Moonwalking on the moon
Category: physics
Would it be easier to moonwalk on the moon?
Posted by Rhett Allain at 12:05 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Dot Physics
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.
Profile
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.
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June 30, 2009
June 29, 2009
Hancock throws a boy. Not nice.
Category: physics
Basically, Hancock gets upset with this boy and throws him in the air to scare him or something. In case you did not time it, the kid was in the air for 23 seconds. I claim that in order for Hancock to throw a person in the air for this long, the acceleration during throw would be deadly.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 9:06 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 27, 2009
Science for non-science majors. Big-course version
Category: science
I have already talked about science and why everyone should take some science courses. The short answer (in case you don't want to read the previous post) is that everyone should take science because science (along with art and other...
Posted by Rhett Allain at 2:02 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 26, 2009
The physics of Michael Jackson's moonwalk
Category: physics
Was the moonwalk fake? No, not the Apollo landings. I am talking about Michael Jackson's moonwalk. You got to admit, he had a big impact on a lot of stuff and this is my way to give him respect - physics.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 10:28 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 24, 2009
Another Video Analysis Tutorial
Category: physics
In this tutorial I analyze a moving cart that shoots a ball up and lands back in the moving cart (called a Howitzer cart).
Posted by Rhett Allain at 1:00 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Elves and the Internet
Category: physics
The internet sure can bring some awesome stuff. Chad at Uncertain Principles has a great post about the vision of elves. He refers to a part of The Two Towers where Legolas can count the number of riders of Rohan...
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:47 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 23, 2009
How much would "free" energy cost you?
Category: physics
The original article says that the bumps will generate 30 kW of energy every hour. That is an odd thing to say. I am going to interpret that as 30 kW of power for all hours (every hour). They couldn't have meant 30kW/hour. That wouldn't be power OR energy. 30 kW of power for 1 hour would be 30 kW*hr of energy. Ok, so power is 30 kW.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 5:54 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 22, 2009
Rotational Energy of the Earth as an energy source
Category: physics
The basic idea is to use the rotation energy of the Earth to power our Nintendos and computers and stuff. How much energy could we get out of this and what would we lose? First - what we lose. If we use the rotational energy of the Earth, it would spin at a slower rate. I will start off assuming we make the day 1 second longer.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 7:46 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Can an exploding hammer lift a guy?
Category: physics
Did the exploding hammer lift him off the ground, or did he jump as a reaction to the explosion. It kind of looks like he was lifted, but I am not sure that is possible. Video analysis to the rescue.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 3:08 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 19, 2009
Mythbusters and WANTED - curved bullet
Category: physics
In case you are familiar with the myth, this is from the movie WANTED (which I did not see). Apparently, some people learn how to make bullets curve by moving their gun. Here is a shot of a bullet curving in front of someone.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 3:14 PM • 15 Comments • 2 TrackBacks
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