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So this is a very cool science lesson but most importantly the end credits music is a JAM

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Was GLaDOS Wrong About Science? - Momentum & Physics in Portal - Extra Credits

Portal has a lot of science fiction elements from selective matter destroyers, hard light bridges, and cake. But the core gameplay is focused on a very simple principle in physics: momentum. Manipulating momentum is key to solving all of the problems Glados sets out in the game, so you can contribute to Apature Science the best you can. But what if the portals in Portal actually destroyed every principle of energy we know of today? Subscribe to Extra Credits for more episodes every Wednesday! http://bit.ly/SubToEC Get info about all our shows at https://extracredits.site ___________ Get your Extra Credits gear at the store! https://extracredits.store Thanks for participating in this week's discussion! We want you to be aware of our community posting guidelines so that we can have high-quality conversations: https://www.extracredits.site/extra-credits-community-code-of-con Follow Us On Our Social Media! Twitter: http://bit.ly/ECTweet Facebook: http://bit.ly/ECFBPage Twitch: http://bit.ly/ECtwitch Instagram: http://bit.ly/ECisonInstagram Tumblr: http://bit.ly/EConTumblr ___________ ♪ Intro Music: "Penguin Cap" by CarboHydroM http://bit.ly/1eIHTDS ♪ Credits Music: "Reconstructing Lemons" by Chimpazilla https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03310

Comments

Anonymous

I think this explanation, at best, is flawed -- because unless you can say how Aperture Portals would "actually" operate if our intuition is wrong, it seems it would be more accurate to say they pose a "paradox" -- which is to say, either the portals (as broadly conceived here) are simply impossible, or the Newtonian physical laws are inadequate for accounting for their possibility.

Anonymous

Should I wait until I beat portal 2 to watch this?

HamHamJ

The most obvious flaw in this analysis is that the portal gun is doing something. Like, if the you instead lifted the cube up then the fact that it gained potential energy would not be an issue. The portal gun presumably must be using energy when it twists spacetime into a pretzel and makes the cube gain potential energy. So you can't say if conservation of energy was observed without knowing the actual mechanism involved in creating the portals.

Anonymous

No, I don't think it will impact your enjoyment of Portal 2.

ExtraCredits

There's nothing in the video that is plot relevant, we're just using Portal's mechanics as a way to talk about momentum and conservation of energy.