Speculation on 'Contact' - Design Impact of Chair - Page 2

08-24-2001, 05:04 PM

The magnetic field of the compass needle is not strong enough to cause the entire compass (plastic and all) to move, even in the presence of the world's strongest magnet. Also, the chair did not smash into the wall immediately, indicating that the magnetic field of the pod was not always present. Ellie was holding the compass when the chair was smashed, therefore even if the compass could have hit the walls, it wouldn't with her holding it.

Look closely at the compass needle as it is floating around in the pod. The needle moves randomly indicating that if any magnetic field is present, it is changing very rapidly.

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Bill

RicP · 08-24-2001, 05:13 PM

Quote:

If the compass case was made of plastic, it's true that it wouldn't be affected by the magnetism. However, the compass needle would have to be affected by the magnetism, else it couldn't function as a compass. That leaves the question still open.

No it doesn't. The amount of metallic material in the needle is miniscule and would in no way cause the casing of the compass to react to the magnetic field around it.

Sorry Robert, but you're off on this one.

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Ric Perrott - My DVD's

RobertR · 08-24-2001, 05:21 PM

quote:
The amount of metallic material in the needle is miniscule and would in no way cause the casing of the compass to react to the magnetic field around it.[/quote]

It doesn't matter if the casing reacts. The point is that the needle would react, and (since it was obviously an extremely strong field) would move the case along with it.

I think it's easier to just chalk this one up to a "whoops!" on the part of the filmmakers, just like the famous "parsec" comment in Star Wars.

[Edited last by RobertR on August 24, 2001 at 04:31 PM]

PhilipW · 08-24-2001, 06:17 PM

#1. Has anyone questioned what happened to the chair after she returned to our timeline, meaning if the chair was stuck to the top of the sphere during her travels, wouldn't it have landed on her at the time of her arrival back home?

#2. Haven't read the book. Did not get any message from the movie about "God".

#3. What discussion about parsec in Star Wars. I may be missing something here but I thought the way it was said in the movie made sense. Am I missing something?

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Greg_Y · 08-24-2001, 06:27 PM

From the IMDB:

Quote:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Han Solo claims that the Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs" when asked how fast the ship is. Parsecs are a measure of distance, not time, and thus either he is wrong or is using some form of slang. Some reports have director George Lucas claiming that this was done deliberately to show that Han Solo didn't always know what he was talking about. Other explanations have been offered, but they typically rely on material not presented in the film.

Hector X. Cruz · 08-24-2001, 06:30 PM

PhilpW, that's a very, very good point. The chair should not have dematerialized, should it?

Argued from both points: if she imagined the entire "journey", then the chair should have still been in the center of the transport and Ellie should have still been strapped in. Since that clearly didn't happen, then the chair should have landed on her.

Are we debating a pointless argument, or was it just a mistake on the part of the filmmakers? I don't want to be a nitpicker, either.

My initial thread was meant as a discussion of the INTENDED physics and effects of the journey. Not to pick apart filmmaking continuity issues.

-Hector

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[Edited last by Hector X. Cruz on August 24, 2001 at 05:40 PM]

RicP · 08-24-2001, 07:02 PM

Quote:

It doesn't matter if the casing reacts. The point is that the needle would react, and (since it was obviously an extremely strong field) would move the case along with it.

The needle would move the case? Are you serious? A .0003 gram needle would move a 12 gram plastic casing? In what Physical reality?

The needle on the compass WAS MOVING, in circles, just like a compass does when you are standing at magnetic North. Or didn't you choose to see that part of the film?

Quote:

I think it's easier to just chalk this one up to a "whoops!" on the part of the filmmakers

Actually it's easier to chalk it up to the fact that your explanation makes no sense whatsoever and therefore has no bearing on what happened in the film.

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Ric Perrott - My DVD's

08-24-2001, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Did not get any message from the movie about "God".

Here's my take on it (I'm not trying to convince anybody that this is the way you should understand it...just my $.02):

The alien she encountered out in space was in the form of her dad. Therefore, she got to visit her "father in heaven." Also, obviously this was such an incredible experience for her that she became profoundly emotional about it at the hearing. She also had no scientific proof to support her claim of the things she experienced. Very much like the spiritual experiences that her preacher friend tells her about. There is a parallel drawn in the movie between Ellie's alien visitation and a belief in God.

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Bill

RobertR · 08-24-2001, 07:28 PM

quote:
A .0003 gram needle would move a 12 gram plastic casing?[/quote]

Irrelevant, since the magnetic force acting on the low mass needle is obviously well over 100 newtons. It would definitely move.

But I can see that this is another case of "dammit, I will not let you prove me wrong", so I'm not going to debate it any more with you.

[Edited last by RobertR on August 24, 2001 at 07:19 PM]

Ken Chan · 08-24-2001, 07:46 PM

Quote:

In the book, Ellie is shown absolute proof that God does in fact exist, and that the universe was created by design.

Couple problems:

"God" is a vague term, even when you capitalize it
As I recall, at the very end of the book, they find the thing with pi, it is not "shown", certainly not by the ETs
While the thing with pi might convince most, I'm not sure it would pass muster with mathematicians (lots in digits in pi)
Even if you accept it as proof of design, that does not then prove the existence of the monotheistic God that's currently popular here on Earth (back to the first point) -- how about design by committee?

I guess that's more than a couple

I don't recall how or even whether they explain the transport system in the book. In the movie, they just say it was already there, which could be interpreted a few different ways.

//Ken

08-24-2001, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Irrelevant, since the magnetic force acting on the low mass needle is obviously well over 100 newtons. It would definitely move.

If Ellie swallowed that compass and the force on the needle was 1000 Newtons, would it lift her up and smash her against the walls? How strong of a magnetic field are we talking about that will create a force of 100 N on a compass needle? The attraction/repulsion force between two magnetic bodies is related to the strength of the magnetic field of each body. Since a compass needle has such a weak magnetic field, the other magnet would have to be extremely powerful. I'm not saying it's not possible. Afterall, the machine was pulling in the control boat. So it was a pretty strong magnet.

So wouldn't Ellie's headset have also come off since there are magnets in the speakers?

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Bill

RicP · 08-25-2001, 12:03 AM

quote:
Irrelevant, since the magnetic force acting on the low mass needle is obviously well over 100 newtons. It would definitely move.[/quote]Move? or Smash into the wall? Because the fact that the compass is moving is NOT under discussion here, anyone watching the film can plainly see that the compass is MOVING. However the question of the member was "So why if its a magnetic field that flings the chair against the ceiling does the thing just float along without a care in the world?" And the asnwer of course is that the compass IS AFFECTED by the magnetic field (as can plainly be seen by the spinning needle), but most obviously not