I want to take back ‘Retard’. Because I want it to apply to things that are infuriatingly stupid, instead of it being used as a derogatory term towards special needs people.

  • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Closed.

    A valve is closed if it doesn’t allow water to travel through it. The circuit is closed if it allows electricity to travel through it. Some valves you have to close the circuit to close the valve, some valves you have to open the circuit to close the valve.

    Can we just use closed only for circuits and make valves use a different word?

    • blackbelt352@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So I think there’s a bit of crossing of wires (pun maybe intended) when it comes understanding both concepts. For water a valve acts as a door, open doors let things through, closed doors block things from moving.

      For circuits, I believe closed comes from a more mathematical thing where closed more means without holes/gaps. So the circuit is open when there is a gap in the circuit as a whole.

      I think the real confusion occurs when in high school physics classes there is a segment about flowing water in preparation for the next chapter on electricity and circuits.