Title text:
‘This HAZMAT container contains radioactive material with activity of one becquerel.’ ‘So, like, a single banana slice?’
Transcript:
[Cueball holds a stick while talking with Megan and White Hat.]
Cueball: This stick is one meter long.
Megan: Cool.
White Hat: That’s a nice stick.[Cueball holds a smallish rock.]
Cueball: This rock weighs one pound.
Megan: I’d believe it.
White Hat: Looks like a normal rock.[Cueball holds a small battery.]
Cueball: This battery is one volt.
Megan: Seems fine.
White Hat: Might need a recharge.[Cueball holds a capacitor while Megan and White Hat panic.]
Cueball: This capacitor is one farad.
Megan: Aaaaa! Be careful!!
White Hat: Put it down!!
Source: https://xkcd.com/3106/
Worked with an industrial robot one that had 700V 0.5F electrolytic capacitors on its power supply. Those things were massive.
I was in the building when when a 3F 1200V capacitor, part of a multi-rack mounted capacitor bank (powered a magnetohydrodynamic modeling experiment), failed. It ripped the rack’s 30cm mounting bolts out of the floor, launched the three-tonne rack hard enough to crack the ceiling and shattered every window in the facility. I want to say that afterwards I never broke the rule about not being allowed to enter the experiment room until the banks were discharged, but I’d be lying. Undergrads are idiots, and holy cow don’t fuck around with those caps…
Damn!