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Physics: It's A Marvelous Thing (CBD)


Did anyone have a physics instructor who would climb a ladder where a pendulum with a heavy weight was secured, then allow the pendulum to swing away....and back toward him?

I have heard rumors, but nobody ever claimed to have seen it.

And Physics/Chemistry Open Thread.....

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:50 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 9.8 meters/sec^2 ... It's not just a good idea, it's the law!

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at January 30, 2016 04:51 PM (GG9V6)

2
I am not understanding what that guy was trying to do...

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 04:52 PM (BK3ZS)

3 The cantilevered pipe had me more worried than the rope trick.

Posted by: chiefjaybob at January 30, 2016 04:54 PM (cgH9o)

4 Missed this one by this ( ) much
Let me take a look

Posted by: Skip at January 30, 2016 04:54 PM (hk3Fb)

5 Wohoo! Chemistry thread!

+ 6.022 x 10^23

Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 30, 2016 04:54 PM (u82oZ)

6 Never piss off the Higgs Boson. Gravity? Gravity is what the bosons make it to be, bitches.

Posted by: Fritz at January 30, 2016 04:56 PM (BngQR)

7 VSEPR

Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 04:56 PM (mR7Es)

8
Not as traumatic as holding one end of a spring for a physics lab experiment and having the other end break free and smack you in the groin, believe me.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 04:56 PM (BK3ZS)

9 I took a chemistry course in jr high. The last day of class was sodium in a bucket of water day.

It was fucking awesome.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 30, 2016 04:57 PM (W0RfD)

10 I remember the days of rock the house chemistry demos.

And diethyl ether fires.

And using bunsen burners as heating sources, not heating mantles.

I'm old school.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 30, 2016 04:57 PM (u82oZ)

11 My guess - Six guys died before they got the rope length just right. We are looking at lucky number seven.

Posted by: VA MK Z at January 30, 2016 04:58 PM (+0aiQ)

12 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 04:52 PM (BK3ZS)

I'm puzzled by the idea that at some point during the early planning stages somebody said, "Sure...let's do it!"

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 30, 2016 04:58 PM (Zu3d9)

13 pendulum with a heavy weight was secured

Had a college physics prof do the pull pendulum back to face, release, stand there demo. He was an old guy and leaned forward. I was sure he'd get clobbered.

Posted by: DaveA at January 30, 2016 04:59 PM (DL2i+)

14 Had to hit the follow link and then its down a few, nice trick I wouldn't do it

Posted by: Skip at January 30, 2016 04:59 PM (hk3Fb)

15 Sabrina, I think that is just the local interpretation on the law of gravity, the "administrative rule" as it were.


Posted by: Kindltot at January 30, 2016 04:59 PM (q2o38)

16 My daughter's physics teacher had rope climbing apparatus above the ceiling tiles, and once a year his students get the chance to pull themselves up to the ceiling using the climbing ropes. And yes, the teacher is a certified climbing instructor.

Posted by: Barb the Evil Genius at January 30, 2016 05:00 PM (sfDig)

17 Damn Scandis.

Posted by: gebrauchshund at January 30, 2016 05:00 PM (N4n2h)

18 Hey,man. Watch this...

Posted by: Redneck on Youtube at January 30, 2016 05:01 PM (SVE9e)

19
I had an intro bio course in college called "Plants and Man." The professor was chairman of the department, but it didn't stop him from passing out highly toxic seeds (albeit enclosed in sealed bottles) like castor beans and the stuff they get ricin from.

When he said a seed the size of a watermelon pit could kill an elephant within a minute, it got my attention.

And this guy was so nonchalant about it.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:03 PM (zLP1L)

20 Bad physics joke:

What's nu?

E over h.

Posted by: Y-not (@moxiemom) at January 30, 2016 05:03 PM (t5zYU)

21 Gotta love the grunt when the rope gets taut and the guy's jockstrap implodes. Now that's some f'n physics, amirite?

Posted by: VA MK Z at January 30, 2016 05:03 PM (+0aiQ)

22 Biggest American assassin bug on fennel flowers. It is a nympy. I have been bitten by adults of smaller species. Don't want t be bitten by a big one.

bit.ly/1PpE7oz

Posted by: KT at January 30, 2016 05:04 PM (qahv/)

23 Hey,man. Watch this...

I thought it was

"Here, hold my beer..."

Posted by: Ready for Hillary! (Not) at January 30, 2016 05:04 PM (brIR5)

24 Physics and chemistry thread?


*examines all life choices*


I feel shame.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 05:05 PM (1xUj/)

25 Gotta love the grunt when the rope gets taut and the guy's jockstrap implodes. Now that's some f'n physics, amirite?

Posted by: VA MK Z


I think we have it all wrong.

He was just auditioning for "Ow, My Balls"

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 30, 2016 05:05 PM (W0RfD)

26 My luck, that thing would have hit me in the codsack.

Posted by: Eromero at January 30, 2016 05:06 PM (zLDYs)

27 9 I took a chemistry course in jr high. The last day of class was sodium in a bucket of water day.

It was fucking awesome.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 30, 2016 04:57 PM (W0RfD)



I had a very brainy but fun friend of mine disassemble my high school chem teacher's molecular model and reassemble it into something else. She walked into the room and was furious.

He turned polyester or something like that into the model for TNT.

The other fun time was when he knocked over a beaker of bromine and we all had to run like hell to escape a purple cloud that was Bophal the prequel.

Good times.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:06 PM (zLP1L)

28 Oops. assassin bugs are not physics. Wrong thread.

Posted by: KT at January 30, 2016 05:06 PM (qahv/)

29 eromero, if you're here, I wrote you back in the last thread. I'm not reposting it here because . . . you know what the topic of discussion was.

