"The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or prevent a tornado from appearing). The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different"
I gotta say, it seems possible.
2007-09-03 13:33:52 · 9 answers · asked by Metsfan666 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
I think it's perfectly possible. I find it really clear if I think of it in reverse order:
Imagine an avalanche just hit a town at the base of the Andes. That avalanche had to have come from somewhere. Before the avalanche happened, the giant mass of snow had to have gained momentum and pushed other masses of snow down with it. What if a rock cracked from weathering, and one of the cracked parts hit a large pile of snow that had been accumulating for some time, and that mass of snow eventually pushed more mass down with it creating the avalanche? And what if a seed had fallen into a hole in the rock and had grown into a sufficiently large plant to cause the weathering in the first place (it is actually a type of weathering that happens). If this is true, than a seed caused the avalanche. But that's not all. What originally caused the seed to fall? It might have been a gust of wind. If so, a gust of wind caused the avalanche.
I think it's pretty plausible.
2007-09-03 13:56:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it does not work as stated. The flapping of a butterfly wing involves a force too small to make any meaningful change. It would be drowned out in the noise floor.
The Butterfly Effect assumes things can happen like a set of falling dominoes. The first one falls and all others follow suit. In actual practice, the dominoes are not all properly aligned. So while some will topple over, there are others that are not in the right position, so they do not get hit by the neighboring domino to continue the change. Similar in concept to the weak link in a chain.
2007-09-03 13:54:04 · answer #2 · answered by anim8er2 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The butterfly effect is an example of the Chaos Theory. So in the movie, by changing one small even early in the time line, the effect if felt like ripples in a pond. So as the character changes things, each time is real. He may not believe because he still remembers the alternate time line, but each is real.
2016-05-20 22:13:52 · answer #3 · answered by michele 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it's real. Keep in mind, though, that it refers to a form of causality for which it is impossible to *predict* that there will be a tornado from changing a butterflies flight, so don't get any ideas :-).
2007-09-03 15:06:54 · answer #4 · answered by Dr. R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it is rather plausible especially if we imagine a whole mass of different butterflies all flapping their wings... the butterfly by itself could do a lot of damage.
i guess it goes to say that a tiny glitch could cause a massive disaster if not dealt with in time.
2007-09-03 14:01:08 · answer #5 · answered by Clara K 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Real. Nonlinear fluid dynamics problems often have chaotic solutions.
2007-09-03 13:47:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
dont know nothing about that.. i really liked the movie though
2007-09-04 13:39:32 · answer #7 · answered by honeytree 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i dont think it is possible but the movie was pretty good
2007-09-03 13:42:11 · answer #8 · answered by troyboy 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
huh?
2007-09-03 13:49:55 · answer #9 · answered by Kristina[ADM] 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