Hot Dawg

Remember the day when we talked about whether a hot dog was a sandwich? One of the arguments against it being a sandwich was that a “hot dog” is just the sausage part. The opposing side said that both were called hot dogs, similar to hamburgers, where a hamburger can refer to the hamburger patty or the hamburger patty, lettuce, tomato, buns, etc. Well, on the same day as the debate, I went to tutor at 826. As I was helping someone with his homework, he mentioned that his teacher said something about a hamburger sandwich. He said that he had no idea what she was talking about. He asked me if it was multiple hamburgers stacked between two pieces of bread.

I thought it was funny how hamburgers randomly came up during our conversation, and it happened to be tangentially related to what we did in class. Apparently, a “hamburger” refers to more than just the patty… at least to him. I guess the fact that his teacher referred to it as a hamburger sandwich means that there are people who call it that, but at least the student and I were on the same page.

I think there is a difference between what something is and what it is called. If someone were to ask you to bring them a sandwich, would a hot dog be on your list of possible things to bring them? I think that even though it might be a sandwich, the fact that it is known as a hot dog suggests that it should be referred to as a hot dog.

A change in the magnetic flux through a surface induces an electromotive force. Since magnetic flux, Φ, is calculated by ∫B⋅dA, it has units of Tm²=kg⋅m²/(A⋅s²). The electromotive force, ℰ, is the negative change in the magnetic flux per second, ℰ=-dΦ/dt, so it has units of kg⋅m²/(A⋅s³). Force is measured in Newtons, N, and since F=ma, Newtons are units of N=kg⋅m/s². This is clearly not consistent with the units of the electromotive force. What does this mean? As it turns out, kg⋅m²/(A⋅s³)=V. So the electromotive “force” has units of volts? Yes. If you haven’t guessed it already, the electromotive force is not, in fact, a force at all. Why did I mention all this stuff about the electromotive force? Well, whether it’s a force is almost irrelevant. What matters is the fact that if you want anyone to know what you’re talking about, you have to call it the electromotive force. This is similar to the hot dog situation. Even if we argued until everyone in the room agreed, or everyone on the planet agreed, you would still refer to a hot dog as a hot dog because of the fact that it is known as a hot dog, and not a sandwich. Whether it’s a sandwich is irrelevant. What matters is if someone will think about what you want them to think about when you say what you think will make them think about it.

Cheers,

Adrian