CBD, great timing on the nood

Posted by: L, Elle at January 30, 2016 05:06 PM (2x3L+)

30
True or false:

The venom from a daddy long legs is the most lethal of any spider, but their mandibles are too small/weak to pierce human skin.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:07 PM (zLP1L)

31 A very cool chemistry demo is burning magnesium metal in a block of carbon dioxide.

Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (mR7Es)

32 The one I did in my organic lab that impressed everyone was dissolving a white foam cup in acetone.

You go from a 32 oz white cup to a smaller than pea-sized white bead.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (u82oZ)

33 31 A very cool chemistry demo is burning magnesium metal in a block of carbon dioxide.
Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (mR7Es)


Solid CO2, as in dry ice?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (zLP1L)

34 I will never understand twitter.

Posted by: Willburn Sooner at January 30, 2016 05:09 PM (yWCc6)

35 32 The one I did in my organic lab that impressed everyone was dissolving a white foam cup in acetone.

You go from a 32 oz white cup to a smaller than pea-sized white bead.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (u82oZ)


Even better. Stuff a glass bottle with bits of styrofoam, as much as you can get in and then add gasoline. After a while, you're left with good old napalm.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:09 PM (zLP1L)

36 33 31 A very cool chemistry demo is burning magnesium metal in a block of carbon dioxide.
Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (mR7Es)


Solid CO2, as in dry ice?
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:08 PM (zLP1L)

Yup

Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:09 PM (mR7Es)

37 True

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Luap Nor's Last Chance at January 30, 2016 05:10 PM (WVsWD)

38 36 Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:09 PM (mR7Es)

So the magnesium is encased in the dry ice block with a bit sticking out as a fuse.

And what happens?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:11 PM (zLP1L)

39
My best friend, my best HS teacher (chemistry and physics) and I had a blast during one lunchtime remote detonating small bottles of benzoyl peroxide using the classroom electrical panel. We cackled with glee each time a bottle buried in a snowbank erupted with a puff of orangish smoke that drifted toward the administrative wing.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 05:11 PM (BK3ZS)

40 "Things I won't work with" is an awesome and hilarious chemistry blog and even if you don't remember more than high school chemistry the guy's writing is just f'n brilliant.

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things-i-wont-work-with

Posted by: hogmartin at January 30, 2016 05:11 PM (NA5LM)

41 37 True
Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Luap Nor's Last Chance at January 30, 2016 05:10 PM (WVsWD)


Winner!

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:11 PM (zLP1L)

42 I would call him a "Darwin Award Loser." He knew his stuff well enough to survive the feat.

Posted by: Picric at January 30, 2016 05:12 PM (QnQ+g)

43 38 36 Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:09 PM (mR7Es)

So the magnesium is encased in the dry ice block with a bit sticking out as a fuse.

And what happens?
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:11 PM (zLP1

It burns with a bright blue light, if I recall correctly.

Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 05:12 PM (mR7Es)

44 The harness catching him after he (almost) free fell 2 stories probably hurt like hell - not quite as much as him falling another 10 feet, but still, ouch.

Posted by: PC at January 30, 2016 05:12 PM (PEqlJ)

45 "Winner!"

Let me guess. My price is a $50.00 Gift Card to....

Chipotle?


Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Luap Nor's Last Chance at January 30, 2016 05:13 PM (WVsWD)

46 JJ Sefton @ 38- And what happens?
You set the woods on fire and the BLM is all up in your business. That's what happens.

Posted by: Eromero at January 30, 2016 05:14 PM (zLDYs)

47 Classic example: http://preview.tinyurl.com/gtancha

Posted by: hogmartin at January 30, 2016 05:14 PM (NA5LM)

48 My most interesting problem in a physics class involved WW2 planes. We were told by the teacher that gunners on planes in WW1 ran the risk of shooting down the planes they were on by shooting their own propellers. We were to figure out the way to synchronize the machine gun firing to the revolutions of the propeller. Actually our teacher was really fond of tying physics to daily life situations so we could see how math was useful in daily life.

Posted by: Chillin the most at January 30, 2016 05:15 PM (lYMVn)

49 Only risking your life if you're bad at math.

Posted by: TexasDan at January 30, 2016 05:18 PM (85Vev)

50
The venom from a daddy long legs is the most lethal of any spider, but their mandibles are too small/weak to pierce human skin.


False. Sadly just a myth.


http://tinyurl.com/j7zrynm

Posted by: Zombie Fred Astaire at January 30, 2016 05:19 PM (oQQwD)

51 eg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2GdY1OlDpA

Posted by: DaveA at January 30, 2016 05:19 PM (DL2i+)

52 Didn't do this but found it, a fire sprinkler had froze and broke, water had filled up a few floors down a glass globe over a incandescent light bulb which was on literally boiling the water in it without breaking the globe or bulb.

Posted by: Skip at January 30, 2016 05:20 PM (hk3Fb)

53 There was this ancient physics lecturer at Cornell when I attended.To illustrate some principle of angular momentum, he stood on a turtable platform, held some spinning top over his head, and lowered it in front of him, and the turntable started to rotate with him on it. Several goofballs got an irrepressible case of the giggles. To be fair, it was bizarre, an old physics prof holding some top in front of him while spinning around on a turntable.

Posted by: angela urkel at January 30, 2016 05:21 PM (b2qGx)

54
Bo + Ob + S = BoObS










I got nuthin'.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 30, 2016 05:21 PM (KUa85)

55 Potassium chorate / sulfur mix will (no more than a pinhead. Really.) will detonate if hit with a hammer.

Potassium permanganate + sugar will catch fire from a few drops of water.

Most, but not all, of my high school coconspirators graduated with ten fingers and two eyes.

Posted by: phunctor at January 30, 2016 05:21 PM (CKGil)

56 The most poisonous spider in the world is the Brazilian Wandering Spider.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at January 30, 2016 05:23 PM (t2KH5)

57 Watched maybe 20 scrolling down maybe twice that,
Not to many females involved

Posted by: Skip at January 30, 2016 05:23 PM (hk3Fb)

58 Hillary did a physics force test and proved that you can both suck and blow at the same time.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at January 30, 2016 05:23 PM (MNgU2)

59
Watched a tee shirt I was wearing -- polyester -- dissolve into dripping gobs of goo after I spilled about 25 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid (98%) on it while trying to clean a glass frit funnel under vacuum. Freshman chemistry lab.

