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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.
December 31, 2009
Category: random
My brother started blogging. I encourage this kind of behavior. His blog (bluerope.org) is mostly about cocoa programming (which he seems to be fairly competent at). Anyway, I wrote this comment on his first post. "I applaud your effort to...
Posted by Rhett Allain at 9:14 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: physics
A couple of commenters expressed concern over the use of centrifugal force after my rant on the use of the word force. So, what is the deal with these two terms? Are they ok to use? Are they real forces?...
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:00 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
December 30, 2009
Category: Analysis
Some time ago, I wrote about the awesome things the Greeks did in astronomy. Basically they calculated the size of the Earth, distance and size of the moon and distance and size of the sun. The value obtained for the distance to the sun was a bit off, but still a bang up job if you ask me. (where bang-up is meant as a good thing) If the greeks were in my introductory physics lab, they would need to include uncertainties with their measurements. What would the uncertainty in the final value look like?
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:00 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
December 29, 2009
Category: calculation
First - to estimate the energy a house consumes. My first approximation is that you could probably run a house off of a 5000 Watt generator, but this probably isn't the average power use for a house. It is probably lower. I am going to go with an estimate of 2000 Watts as the average power over 1 day. How much energy would this be for 1 week?
Posted by Rhett Allain at 5:23 PM • 23 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Analysis
I looked at almost all of the Star Wars LEGO series and some other select themes. I didn't include any sets that had been marked down in price. I will put the first plot on down below, maybe this would be a good time for you to guess the average price per piece.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:00 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
December 28, 2009
Category: Analysis
You take their LEGO bricks and their slinky and do some physics. I will keep this simple. Basically, I created a slinky holder out of LEGO pieces and added LEGO bricks to the end to stretch it.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 4:50 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science
One of things I like to think about in science is "how do we know that?" It is interesting how one thing builds on another. This is a story of how the Greeks estimated the distance from the Earth to the Sun
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:00 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
December 27, 2009
Category: Analysis
The problem is that air resistance depends on the velocity of the object. Search your feelings, you know this to be true. When you are driving (or riding) in a car and you stick your hand out the window, you can feel the air pushing against your hand.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:00 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
December 26, 2009
Category: Analysis
On a previous episode of The MythBusters, Adam and Jamie made a lead balloon float. I was impressed. Anyway, I decided to give a more detailed explanation on how this happens. Using the thickness of foil they had, what is the smallest balloon that would float?
Posted by Rhett Allain at 8:00 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
December 25, 2009
Category: Analysis
The most important thing to estimate is the mass of the house. I am going to completely ignore the buoyancy of the house. I figure this will be insignificant next to the buoyancy needed.
Posted by Rhett Allain at 9:00 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
