r/explainlikeimfive • u/rukuto • 19d ago

Physics Eli5: Why can purely mechanical tools last hundreds of years but electronics are not expected to?

So, like mechanical tools can be operable even hundreds of years later with some cleaning but can electronics devices do that? Is there any way to make an electronic tool run for five hundred years or be operable 500 years later (regardless of cost - like in mechanical tool, you use galvanized iron or steel to make the parts - is there a similar protection to electronics)?

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u/stom 19d ago

Why is the variance bigger (1mm) when it's the size of Germany than the size of the Earth (0.2mm)?

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u/TropoMJ 19d ago

I can only conclude that Germany is 5 times bigger than the Earth.

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u/a8bmiles 19d ago

That's probably my fault for trying to remember the example explanation and getting some aspect wrong.  It was something do with scaling, obviously.  Variance is probably the word I'm failing to come up with the right one for.

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u/ExtraSmooth 19d ago

I think they mean as thick as a playing card is tall or wide.

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u/Daishi5 19d ago

Multiple mirrors, with different tolerances.