Had the presence of mind to strip off the shirt immediately rather than use the emergency shower, which would have made matters worse. The shirt was a total loss and the heavy pants I was wearing sported some holes after washing, but not a speck of damage to me.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 05:24 PM (BK3ZS)

60 Finally, a thread I can get into!

Posted by: Walter White at January 30, 2016 05:24 PM (tv9zS)

61 Science is my worst subject but math is my best. I always thought those two went together. I hate science.

Posted by: L, Elle at January 30, 2016 05:25 PM (2x3L+)

62 The venom from a daddy long legs is the most lethal of any spider, but their mandibles are too small/weak to pierce human skin.


False. Sadly just a myth.


http://tinyurl.com/j7zrynm
Posted by: Zombie Fred Astaire at January 30, 2016 05:19 PM (oQQwD)



On the other hand,

I will straight up kill your ass stone-dead.



Where do I live?

Australia.... where else?

Posted by: Blue-Ringed Octopus at January 30, 2016 05:25 PM (KUa85)

63 My biology professor used to electrocute his students. He had a little machine and we'd stand in a circle and of course the poor sap across from the machine would ge the biggest jolt.

But the district found out and made him stop a few years later.

Posted by: Lauren at January 30, 2016 05:25 PM (f3Iw2)

64 You can have your Gift Card back.


Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Luap Nor's Last Chance at January 30, 2016 05:26 PM (WVsWD)

65 Hands down favorite with the kids is very simple.

Plastic bottle with nails stuck in the side opposite each other, and separated by a small gap.

Put a few drops of alcohol in the bottle and seal it with a rubber stopper.

Apply the discharge from a Tesla coil to one of the nails.

BOOM, bright light, stopper ricochets off the ceiling.

Be prepared to repeat, because the kids WILL demand it.

Posted by: pep at January 30, 2016 05:26 PM (LAe3v)

66
Found the perfect present for Ace:

https://goo.gl/vo5wUh

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 05:27 PM (iQIUe)

67 Weird I said professor, but I meant teacher. This was in high school.

My biology professors in college were two lesbian women. I don't think they were a couple, but I'm not sure.

Posted by: Lauren at January 30, 2016 05:27 PM (f3Iw2)

68 >>>61 Science is my worst subject but math is my best. I always thought those two went together. I hate science.
Posted by: L, Elle at January 30, 2016 05:25 PM (2x3L+)

Yeah. No problems with math, finance, Econ, but baby bio? Which vein is that in this fetal pig? Totally lost.

Posted by: Lea at January 30, 2016 05:28 PM (aCLaA)

69 " I hate science."


*sobs*

Posted by: Science at January 30, 2016 05:30 PM (tv9zS)

70 Science is my worst subject but math is my best. I always thought those two went together. I hate science.

Posted by: L, Elle


That just means you were in the wrong kind of science. I spent most of my grad school career doing equations (physical chemist). Likewise, a computational physicist never goes in the lab, he just fusses with his code.

Posted by: pep at January 30, 2016 05:30 PM (LAe3v)

71 The coolest thing about being a submariner nuke was theory to practice. We'd come up with something to test- running at high speed, reverse throttles blah blah, reactor power, blah blah, water levels in steam generators whatever. Every body would nuke out their answers but the whole thing was an excuse to make the boat do stuff we normally didn't do, the captain loved it.

Posted by: traye at January 30, 2016 05:30 PM (VxtaD)

72 The worst failure of a physics demo I've seen was a high school teacher doing the classic concrete-block-on-chest routine.

Teach lies down on the floor on his back. Has the students place a piece of plywood on his chest to prevent abrasion, then has them place the cinder block on the plywood.

He then asks one of the burlier young men in the class to pick up the sledgehammer and smash the cinder block.

Unfortunately, the snowflake generation not being much experienced with basic hand tools, said pupil didn't know how to safely and properly gauge the arc of the sledgehammer to the target, and so instead hauled off and delivered a full power nut shot to Teach's crotch.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 30, 2016 05:31 PM (noWW6)

73 Speaking of Chemistry, did you see that smooch between Bill and Hillary?

Posted by: Dirks Strewn at January 30, 2016 05:31 PM (QdAXQ)

74 Physics? We don't need that crapola with Obama, the transcat lady and Hillary's magic disappearing/reappearing not top secret but ultra secret email machine.

Physics is white man's witchcraft.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at January 30, 2016 05:32 PM (ej1L0)

75 73
Speaking of Chemistry, did you see that smooch between Bill and Hillary?

Posted by: Dirks Strewn


If, by chemistry, you mean a matter-antimatter collision.

Posted by: pep at January 30, 2016 05:32 PM (LAe3v)

76 Bill Nye and I have done some experimentation that defies the laws of physics. It is however not safe for work.

Posted by: Neil DeGrasse Tyson at January 30, 2016 05:32 PM (b2qGx)

77 I should amend that to say that I hated my science classes. They were punishing and made me feel stupid no matter how hard I tried. I had to resort to cheating my way through chemistry with the assistance of my lab partner just to get a C.

I don't hate science. I am happy to leave the subject to all of you chemjeff types.

Posted by: L, Elle at January 30, 2016 05:33 PM (2x3L+)

78 Blue-Ringed Octopus

music link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E66fySBa0hU

BigShark

Posted by: DaveA at January 30, 2016 05:33 PM (DL2i+)

79 Here's another good pendulum demonstration from a professor.


http://tinyurl.com/ku3ty3w


Skip to 26:25, but really the whole video is worth watching.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at January 30, 2016 05:33 PM (Wckf4)

80 While goofing around on the interwebs today, I learned (from Nat Geo site) that rats can indeed come up into your toilet. So it's not an urban legend.

*stuff nightmares are made of*

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 30, 2016 05:33 PM (FsuaD)

81 Bo + Ob + S = BoObS

The secret formula.

