Of all the tv shows we watch, each and every one retains varying levels of accuracy with respect to physics. Here's my personal reflection on the accuracy of some shows I watch:
The Big Bang Theory:
The big bang theory is a hilarious comedy relating to the lives of social awkward phsyicists. We don't have any problems with someone leaping too far out of a window or something blowing up when it shouldn't because... well that stuff doesn't happen in the big bang theory. Noteably, however, is a
There was a lot of picture taking going on today, and considering it being a noteable passion of mine, I figured it's a good thing to ponder the physics of.
Photography is derived from the greek words "photos" meaning light, and "graphos" meaning writing. Writing with light. Aptly named, as light is the largest component of any good photograph. Every camera has exposures and f-stops that corollate with apperatures and shutterspeeds. Each of these are tools to control how much light is allowed
Sadly I still can't figure out how to embed a video and more likely than not no one will watch it if its a URL so a picture will have to do!
This odd goop is called non-newtonian fluid. A newtonian fluid has a stress vs strain curve that is linear and passes through the origin, showing it has a constant viscocity. With a non-netonian fluid, it follows no such rules, and it's viscocity can change depending on stress, strain, time, or all of the above.
A simple example is this oobleck seen a
Recently I've acquired skullcandy over-ear headphones that have many noise canceling qualities. Still, I find myself wishing I could afford the Bose. Without any doubt, the Bose Noise Cancelling headphones are the best of their kind.
With this in mind, I though it worth the research to figure out why.
As with nearly anything, there's actually quite a bit of physics involved in optimizing sound quality. For starters, to make headphones in general involves coils and magnets and a whole slew of p
I can't believe I didn't think of this as a subject earlier, I did LOTS of physics in my astronomical imaging internship!
Okay, well, in reality I more looked at images and programs and readings, I didn't actually DO the physics, but there's a lot of physics behind what I did.
My internship was focused on assisting with research around the stellar phase called planetary nebula. This is a post-red-giant phase of smaller stars. The majority of the gases within the star have been burned up or
Physics plays a huge roll in skiing--and yes, I've posted about such before, but a 3 day ski trip really struck some new physics relations home.
Revelation one:
When turning, bending the knees into the turn, and standing up out of the turn actually makes the turn far more efficent and more fun. Part of the efficiency is simply Newton's law--every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction. By bending, you're thus using your body weight to turn more forcefully with the aid of the shape and d
So lets face it, our catapult was awesome. Even if it didn't shoot 80 yards, the fact that we used garage door springs made up for it.
But to the physics!
Whilst reflecting on our design, I remembered that we had taken our current unit--impulse to be more specific--into account when making the catapult. We knew that the force from the springs would be pretty huge, make a pretty big velocity for the arm, so the stopper to make it launch at a 45 degree angle would feel some serious force, a
Ice skating has a lot of obvious physics involved.
For one, you could easily look at the centripital motion invovled when a figure skater spins. Conservation of angular momentum plays a huge roll in how they control the speed of their spins, but we've all heard that before.
There's physics involved in the very fundamental movement of iceskates. When you iceskate, you put a lot of pressure on a very small, thin surface area. This force, as well as the friction between the blade and the ice
With a little digging, I was able to figure out how transitions lenses really work on this website:
http://en-us.transitions.com/Why-Transitions/The-Technology/Photocromic-tech/
To sum it up, within the lenses are photochromic molecules. These molecules react to UV rays and actually change their structure when exposed, which is what causes the lens to darken.
And some fundamentals of weather still play into effect. When it's hot, the lenses react more quickly because the heat allows molec
I've been pondering this for a while and be it because I haven't really looked at equations nor truly tried applying equations in creative ways, I've stumbled across a relationship I can't seem to figure out (maybe someone could answer it with a blog? {I'm such a nice person}).
So I have a volvo s60, and for its size, its a pretty hefty car. Being so massive, my dad has often preached what a splendid winter car it is, as its weight increases friction and thus provides better traction in bad w
Does anyone else feel it too? End of the year syndrome... it's kinda like senioritis, except anyone can get it. Essentially what it means is a complete and total lack of motivation to do anything whatsoever. I don't know about you, but it's hitting me hard right now, with 5 days left of school and numerous projects not yet completed.
So lets remind ourselves why we like physics, shall we?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Zf1f3-JYs
Because physics is everywhere, and it can be funny!
But
Yes, this has indefinitely been proven impossible, but just how impossible?
Google appears to have failed me for actual statistics on the infamous gun used in Wanted for the curved bullet, so lets just say this pistol has a muzzle velocity of 250 m/s (810 ft/s). Lets also say the barrel length is 5". So the bullet sits at rest with a velocity of 0 to 250 m/s over 5". That means in .000508 seconds (v=(x/t)=> x/v=t) the bullet got to the end of the barrel. Which also means it had an accelera
To be completely honest, I was getting to a point where the Lewin videos--though extremely helpful--were making me want to fall asleep. However this guy is kind of a genius, and to prove that he deserves some of our appreciation, I though I'd share that he has a fun side as well!
1) As seen in the video, though normal tires won't be quite so flexible as the tires shown, tires flex QUITE a bit when you rev your car to a start. With a common knowledge of the fact that materials get harder in the cold, severe cold weather could pretty pheasably cause damage to the integrity of the material should you rev them too fast.
2) The cold air not only makes the rubber more dense, but it makes the air inside the tires more dense as well. That means your tire pressure--should you b
1) The course is HARD-- and it doesn't get easier as you go along. The longer you wait, the harder it gets, and the more you'll have to do.
2) Deterrence-- as this challenging work gets harder and harder, you're going to be less and less inclined to do it. Think about it, I'd be far more proactive about climbing a 5 foot cliff than a 100 foot cliff, if you do it in chunks it won't seem so bad.
3) Imagination-block-- if you have ANYTHING creative to do (like blog posts for example), you're
