Stories tagged physics
Investigations into the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge are wrapping up and being reported. Here's an interesting report on what role the sun and its energy may have played in the timing of the bridge's collapse on that fateful Aug. 1 day. Oh, and my apologies to Elton John for swiping his lyrics for the headline of this post.
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Atom trappers: Plug your guitar into an amp and just see how many atoms you can trap to do crazy science experiments on.
Courtesy Derek K. MillerDo you like to rock out? Do you like to isolate atoms and bombard them with laser beams? An physicist/musician in England has figured out how to use guitar amps to conduct such experiments. Read all about it here. What I want to know is if you use a Spinal Tap amp, one of those cool jobs you can turn all the way up to "11," can you trap more atoms?
As you head to the polls today, bear in mind the things that make America great. Freedom of speech. Representative democracy. And pumpkin chucking.
In Chem/Phy we used Spring scales to measure the pull of an object in newtons.
Is it possible to calculate the "potential energy" of a particular Offensive line compared to a particular Defensive line?
Should a Coach know if they are statistically unable to force the line of scrimmage the direction they want?
Sure - weaknesses can be exploited by double teaming, and running slant plays.....checking the stats on each lineman the coach should be able to choose their strategy before the game....and give the best chance of success
Yer outta here!: Physics play a big role in the National Pastime.
Courtesy Mark RyanWith the baseball play-offs and World Series coming up, I’m sure lots of folks out there (especially in Chicago and not so much in Minnesota) are agonizing over the question: What is more effective, sliding into base head-first or feet-first?
Well, as usual, science has solved the problem. Using physics and mathematics, David A. Peters, an engineer from Washington University in St. Louis, has figured out which of the two ways is more advantageous. Peters is a huge baseball fan, and a mechanical engineer to boot. He explains it this way:
"There's momentum— mass of the body times how fast the player is moving. There's angular momentum (mass movement of inertia times the rotational rate). If it's feet-first and you're starting to slide, your feet are going out from you and you're rotating clockwise; if it's head-first, as your hands go down, you're rotating counterclockwise. On top of this is Newton's Law: Force is mass times acceleration. Then moments of inertia times your angular acceleration."
So which method gives ballplayers a better chance of making it safely to the bag? Center of gravity seems to be the key.
"It turns out your center of gravity is where the momentum is. This is found half way from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes. In the headfirst slide, the center of gravity is lower than halfway between your feet and hands, so your feet don't get there as fast. It's faster head-first."
Regardless of the science, Dr. Peters figures preference for one way or the other among ballplayers is about 50/50. And the whole argument goes out the window when talking about first base. Usually, players are much better off running through first rather than sliding into it at all.
"Mathematically, you might think there's an advantage, but leaving your feet is actually a detriment because you're no longer pulsing (pumping your legs) and you start to decelerate," he says. "When you're running, your get your feet out in front of the center of gravity, so you're getting maybe three or four steps of an advantage."
Dr. Peters was also involved in a previous baseball study covered by the Buzz back in July.
SOURCE
Washington University story
Professor Julius Sumner Miller educated and entertained generations of Australians on television with his TV series called "Why is it so?"
Now you too can watch some "enchanting experiments" with the good professor! Both dialup or broadband connections available (click the link above for dozens of episodes).
Standing wave on 2D surface
Courtesy Oleg_AlexandrovThe mixture of corn starch and water literally stands up in the video below because of standing waves. If you want to try this, place a mixture of corn starch and water on cookie sheet. Hold the cookie sheet down over a bass speaker with some of your fingers. The speaker should be playing music with low frequencies. By varying the distance an position of your fingers you can alter the standing wave patterns within the cookie sheet.
It is the season to consider the fine points of our national pastime. Left-handers have the upper hand, in many ways. Here is the story:
In horse racing, a jockey has to be atop the horse at the finish line to count as an official finisher. But what about BMX bike racing? Check out this video. Oh yeah, there's some science attached to this: momentum, conservation of energy, balance. But it's just plain fun to watch.
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