Posted by: Higgs Bosom at January 30, 2016 05:34 PM (FkBIv)

82 >>> Speaking of Chemistry, did you see that smooch between Bill and Hillary?
Posted by: Dirks Strewn
------
Didn't watch the video because weak stomach. Worse than the forced Al and Tipper Gore kiss? It must have been.

Posted by: L, Elle at January 30, 2016 05:34 PM (2x3L+)

83 "Speaking of Chemistry, did you see that smooch between Bill and Hillary?"


Dude, give a poster some warning or something. Damn.

Posted by: Science at January 30, 2016 05:35 PM (tv9zS)

84
For wood shop in seventh grade, the instructor had a large copper coil mounted on a board with an electrical plug and two nails that constituted a break in the circuit. We used it to magnetize tools: place the tool in the coil's opening, run a strip of aluminum foil across the two nails, plug it in and "blooooie"! The current pulse through the coil for the brief moment before the aluminum fuse gave out did the trick.

So we'd magnetize a nail, turn it around, put it back in the coil and do another magnetization run. Only now the magnetized nail was a projectile in our magnet-propelled nail gun. Good times!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 05:35 PM (BK3ZS)

85 ***"The most poisonous spider in the world is the Brazilian Wandering Spider."***



And the most elusive spider in the world is the Japanese Barking Spider

Posted by: Burn the Witch at January 30, 2016 05:35 PM (Wckf4)

86 Yeesh! Saw on twitter all the Bernheads think if the nut is elected he will pardon all the cop killers/terrorists in federal prison. Well, not if Jug Ears beats him to it.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 05:36 PM (iQIUe)

87 41 37 True
Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Luap Nor's Last Chance at January 30, 2016 05:10 PM (WVsWD)


Winner!

Posted by: J.J. Sefton
Re: Daddy Long Legs poison. Will they kill you if you eat them?

Posted by: Renfrew at January 30, 2016 05:36 PM (QdAXQ)

88 My dad is a chemistry and physics teacher. Didn't rub off on me, particularly chemistry.

He also taught, formally or informally, philosophy of science, which I did like quite a bit.

Posted by: Grey Fox at January 30, 2016 05:36 PM (bZ7mE)

89 The physical world must needs wait. I still need to figure out Penrose tilings and asymmetric encryption. Eff the physical world.

Posted by: stupid, lazy guy who has contempt for the physical world at January 30, 2016 05:37 PM (b2qGx)

90 "While goofing around on the interwebs today, I learned (from Nat Geo site) that rats can indeed come up into your toilet."

I've seen fleeing rats go through absurdly small apertures without slowing down. Where afterward I went and looked and said, holy cannoli, if I hadn't just seen that I would not have believed it.

Pull a quarter out of your pocket. Consider a hole in the wall of equal diameter. A full grown adult rat can get through that hole with no difficulty at all.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 30, 2016 05:37 PM (noWW6)

91 *stuff nightmares are made of*
Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 30, 2016 05:33 PM (FsuaD)


"Why do you have a pistol stashed in the bathroom?" I get asked.

"You are so paranoid" I get told

There are days I feel like Rorschach

Posted by: Kindltot at January 30, 2016 05:38 PM (q2o38)

92 No. 1 Son needed help with classwork all the way growing up. I figured I'd go through school three times, once for myself, once with No. 1, and again with No. 2, but No. 2 never wanted or accepted any help.

Anyway, all was well and good until we got to high school chemistry.

High school chemistry in my day was all about valences and what happens in the outer electron ring. It seems to have changed. They were teaching him concepts I had never encountered.

When did chemistry change and why?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 05:39 PM (1xUj/)

93 This is off topic, but is it just me or is Mardi Gras absurdly early this year?

Posted by: Lauren at January 30, 2016 05:39 PM (f3Iw2)

94 Posted by: traye at January 30, 2016 05:30 PM (VxtaD)

Whoa, 'sup shipmate? I was a coner though, hope we can still get along.

Posted by: hogmartin at January 30, 2016 05:39 PM (NA5LM)

95 54
Bo + Ob + S = BoObS

I got nuthin'.
Posted by: naturalfake at January 30, 2016 05:21 PM (KUa85)



"She blinded me! With lactation!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:39 PM (zLP1L)

96 From the sidebar: "Skip to any random part of this movie. Guaranteed WTF?"


I made the mistake of skipping to 1:17:37


Don't skip to that part.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at January 30, 2016 05:40 PM (Wckf4)

97 48 My most interesting problem in a physics class involved WW2 planes. We were told by the teacher that gunners on planes in WW1 ran the risk of shooting down the planes they were on by shooting their own propellers. We were to figure out the way to synchronize the machine gun firing to the revolutions of the propeller. Actually our teacher was really fond of tying physics to daily life situations so we could see how math was useful in daily life.
Posted by: Chillin the most at January 30, 2016 05:15 PM (lYMVn)


Fokker interruptor gear. FTW.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 30, 2016 05:41 PM (zLP1L)

98 I've heard the same thing about mice. They have cartilage not bone. So, they can break the cartilage or something to squeeze thru small holes. I a mouse get in my apt and found a hole the size of a dime in the baseboard and plugged it up. Never saw the guy again.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 05:41 PM (iQIUe)

99 The most elusive spider is the NYC Wandering Jew....

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 05:42 PM (iQIUe)

100 "This is off topic, but is it just me or is Mardi Gras absurdly early this year?"



February something or other every year. It going on now?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at January 30, 2016 05:42 PM (tv9zS)

101 I also learned not to flush a live spider down the toilet. Apparently they can live under water for some time. A guy flushed black widows he found in his house and couldn't figure out how they kept coming back.

I'm thinking, "Shoe soles. How do they work?"

Wish I could remember the site. May have been linked to the rat in the toilet one.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 30, 2016 05:45 PM (FsuaD)

102 "Fokker interruptor gear. FTW."

Don't forget about me.

Posted by: Deflector Plate at January 30, 2016 05:45 PM (tv9zS)

103 The fundamental law of physics is: I get more pussy than Stephen Hawking.

Posted by: Donald J. Trump at January 30, 2016 05:45 PM (b2qGx)

104 "This is off topic, but is it just me or is Mardi Gras absurdly early this year?"



