Phun with Physics
May 1, 2005 8:52 PM Subscribe
Mad Physics dot com has experiments and demonstrations that teach physics principles in strange and more interesting ways. Examples: demonstating Hooke's law with a 13 year-old kid and explaining efficient light emission with Glowsticks! Great for geeks.
Am I a bad person for at first thinking this meant measuring the spring constant of a kid by stretching him/her out a few inches on a rack? Yes?Yeah - I thought that too. But then I decided that a human body wouldn't obey Hooke's law, anyway, and so using a 13 year-old would be dumb.
posted by kickingtheground at 9:41 PM on May 1, 2005
Actually on a small scale the human body does follow Hooke's law to great precision. ACTIN and other proteins that hold your cells together stretch to accommodate movement. Unfortunately this has small effect on the macroscopic scale.
You should have seen the first set of 13 year-olds!
posted by afrooz at 4:14 AM on May 2, 2005
You should have seen the first set of 13 year-olds!
posted by afrooz at 4:14 AM on May 2, 2005
Met a researcher last month who studies neck and spinal injuries. Being a smart ass I asked if her work was on simulation or the world's coolest crash dummy. Turns out she does it by administering calibrated impulses to cadavers while filming with a high speed camera. Almost as cool as pushing them down stairs.
posted by fatllama at 6:42 AM on May 2, 2005
posted by fatllama at 6:42 AM on May 2, 2005
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Am I a bad person for at first thinking this meant measuring the spring constant of a kid by stretching him/her out a few inches on a rack? Yes? Ok, off I go then.
posted by fatllama at 9:38 PM on May 1, 2005