Lets say we have a large, 3 feet deep, of sorta fresh water, with no outlet, and a 40 foot cliff, with a slope 45° on top, for about 20 yards.
We custom build a wheel, inside wide enough to strap Trixie inside of it, arms and legs stretched out to their out most, tied with absolutely no slack. The wheel has width to it, enough to undo any Trixie Wiggling, so it doesn’t fall over… 2 1/2 feet wide.
We add 1 Foot of Gasoline to the lake, so it is now precisely 4 feet deep all around the cliff bottom… we’ve measured it all, quite confident about this.
If we light trixie’s wheel on fire, from the outside, and have slow burning cords on the sides of the wheel (kind used by pirates to set off barrels of black powder) inside the wheel, and roll Trixie off the top of the hill, towards the cliff, what is the likelyhood of the lake exploding into flames?
In theory, the wheel can tip over, and submerge in the water beneath. But there is also the likelihood trixie can land upright (or even upside down as the wheel remains upright), burning Trixie alive (while possibly at the same time drowning him, best of both words), or better, keep traveling forward across this burning pond, head in and out of the flames and water as he tumbles and humbles, for who knows how long.
If the wheel goes sideways and falls in, let’s say we we’re sporting, and gave trixie water soluable ties… 2 minutes to dissolve… if the lake doesn’t catch fire, he can easily escape and head up to the top of the hill for another go. But if the lake catches fire, with a cliff with no beach his closest shore, and nothing but flames as his companion, how long will Trixie have to wait underwater till it us save to surface to breathe, and will oxygen even be there to breathe if there is no wind to remove the carbon dioxide?
Also… even without wind, at 150 feet sea level, at the parallel New York is at, average air pressure and humidity for March for NY State weather in March, with a dry, leafy and dirt slope, what are the chances of the outer wheel extinguishing itself? What are the chances of the slow burning matchlock cord?
If the wheel hits the water, will the wheel push the gas and water in a trajectory away from the inside burning fire, and smother any remaining outer wheel flame, or will the gas ignite? The splash might push the gas out, water in… as the top surface is first hit, and lighter… water heavier… or, gas can swell inwards, catching the burning cord, lighting Trixie into excruciating pain.
Can gasoline put fire out if it hits the gas at a relativistic high velocity? I don’t know howbfast gas is going in a engine when it’s lit. We will buy only the best formula of fuel for Trixie, he deserves nothing less.
I honestly don’t know if Trixie would land in the gas filled lake and escape, or be lit on fire.
How would we express this in a scientific theory, step by step, variable by variable, using advanced mathematics? What are the best theories out there for determine how Trixie would burn, and under what circumstances.
And by using Trixie as a example, I am by no means threatening, or encouraging anyone to try this on Trixie. Trixie is merely our Muse, our highly combustible Muse, for spurring our imagination. I think often of problems involving physics and math, and found my greatest depth and insights come from contemplating the many horribly ways to do Trixie in… it flows naturally outwards, like Mozart writing a symphany. Trixie has died 1,000 ways in my mind, some far worst than this… it’s merely a form of yoga, no really harm or ill will intended, think of it like a Tibetian Mental Meditation.
How do you approach this problem of Trixie on a burning wheel, and what can we apply of known science to solve aspects of this, and what areas need better researched.
Necessity is the Mother of All Invention, but Lighting Trixie onfire Tumbling off a Cliff into a Gas Filled Lake comes second. If we solve this, we may be able to apply the knowledge to a cure for cancer, or building a better windmill, ironically reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, such as gasoline.