February something or other every year. It going on now?


Well, it's the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is 40 days before Easter, which is the first Sunday following the first Monday after the Vernal Equinox, which is ....

anybody got an abacus?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 05:46 PM (1xUj/)

105
96 From the sidebar: "Skip to any random part of this movie. Guaranteed WTF?"

Was that the part with the guy in the Big Bird suit that had a six foot-long "tail" attached to his groin and he asked the schoolgirl to pick up the end of the "tail" and "walk him"?

WTF is it about Japanese girls in school uniforms that they are so prominent in anime, manga and (so I hear) pron?

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 05:46 PM (BK3ZS)

106 "High school chemistry in my day was all about valences and what happens
in the outer electron ring. It seems to have changed. They were
teaching him concepts I had never encountered. When did chemistry change and why?"

Can't speak to your son's classes, but from what I've seen around here in Commiefornia, the drive to turn science classes into ideological indoctrination sessions really cranked up in the last decade or so.

The anthropogenic global warming stuff is in all high school classes now. They'll find some angle to shoehorn it in, however absurd and off topic. I've been told that there are essays on it in AP English Lit.

Posted by: torquewrench at January 30, 2016 05:46 PM (noWW6)

107 It going on now?

Well the parades and such have already started. My sister sent me some pictures from the kids parade they do in her town.

Fat Tuesday is the 9th though.

Posted by: Lauren at January 30, 2016 05:46 PM (0C2f1)

108 Oh shit, missed a part...


Well, it's the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is 40 days before Easter, which is the first Sunday following the first Monday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox, which is .

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 05:47 PM (1xUj/)

109 Hell yeah, I love all submariners, it's a small club. And hell every day was an extreme exercise in physics and we were young dumb and full of it and thought nothing of what we were doing.

Posted by: traye at January 30, 2016 05:47 PM (VxtaD)

110 Fire can't melt steel!

Posted by: Rosie O'Donnell at January 30, 2016 05:47 PM (n22zQ)

111



Did anyone have a physics instructor who would climb a ladder where a
pendulum with a heavy weight was secured, then allow the pendulum to
swing away....and back toward him?





Yes. I had one as an undergraduate. He tied a bowling ball to the ceiling as a pendulum, and held it right in front of his face, let it go, and it came back to just barely graze him on the nose. It was by far the most memorable instance of physics class.

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 05:48 PM (uZNvH)

112 College professor had paint can with a small funnel in the bottom. The bottom of the funnel was attached to a tube through the side of the can and to a rubber squeeze bulb. He filled the funnel with flour and set a small lit candle in the can then sealed the can.

Smacking the bulb would distribute the flour in the can. The flour would ignite the flour which would blow the lid of the paint can about 35 feet in the air. Mini grain elevator explosion.

Posted by: JB1000 at January 30, 2016 05:48 PM (DYdhz)

113 That the same guy that shot at himself under water with a high-powered rifle, the bullet damped down to nothing in a foot and a half?

The Ree indians firing arrows at nasty white guys trying to go underwater to escape had better luck. A stone-tipped arrow has a lot more mass than a 180 grain .30 caliber hunting load.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at January 30, 2016 05:48 PM (U6f54)

114 Liquid nitrogen is so much fun.

Had a friend bring her kids to the lab, and she had a few carnations, at my request. And a superball.

The carnations shattered, and the superball turned to shards rather than bounce.

The climax was the old Tollens test, with some silver coating the insides of test tubes as a souvenir.

Her kids were impressed for years afterwards.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at January 30, 2016 05:50 PM (u82oZ)

115 What happens if the ball doesn't miss the wire? Yeah, his entire spine gets fused.

Posted by: t-bird at January 30, 2016 05:50 PM (n22zQ)

116 My favorite was in Introductory Physics, where the professor picked up a steel suitcase and easily walked it to the left side of the chalkboard and set it down. Then he had a beefy looking freshman pick the same suitcase and asked him to turn around and walk it to the prof.

He couldn't even budge.

Posted by: Gideon7 at January 30, 2016 05:50 PM (gYAkw)

117 pro-tip I read somewhere not witnessed myself. Don't get nervous and push at the release if you volunteer for that pendulum trick.

Posted by: PaleRider at January 30, 2016 05:52 PM (chkUd)

118 What's nu?



E over h.

Posted by: Y-not (@moxiemom) at January 30, 2016 05:03 PM (t5zYU)

no silly, it's c over lambda!

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 05:52 PM (uZNvH)

119 and that's funny that there is a science nerd thread now, I just came back from a day of science outreach stuff

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 05:52 PM (uZNvH)

120 Great Escape (1963) is on TMC
Olde but goodie, lots of physics

Posted by: Skip at January 30, 2016 05:54 PM (hk3Fb)

121 Speaking as the newest soap maker at our tiny little company, I can categorically state that the chemistry of industrial lye is a most unpleasant subject. All lye should be doused in rendered tallow and smothered with essential oils and left to set in oval tubes until soapy. Rather than landing on the bare part of my arm above the nitrile gloves that try vainly to protect my tender flesh from the third degree chemical burns of that nasty crap.

I WILL get better at this, I'm sure.

That is all.

Posted by: tcn in AK at January 30, 2016 05:55 PM (+YMhA)

122 "I just came back from a day of science outreach stuff "


What'd you science-up?

Posted by: Deflector Plate at January 30, 2016 05:55 PM (tv9zS)

123 Didn't we all see this in the Wile E. Coyote cartoons?

Didn't we all learn what NOT to do?

This is willful stupidity.

I have no pity for this guy.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger 1.0 and All That at January 30, 2016 05:56 PM (Xo1Rt)

124 pV=nRT?

Posted by: tcn in AK at January 30, 2016 05:56 PM (+YMhA)

125 Science outreach- "watch what this bullet does to that concrete block."

Posted by: traye at January 30, 2016 05:57 PM (VxtaD)

126 WTF is it about Japanese girls in school uniforms that they are so prominent in anime, manga and (so I hear) pron?

Age of consent in Japan was something like 12 or 14 for the longest time, I think, and that was something of an advance of the traditions of an earlier age. They have a very long cultural tradition of considering girls to be ready, so to speak, at a very young age, IIRC.

Not a matter I care to delve into, but I recall hearing that once (probably here...)

Posted by: Grey Fox at January 30, 2016 05:57 PM (bZ7mE)

127 Consider our generation, who learned the most physics and chemistry, not to mention Opera and other cultural threads, from the best cartoons, primarily the Chuck Jones varieties. Not just science and culture, but fabulous hilarity.

I'll bet it stuck better because we could find humor in it all.

Posted by: tcn in AK at January 30, 2016 05:57 PM (+YMhA)

128 Cornbread are square.

Posted by: just the punchline at January 30, 2016 05:57 PM (W0RfD)

129 So is this cat in the box alive? Dead? I don't have time to agonize over cats that choose to lock themselves in boxes and randomly bat around radiation death machines.

I threw that box in the dumpster, and decided to move on with life!

Posted by: Donald J. Trump at January 30, 2016 05:58 PM (b2qGx)

130 Pi are round.

Posted by: tcn in AK at January 30, 2016 05:58 PM (+YMhA)

131
What'd you science-up?

Posted by: Deflector Plate at January 30, 2016 05:55 PM (tv9zS)

chemistry "magic shows", some hands-on activities like making gloop and color wheels

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 05:59 PM (uZNvH)

132 Get away, Deflector Plate!

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at January 30, 2016 05:59 PM (tv9zS)

133 Do they still have those science road shows touring the elementary schools and junior highs? I went to a nerd-friendly school system and we had all kinds of gimmicky assemblies with the expanding foam and dry ice and rotating platforms.

It was all lost on me, alas. I was (am) a history buff and an art fag.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at January 30, 2016 05:59 PM (jR7Wy)

134 The climax was the old Tollens test, with some silver coating the insides of test tubes as a souvenir.


Those make nice Christmas ornaments.

Growing up, the rule for Christmas ornaments was that they had to be hand-made. Mom and Dad were too poor to buy ornaments their first couple of Christmases and resorted to painting eggshells (whole save a tiny hole on each end to blow the insides out) and suchlike, and it became a tradition.

Posted by: Grey Fox at January 30, 2016 06:01 PM (bZ7mE)

135
Y'know, you just don't see spinning plate acts on television any more...

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 06:01 PM (BK3ZS)

136 tcn, I was always told to keep diluted vinegar on hand for mild spatters. Vinegar is also corrosive, so also wash down with lots of water too.

What recipe are you using for soap?

Posted by: Kindltot at January 30, 2016 06:01 PM (q2o38)

137
Irina Shayk and Mr. Bradley Cooper split after less than a year of dating...

Ace, be still my heart!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 06:01 PM (iQIUe)

138 Holy sheeee-it -- featued at Drudge now, Obama is dragged into the Hillary email scandal big-time:

REVEALED: OBAMA EMAILED HILLARY 18 TIMES!

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/us/politics/ 22-clinton-emails-deemed-too-classified-to-be-made-public.html?_r=0

"The State Department on Friday said for the first time that "top secret" material had been sent through Hillary Clinton's private computer server, and that it would not make public 22 of her emails because they contained highly classified information.

The department announced that 18 emails exchanged between Mrs. Clinton and President Obama would also be withheld, citing the longstanding practice of preserving presidential communications for future release."

Remember Obama claimed he first learned of Hill homebrew server "from the media".

Posted by: zombie at January 30, 2016 06:02 PM (jBuUi)

139 Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at January 30, 2016 05:59 PM (jR7Wy)

not so much, no

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 06:03 PM (uZNvH)

140 Trump Towers is Yuge, fabulous. Because it stands on the yuge, fabulous shoulders of that yuge giant physics, that makes such buildings possible!

Posted by: Donald J. Trump at January 30, 2016 06:04 PM (b2qGx)

141 I'm sure getting tired of seeing that "this browser doesn't support video playback" when Firefox tells me that it does and doesn't give me a way to fix this.

It's mostly twitter stuff and some other imbeds.

isn't there a commonly used format?

maybe before anyone puts this out they should check if every one gets to see it?

Posted by: Bitter Clinger 1.0 and All That at January 30, 2016 06:04 PM (Xo1Rt)

142 "REVEALED: OBAMA EMAILED HILLARY 18 TIMES! "



There goes that. Fcuk.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at January 30, 2016 06:04 PM (tv9zS)

143 The best chemistry demonstration I ever saw dealt with a classroom with those movable chalkboards that went up twenty feet. This particular time, all of them were at the floor level, and as soon as the professor lifted one of them, the next chalkboard had a Playboy centerfold taped to it.

Good chemistry, indeed!

Posted by: Sasquatch the Original trans-Wookie at January 30, 2016 06:05 PM (LEJHr)

144 In the future most physics problems will focus on aligning the phase inducers with the tachyon emitter array.

Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 06:05 PM (mR7Es)

145 You got a chemistry class
I want a piece of your mind
You don't know what you started
When you mixed it up with mine.

Are you ready for a final
Solution?

Posted by: Elvis Costello at January 30, 2016 06:07 PM (1xUj/)

146
Hold my akvavit and watch this.......

Posted by: Filthy Scandi Iceback Scientist at January 30, 2016 06:07 PM (o98Jz)

147
About a year ago at an auction I came across one of those six foot long instructional slide rules that used to be mounted above blackboards in math / science classrooms.

No, I didn't buy it.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 06:07 PM (BK3ZS)

148 WARNING: The laws of physics are in full effect.

Posted by: Ostral B Heretic at January 30, 2016 06:08 PM (5zyvn)

149 That swinging pendulum experiment where the demonstrator risks injury: there's a photo of Feynman doing it in his "Six Easy Pieces" lecture anthology. He's flinching from the backswing, so that shows how much he trusted conservation of energy.

