What If? (xkcd) personal blog
Can you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire? (2016)
A magnifying glass concentrates light on a small spot. As many mischevious kids can tell you, a magnifying glass as small as a square inch in size can collect enough light to start a fire. A little Googling will tell you that the Sun is 400,000 times brighter than the Moon, so all we need is a 400,000-square-inch…
- Points
- 340
- HN comments
- 269
- Submissions
- 1
- Cited by
- 14 commenters
On Hacker News
| Submitted | Title on HN | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 21, 2018 | Can you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire? (2016) by btrask | 340 | 269 |
Cited in comments
Linked from 14 Hacker News comments by 14 different people, from Apr 2016 to Jul 2026.
Most recent:
