Oct 22 9:57PM - ...
27 Posts
Hello Dr. Syphers! I was wondering why you first became interested in physics? Did someone have a particular influence on you (like a parent or a teacher, or a famous physicist)? On a similar note, did you have a favorite physicist as a student?
~M
Reply:
Hi M,
Good to hear from you. I think I first became interested in science at a young age, like about 6-7 years old. I was very interested in the things that were going on in the space program (Gemini, Apollo, etc.) and wanted to learn all about the stars and moon and planets. It wasn't until I was in High School that I found out that "physics" was the science that talked about all that. That's when I knew I wanted to study physics (and astronomy and astrophysics!). My older sister was an influence -- she bought me my first astronomy book and a star chart for my wall! -- and my Boy Scout Master was an amateur astronomer and taught me a lot. My H.S. physics teacher was wonderful and a huge influence on me, too!
As far as a favorite physicist, another school group asked me that same question, so I'll cut and past the same answer here.
"... And, as for my favorite scientist? Newton and Einstein always come to mind. However, I have always like a guy named James Clerk Maxwell. You'll learn about him probably much later in the year. But he did a LOT of things, including the final synthesis that showed the world how light, electricity, and magnetism are all related. He also showed (using pure logic, pen and paper) that the rings of Saturn could not be solid objects -- that they must be made up of broken up rocks or small particles of some sort. It was really quite an amazing thing to calculate and convince people back in the mid-1800's. He won a prize and became famous by that calculation. He did a lot of other things, too, but those are what I remember about him, and I always thought he was a cool dude."
Thanks, M!
-Mike
Oct 23 1:31PM - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: From our awesome Physics class!
27 Posts
Wow thats cool! We're learning Newton's laws right now. What's your favorite Newton's law? So far we've learned the first one and working on the second one. What's your favorite movies? We like The Hangover, Austin Powers Goldmember, Transformers, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Breakfast Club, In the Persuit of Happiness, and 7 Pounds. Do you have any kids? Do they like physics? Talk to you later!
Your fellow physicists! :]
Reply:
Hi WSHS:
Glad to hear you're enjoying learning about Sir Issac! It's hard to pick a "favorite" law of his three, but probably the second law is used the most in everyday physics calculations that it has to be my number one! (By the way, are you taught that F=ma, or are you taught that F = Delta p / Delta t ? Or both? Just curious; they're the same thing, but F=ma is usually taught in H.S., whereas the second concept is actually what Newton first wrote down...)
Favorite movies?? Well, I see and like a lot of movies, and I like all the ones you mentioned, except I haven't seen 7 Pounds. I have two kids, a daughter and a son -- they keep me pretty up-to-date on movies and such. They're both in college now. They both took physics -- my daughter did well in it (she's great at math!) and my son didn't like it so much. They're now studying business and emergency medicine.
-Mike
Showing posts with label Newton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newton. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Fav Scientist
Oct 22 12:38PM - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: From our awesome Physics class!
23 Posts
We've heard about Law and Order, it's a pretty good show. What exactly does your particle accelerator do? What would you suggest to make to launch a pumpkin. Would you use a sling shot or a catapolt? We just started a unit on Newton's laws. What's you favorite scientist? Hope to hear from you soon!
Your fellow physicists
Reply:
Hi WSHS:
The "accelerator" I work on uses electric fields to attract and accelerate charged particles -- mostly protons -- giving them more and more energy and speeding them up closer and closer to the speed of light. We use powerful electromagnets to steer the particles around in a circle so that they can pass through the electric fields again to gain more energy. After they've gone around a few million times, they have "seen" a total of about 1000 Million volts (or 1 Teravolts) of voltage. We say that they have an energy of one TeV (Tera-electron Volts; even though they are protons and not electrons...). So, the machine is called the Tevatron. It's the world's most powerful accelerator, and has been for over 25 years. A new machine coming on-line in Switzerland and France (it's so big it goes across the boundaries of these two countries!) will soon take over as "number one." It will go to 7 TeV energies. Anyway, you can see a picture of the Tevatron here:
(It's the biggest ring in the picture -- 4 miles around!) and our lab's web site (the second web site ever made in the U.S.!!) is here: http://www.fnal.gov .
OK, so for a pumpkin accelerator, I'd probably use a sling shot. I suspect that there are many good rubbery slings out there which would be easy to get and that would be much more reliable than a catapult contraption that you'd have to build from scratch. Just my thoughts, but I don't have much experience accelerating large, uncharged objects... ;-)
And, as for my favorite scientist? Newton and Einstein always come to mind. However, I have always like a guy named James Clerk Maxwell. You'll learn about him probably much later in the year. But he did a LOT of things, including the final synthesis that showed the world how light, electricity, and magnetism are all related. He also showed (using pure logic, pen and paper) that the rings of Saturn could not be solid objects -- that they must be made up of broken up rocks or small particles of some sort. It was really quite an amazing thing to calculate and convince people back in the mid-1800's. He won a prize and became famous by that calculation. He did a lot of other things, too, but those are what I remember about him, and I always thought he was a cool dude.
-Mike
23 Posts
We've heard about Law and Order, it's a pretty good show. What exactly does your particle accelerator do? What would you suggest to make to launch a pumpkin. Would you use a sling shot or a catapolt? We just started a unit on Newton's laws. What's you favorite scientist? Hope to hear from you soon!
Your fellow physicists
Reply:
Hi WSHS:
The "accelerator" I work on uses electric fields to attract and accelerate charged particles -- mostly protons -- giving them more and more energy and speeding them up closer and closer to the speed of light. We use powerful electromagnets to steer the particles around in a circle so that they can pass through the electric fields again to gain more energy. After they've gone around a few million times, they have "seen" a total of about 1000 Million volts (or 1 Teravolts) of voltage. We say that they have an energy of one TeV (Tera-electron Volts; even though they are protons and not electrons...). So, the machine is called the Tevatron. It's the world's most powerful accelerator, and has been for over 25 years. A new machine coming on-line in Switzerland and France (it's so big it goes across the boundaries of these two countries!) will soon take over as "number one." It will go to 7 TeV energies. Anyway, you can see a picture of the Tevatron here:
(It's the biggest ring in the picture -- 4 miles around!) and our lab's web site (the second web site ever made in the U.S.!!) is here: http://www.fnal.gov .
OK, so for a pumpkin accelerator, I'd probably use a sling shot. I suspect that there are many good rubbery slings out there which would be easy to get and that would be much more reliable than a catapult contraption that you'd have to build from scratch. Just my thoughts, but I don't have much experience accelerating large, uncharged objects... ;-)
And, as for my favorite scientist? Newton and Einstein always come to mind. However, I have always like a guy named James Clerk Maxwell. You'll learn about him probably much later in the year. But he did a LOT of things, including the final synthesis that showed the world how light, electricity, and magnetism are all related. He also showed (using pure logic, pen and paper) that the rings of Saturn could not be solid objects -- that they must be made up of broken up rocks or small particles of some sort. It was really quite an amazing thing to calculate and convince people back in the mid-1800's. He won a prize and became famous by that calculation. He did a lot of other things, too, but those are what I remember about him, and I always thought he was a cool dude.
-Mike
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