Free Why do Clocks run clockwise? by David Feldman

180
    degrees on the Fahrenheit scale, a figure with which scientists and mathematicians were used to working.
    The increments in a temperature scale have no cosmic sig WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 55

    nificance in themselves. The Celsius system, for example, is less precise than the Fahrenheit in distinguishing slight variations in moderate temperatures. Thus while 180 increments on the Fahrenheit scale are necessary to get from the freezing to the boiling point, the freezing point (0°) on the Celsius scale and the boiling point (100°
    C) are closer, only 100 increments apart.
    In most cases, the meaning of the one-degree increments in temperature scales has more to do with what is intended to be measured by the scale than with any particular mathematical requirements.
    The Fahrenheit scale, intended for use in human thermometers, was designed originally to have 100°F represent the normal body temperature. Temperature scales now used by scientists, such as the Kelvin and Rankine scales, use absolute zero (the equivalent of -
    273.15° C or -459.67° F) as the base point. Rankine uses the same degree increments as Fahrenheit; Kelvin uses the Celsius degree.
    Submitted by James L. Foley, of Calabasas, California .
    56 / DAVID FELDMAN

    Why Doesn’t Rain Come Down the Chimney into the Fireplace When Smoke Can Get out of the Chimney?
    Some residential buildings contain chimney caps, sloping structures that stand atop the chimney, as pictured below: WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 57

    While the rain slides down the slopes, the smoke can easily escape under the cap.
    But most buildings don’t contain chimney caps and don’t need them, for even large amounts of water can be absorbed by the bricks and masonry in a chimney. Indeed, the high absorbency of bricks is one of the reasons they are used in chimneys. In buildings of four or more stories, almost any quantity of water will be absorbed without the need of a chimney cap.
    Submitted by Michael Jeffreys and Krissie Kraft, of Marina del Rey, California. Thanks also to: Leonard Scarpace, of Newhall, California .
    Why Do Curad Bandage Wrappers Sparkle in the Dark When You Open Them?
    Whenever we did promotion for the first volume of Imponderables and talked about why wintergreen Life Savers glow in the dark when you bite into them, we invariably received a phone call from someone asking why opening Curad wrappers caused the same phenomenon.
    So we wrote to Colgate-Palmolive to unravel this mystery. The adhesive used to seal Curad bandage wrappers contains an ultraviolet dye. Most likely, the excitation and friction caused in the act of opening the wrapper causes the glow, which is visible only in the dark.
    The research-and-development department of Colgate-Palmolive adds that static electricity might add to the sparkling effect. The sparkling is perfectly harmless and, if you are cut, a nice diversion from your pain.
    58 / DAVID FELDMAN

    Why Do Garment Labels Often Say “ Professionally
    Dry-Clean Only”?
    When was the last time you were propositioned by an amateur dry cleaner? Most folks don’t take up dry-cleaning as an avocation, so when we were posed this Imponderable by a caller on the Owen Spann Show , we resolved to ferret out exactly who these dangerous amateur dry cleaners were.
    It turns out that the veiled reference in “Professionally Dry-Clean Only” labels is not to incompetent practitioners, but to incompetent machines. What these labels are actually warning you against is cleaning the garments in the coin-op bulk dry-cleaning machines that used to be found frequently in laundromats. As much as anything, the labels are a convenient way for clothing manufacturers to avoid liability for the havoc the machines have wreaked. Molly Chillinsky, of the Coin Laundry Association, says that these bulk dry-cleaning devices are almost extinct; in time, the labels might become so as well.
    Karen Graber, communications director of the International Fab-ricare