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What happens when you take some basic, introductory physics and apply them to cool things you see? Dot Physics happens. This blog looks at movies, experiments, demos and other topics typically aimed at the introductory physics level.
Rhett Allain is an Associate Professor of Physics at Southeastern Louisiana University. He
enjoys teaching and talking about physics. Sometimes he takes things apart and can't
put them back together.
March 31, 2009
Category: physics
What is a fake force? A fake force is one of those forces that introductory texts tell you aren't real - like centrifugal force. They aren't real in the sense that they are due to one of the fundamental interactions.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 10:36 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 25, 2009
Category: physics
You see this idea all over the place. Aristotle even had this idea. It is an idea that seems to make sense, however it is really wrong. I really don't mind if people don't have this idea right, just don't teach this idea.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 11:19 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: physics
He posted it so that others could look at it and come up with lesson ideas to use with this. There are some very good suggestions in his comments. I wasn't going to analyze this because I didn't want to rob some students of the opportunity, but I can't resist
Posted by Rhett Allain at 11:34 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 24, 2009
Category: physics
Suppose you put take two identical cans of soda out of the fridge and place them on the floor in the middle of a room. One can you leave alone and one can you cover with a wool blanket. After an hour, you come back and check on the two cans of soda. Which will be warmer?
Posted by Rhett Allain at 2:32 PM • 12 Comments • 2 TrackBacks
March 23, 2009
Category: physics
Suppose you are in your car at a stop light behind a truck. The truck is pulling a trailer with a rollable tractor on it
Posted by Rhett Allain at 11:50 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 20, 2009
Category: learning
What is wrong with this? I see a couple of problems. First is the reliability of ratemyprofessor (RMP). I have not looked at my ratings on this site in a long long time, but I am sure they are not accurate.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 12:59 PM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 19, 2009
Category: science
I just got back from judging elementary level science fair (this is like kids in 6th grade or something). Here are some quick notes in no particular order
Posted by Rhett Allain at 3:15 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 17, 2009
Category: physics
So, you see, I don't just like to randomly attack people. The problem is that you are saying "hey look at science" but your science is wrong. I suggest you either a) stop pretending to be a science show or b) get a science advisor (I am available).
Posted by Rhett Allain at 11:14 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 16, 2009
Category: physics
Better technology sometimes causes problems. In this case, technology has made video cameras really small. Small? That's a problem?
Posted by Rhett Allain at 11:24 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: physics
One of the simple ways of determining the uncertainty of a calculated quantity is to use the uncertainty of the measured variables and find the max and min that calculated quantity can be.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 11:18 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
