Questions tagged [physical-constants]

This tag is for questions relating to physical constants which are any of a set of fundamental invariant quantities observed in nature and appearing in the basic theoretical equations of physics. Accurate evaluation of these constants is essential in order to check the correctness of the theories and to allow useful applications to be made on the basis of those theories.

A physical constant, sometimes fundamental physical constant or universal constant, is a physical quantity that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and have constant value in time. It is contrasted with a mathematical constant, which has a fixed numerical value, but does not directly involve any physical measurement.
There are many physical constants in science. Some famous ones are the speed of light, Planck's constant, the gravitational constant, and Avogadro's number. Constants that do not have units (like length or speed) are called fundamental physical constants.

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Is $\pi^2 \approx g$ a coincidence?

In spite of their different dimensions, the numerical values of $\pi^2$ and $g$ in SI units are surprisingly similar, $$\frac{\pi^2}{g}\approx 1.00642$$ After some searching, I thought that this fact isn't a coincidence, but an inevitable result of…
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Why do scientists think that all the laws of physics that apply in our galaxy apply in other galaxies?

I like watching different videos about space. I keep seeing all these videos saying scientists found so and so at 200 billion light years away or this happened 13 billion years ago. My question is why do scientists think that all the physics that…
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Is the Planck length the smallest length that exists in the universe or is it the smallest length that can be observed?

I have heard both that Planck length is the smallest length that there is in the universe (whatever this means) and that it is the smallest thing that can be observed because if we wanted to observe something smaller, it would require so much…
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Is the Boltzmann constant really that important?

I read a book in which one chapter gave a speech about the fundamental constants of the Universe, and I remember it stated this: If the mass of an electron, the Planck constant, the speed of light, or the mass of a proton were even just slightly…
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Dimensionless Constants in Physics

Forgive me if this topic is too much in the realm of philosophy. John Baez has an interesting perspective on the relative importance of dimensionless constants, which he calls fundamental like alpha, versus dimensioned constants like $G$ or $c$ […
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Why and how is the speed of light in vacuum constant, i.e., independent of reference frame?

I was told that the Galilean relative velocity rule does not apply to the speed of light. No matter how fast two objects are moving, the speed of light will remain same for both of them. How and why is this possible? Also, why can't anything…
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2002 research: speed of light slowing down?

Back in 2002 there was some research published hinting that $c$ may have been faster at some distant point. It was based on measurements of the fine-structure constant, $$ \alpha = \frac1{4\pi\epsilon_0} \frac{e^2}{\hbar c} \approx \frac 1{137}, $$ …
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Why should the Planck constant be a constant throughout all space?

Our value for the Planck constant $h$ can be found on experiments on Earth, but how do we know that the Planck constant doesn't change throughout space, for instance it depends weakly upon the curvature of spacetime? As far as I know we have only…
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Why does the speed of light in vacuum have no uncertainty?

I could understand that the definition of a second wouldn't have an uncertainty when related to the transition of the Cs atom, so it doesn't have an error because it's an absolute reference and we measure other stuff using the physical definition of…
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Physicists adding 3 decimals to the fine structure constant is a big accomplishment. Why?

Yesterday, a team of physicists from France announced a breakthrough in nailing down a "magic number" by adding three decimals to the the fine-structure constant (news article; technical paper) $$\alpha^{-1}\approx 137.035\,999\,206(11)$$ To the…
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What is the proof that the universal constants ($G$, $\hbar$, $\ldots$) are really constant in time and space?

Cavendish measured the gravitation constant $G$, but actually he measured that constant on the Earth. What’s the proof that the value of the gravitation constant if measured on Neptune would remain the same? What’s the guarantee of its being a…
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What does it mean to say "Gravity is the weakest of the forces"?

I can understand that on small scales (within an atom/molecule), the other forces are much stronger, but on larger scales, it seems that gravity is a far stronger force; e.g. planets are held to the sun by gravity. So what does it mean to say that…
Smashery
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Is it possible to speak about changes in a physical constant which is not dimensionless?

Every so often, one sees on this site* or in the news† or in journal articles‡ a statement of the form "we have measured a change in such-and-such fundamental constant" (or, perhaps more commonly, "we have constrained the rate of change of...").…
Emilio Pisanty
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Why isn't it $E \approx 27.642 \times mc^2$?

Why is it that many of the most important physical equations don't have ugly numbers (i.e., "arbitrary" irrational factors) to line up both sides? Why can so many equations be expressed so neatly with small natural numbers while recycling a…
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What is so special about speed of light in vacuum?

I will try to be as explanatory as possible with my question. Please also note that I have done my share of googling and I am looking for simple language preferable with some example so that I can get some insight in this subject. My question is…
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