Boop Bep.
It's all robot talk to me.
Markoe
I never thought gears could sound fat…you proved me wrong Dan Mckeown, you proved me wrong.
John
I didn't have to take quantitative chemistry. And… I dont know what else to say except… that is incredibly complex for someone who wants to drill someone's teeth… The chances of you being off the mark by a factor of 500 million is quite low.. and if you are… God save that poor soul. At least you got it right the first time…
Richard Roche
the extent of my chemistry knowledge comes from the periodic table of elements song. nevertheless, i found it humorous that this kid was off by 500 million times, that's a lot, and had i been there, i woulda pointed and laughed as well
Nils
Let me tell you a story. One time, a long time ago, I said something that was wrong, and everyone was really afraid and confused and many people died.
Just kidding, I have never been wrong. But I can't imagine what would happen if I was wrong. The world as we know it would cease to exist.