![]() ![]() If mass is so important, then why do scales often give us our weight in pounds? However, when we put it all into a single system of measurement, we find that the value for mass on Earth and weight on Earth are nearly identical. These back-of-the-napkin calculations should be simple, but can become tricky because it’s also a conversation between the international metric system and the Imperial system. Because weight is really a measurement of force, we can derive it from mass using the equation F = mg where F is force (measured in Newtons), m is an object’s mass, and g is the force of gravity which is 9.8 meters/second 2 on Earth. The international unit for measuring mass is the kilogram, whereas the common measurement for weight in the U.S. These differences can go unnoticed in everyday life, but have the potential to become catastrophic in extreme scenarios-such as measuring the mass of fuel an airplane needs for a safe landing, or the weight of a spacesuit on the moon. Yet, while we might refer to a pound of apples in one breath and 14 grams of butter in another, these units of measurement are actually very different. For example: Pascals to measure pressure, Candles to measure light intensity, and even Smoots to measure the distance across the Charles River from Boston to MIT’s campus.ĭetermining the heft of things around us-from apples at the grocery store to dumbbells at the gym-is a much more common scenario. In science, there are thousands of ways to measure the world around us that the average person may never encounter. How fundamental particles of matter acquire mass is still a puzzle to scientists.Mass and weight should not be confused-weight depends on the force of gravity, but an object’s mass does not change. ![]() Measuring mass accurately can be crucial in some cases, like calculating how much fuel you need in an airplane.Because Boson X feels too much like it's a slave to randomness, it fails at living up to the bar that other challenging survival games have set. To do the Super Hexagon formula well, the game can throw difficult challenges at the player, but the challenges and rewards have to be fair. Boson X's scoring and challenge being based on the randomness makes it unsatisfying.Īnd really, I think that's what hurts Boson X. The deal is clearly delineated from the start. Leaving the track might result in greater rewards, but it might not. Granted, Impossible Road features plenty of moments where failure feels inevitable, but because the scoring system is clearly delineated, that every so often a gate will appear and not crossing it means zero points. Boson X gives the player time to ruminate and it can become quite easy to blame the game, not for the player to blame themselves. Not so much in Boson X, where if there are no blue sections, there are no points.Īs well, the game's pacing being much slower hurts it, too: the moments of clearly-inevitable failure are just frustrating, when trying to make a jump that one knows won't succeed, especially since there's no way to maneuver in midair. In Super Hexagon and in Pivvot's endless modes, scoring by time is always the great equalizer: no matter how hard it got, as long as players stayed alive, they were being rewarded for it. Getting more blue sections early on helps score more than survival does. Scoring is based not off of time, but off of running over blue sections of land. But the key that keeps Boson X from being great is in that it's just never really satisfying. Getting 100% unlocks new levels and makes the current one go at hyper speed.īoson X has a great look to it, and while it's not simple to the bone, it's still easy enough to get into. Players are given six different levels where they must try to reach 100% charge (to simulate particle collision) by running over blue sections to charge up the meter which also serves as the score. Already, it's a system that's not quite simple. By tapping left or right on the screen, players can switch lanes, by tapping and holding they can switch and jump, and by tapping and holding with both thumbs, they can jump straight forward. The setup of the game is that players run inside a hexagonal prism, with the ability to switch lanes and/or jump across gaps. It requires a keen balance between the challenge and the scoring, and that's what this game unfortunately lacks. The Super Hexagon formula is a very difficult one to nail, as Boson X shows. ![]()
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