Posted by: gp at January 30, 2016 06:08 PM (mk9aG)

150 Forget physics. Concentrate on memorizing the Qu'ran, and obeying your mullahs.

Posted by: Barack Obama at January 30, 2016 06:10 PM (b2qGx)

151 You guys and your fancy "science"!

Posted by: Weasel at January 30, 2016 06:10 PM (e3bId)

152 Only 'C' I ever got in my entire school career, Kindergarten thru Master's, was in Chemistry. My brain is not designed to process that particular type of information.

Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:10 PM (dFi94)

153 138 Holy sheeee-it -- featued at Drudge now, Obama is dragged into the Hillary email scandal big-time:

Just saw this. Did it just come out? This could be big time stuff. I'd say it's time for a special prosecutor/independent counsel. This can't possibly be handled by the Justice Dept.

(I know, but I can dream, can't I?)

Posted by: Oldbuffalo at January 30, 2016 06:10 PM (/pOl7)

154 I got your physics right here!
*pointing*

Posted by: Weasel at January 30, 2016 06:12 PM (e3bId)

155 Oh. Are we talking about physics? Or chemistry? Are they the same thing? Or different?

Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:13 PM (dFi94)

156 152 in got a 'C' once too! Otherwise all D's and F's.

Posted by: Weasel at January 30, 2016 06:13 PM (e3bId)

157 Obama is dragged into the Hillary email scandal big-time:

We just want to hear how chemjeff's science 'outreach' went...!

Posted by: The GOPe at January 30, 2016 06:13 PM (n22zQ)

158
144 In the future most physics problems will focus on aligning the phase inducers with the tachyon emitter array.
Posted by: eman at January 30, 2016 06:05 PM (mR7Es)


I save my biggest guffaws for when the missus has Star Trek, Next Generation episodes on and the crew talks about creating a deus ex machina solution by randomly rewiring or redirecting propulsion power to the hermaphug or the piston recoil springs. They knew better in Ghostbusters: "Don't cross the streams!"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 06:14 PM (BK3ZS)

159 Oh. Are we talking about physics? Or chemistry? Are they the same thing? Or different?

Physics is when you do jumping jacks. Chemistry is when you drink Gatorade afterwards.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 06:14 PM (1xUj/)

160 "Put a few drops of alcohol in the bottle and seal it with a rubber stopper."

ProTip: Don't waste the absolute C2H5OH on this experiment.

Also, damp NI3 sprinkled in the hall, just before class starts.

Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose at January 30, 2016 06:14 PM (n4/XQ)

161 I'm willing to discuss the physics of Kate Upton on a trampoline.

Posted by: Weasel at January 30, 2016 06:16 PM (e3bId)

162 Physics is when you do jumping jacks. Chemistry is when you drink Gatorade afterwards.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 06:14 PM (1xUj/)
==============================================

Jumping Jacks make my boobs hurt. I can drink Gatorade though. Rats !! I'm stuck with stupid chemistry !


Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:16 PM (dFi94)

163 The Sokal hoax was a hoax?

Posted by: Barack Obama at January 30, 2016 06:16 PM (b2qGx)

164
Read somewhere that Barky is going to visit a mosque next week for something or another.

"First time as President!" they say. Sure, sure.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at January 30, 2016 06:17 PM (BK3ZS)

165 155 Oh. Are we talking about physics? Or chemistry? Are they the same thing? Or different?
Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:13 PM (dFi94)


They're different disciplines.

Posted by: OregonMuse at January 30, 2016 06:17 PM (goH/2)

166 Ow my balls.

Posted by: wth at January 30, 2016 06:18 PM (HgMAr)

167 I know a lot of things about science, but some of what I know isn't true.

Posted by: Stay out da Bushes at January 30, 2016 06:18 PM (rZJS9)

168 >> we talking about physics? Or chemistry? Are they the same thing? Or different?

Chemistry is really just a specialized branch of physics.

Come to think of it, life, the Universe, and everything are too.

Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose at January 30, 2016 06:18 PM (n4/XQ)

169 for the alcohol bottle thing, you don't even need a Tesla coil. just get a big jug, pour maybe a few ounces of methanol or ethanol in there (not much), cap it and shake it around to let the vapors saturate the whole bottle, then pour out the excess liquid and just hold a lit match near the neck of the bottle, you will get a "whoosh" as the vapor ignites. that is basically how a car piston works.

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 06:19 PM (uZNvH)

170 >> I'm willing to discuss the physics of Kate Upton on a trampoline.

Merely a third-order differential equation. Not that working that out in your head isn't interesting.

Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose at January 30, 2016 06:21 PM (n4/XQ)

171 Physics is the study of matter and energy, and the laws that govern them

Chemistry is the study of the elements that make up the periodic table, and how they interact.

I think somewhere on the subatomic level, the line between physics and chemistry gets kinda blurry...

Posted by: OregonMuse at January 30, 2016 06:22 PM (goH/2)

172 They're different disciplines.


Posted by: OregonMuse at January 30, 2016 06:17 PM (goH/2)
=============================================

Different. Well huh. This is why I went into Speech Pathology. No physics, no chemistry, but we did get to carve up cadavers.

Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:22 PM (dFi94)

173 "REVEALED: OBAMA EMAILED HILLARY 18 TIMES! "


Flush!

Posted by: Memory Hole at January 30, 2016 06:22 PM (3DIzJ)

174 170
>> I'm willing to discuss the physics of Kate Upton on a trampoline.



Merely a third-order differential equation


two for the boobehs, one for the stiffy?

Posted by: chemjeff at January 30, 2016 06:22 PM (uZNvH)

175 This is why I went into Speech Pathology. No physics, no chemistry, but we did get to carve up cadavers.

Did any of them, um, say anything interesting?

Posted by: hogmartin at January 30, 2016 06:23 PM (NA5LM)

176 If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose at January 30, 2016 06:23 PM (n4/XQ)

177 I may have to turn the AC on.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at January 30, 2016 06:24 PM (tv9zS)

178 Did any of them, um, say anything interesting?

Posted by: hogmartin at January 30, 2016 06:23 PM (NA5LM)
============================================

The old guy I had should have asked for a dentist. His teeth were awful. Other than that he was a pretty nice guy.

Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:25 PM (dFi94)

179 Physicists do it with energy, mass and constantly.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at January 30, 2016 06:25 PM (MNgU2)

180 Freshman physics, fall 1975, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Dr. Leitner's Magic Show.

He had bowling ball Oma tether, stood against a wall, held it against his nose, let it go, and stood there. Because of friction, when it swung back, it stopped just short of his face.

Posted by: Butch at January 30, 2016 06:26 PM (hXu8T)

181 Don't know what a slide rule is for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydCNh9tNP2o

Posted by: grammie winger, sign of The Time at January 30, 2016 06:26 PM (dFi94)

182 I had a not well liked physics professor who did a demonstration where he called up a student, had him stand on a turntable, gave the student a baseball bat and told him to try to hit him with the bat. The person he called up in my class understood what would happen and instead of trying to swing like a baseball player pulled the bat up over his as though he was clubbing a baby seal. The professor beat a hasty retreat.

Posted by: Aviator at January 30, 2016 06:27 PM (c7vUv)

183 I like to think of myself as more of an applied physicist. You guys do the math, I'm going sailing.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 30, 2016 06:30 PM (/tuJf)

184 >>Remember Obama claimed he first learned of Hill homebrew server "from the media".


Whoa, guess Hillary's in the clear.

Bet the MSM with "not remember" Obama's claim he had no idea of Hillary's personal server.

Posted by: Lizzy at January 30, 2016 06:32 PM (NOIQH)

185 >> two for the boobehs, one for the stiffy?

Well, IF she managed to move ONLY in the vertical dimension, it would only be a 2nd order DiffyQ. The random sideways and forward/backward perturbations take it to 3rd.

Introducing the stiffy transforms it to a three body problem, for which, sadly, we still seek a general solution.

I do strongly encourage Horde members interested in pursuing an approximate solution to that particular exercise to do so.

For science.

Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose at January 30, 2016 06:32 PM (n4/XQ)

186 In college chemistry lab I violated my own rule about picking a lab partner: always pick a nerdy smart-looking guy. No, this time I had to go with my roommate. She burned herself, I erased my thumbprint with sulfuric acid, and we both got covered with a carcinogen that I spilled. We got a B though. The thumbprint grew back so that was kind of an interesting biology experiment.

Posted by: stace at January 30, 2016 06:34 PM (CoX6k)

187 The person he called up in my class understood what would happen and instead of trying to swing like a baseball player pulled the bat up over his as though he was clubbing a baby seal. The professor beat a hasty retreat.
Posted by: Aviator at January 30, 2016 06:27 PM (c7vUv)


Ha! Another thing he could've done was to just hold the bat out horizontally and clothes-lined the prof. as he rotated around.

Posted by: OregonMuse at January 30, 2016 06:34 PM (goH/2)

188 University of Arizona, Fall 88, Physics 110 Mechanics.
Dr. Royal Stark had a bowling ball secured by a metal cable to the ceiling.
He challenged anyone in the room. Against the wall, the ball would line up to an around the face of a sixish-foot male. Held right against the face then released. The swing of the pendulum was about a 15-18' lecture hall height, which would be almost the length. Upon release, the silence of the room was deafening as the bowling ball arced its journey to the other side where an infinity of time slowed then stopped then changed direction of the ball.
As it arced back to the test subject, the excitement of the few women and some of the males grew exponentially. The test subject's face was telling.
Dr. Stark, standing next to him, whispering to him (probably: "trust the force, Fluke")
The ball seemed to smash the face, but as it drew to the reverse, the subject did a touchdown dance.
It's Physics.
Physics wins.

Posted by: JDubya at January 30, 2016 06:35 PM (FgITP)

189 "REVEALED: OBAMA EMAILED HILLARY 18 TIMES! "

Seventeen of those were, "I'm out of the office until..." auto-replies. The other one was supposed to be to Reggie and is private.

Posted by: t-bird at January 30, 2016 06:37 PM (ZxmMG)

190 The demonstration you're talking about was a professor at Cleveland State who used to teach the lecture hall Intro Physics course. He had a gazillion of those to get the principles through the skulls of folks not bright enough to get into Ohio State...

Posted by: southcentralpa at January 30, 2016 06:37 PM (Xs9BT)

191 >> 130 Pi are round.

Often harassed by SJW, some pi are squared to be round.

Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose at January 30, 2016 06:38 PM (n4/XQ)

192 some pi are squared to be round.
Posted by: Duncanthrax the Bellicose

It's hip to be squared.

Posted by: Pinocchio at January 30, 2016 06:40 PM (Pwh6H)

193 It was supposed to be a "Pi" sock. Damned autofill put in Pinocchio.

Posted by: Pi at January 30, 2016 06:41 PM (Pwh6H)

194
Ace's Mom schools little Ace:

https://goo.gl/eGiUGZ

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 06:44 PM (iQIUe)

195 Death has no mercy, and neither does physics.

Gotta get back outside, maybe tell a few stories later.

Oh well, here's one, apropos of a chemjeff up above:
a cool demonstration of explosive limits of flammable gas + air:
- get a longish plexiglas tube, say 1" - 1 1/2" x 18 - 24" long, drill a hole in it at the bottom to let in air. glue a square of plexiglas to the bottom for a base.
- fill tube with, say, natural gas .... though most anything would work .... don't use hydrogen .... let it flow to purge air from the tube, you want pure methane in there.
- light the gas at the top of the tube; you will get a quiet blue flame
- as methane is consumed at the top air enters at the bottom
- when the mixture reaches the upper limit (16% ?)
the whole mixture will explode with a "whoomp"

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at January 30, 2016 06:44 PM (Z8DIA)

196 It was a beautiful day today! Sunny and 57. Me and my son and daughter went to visit mom. She got a new bed courtesy of hospice and is in love with it. We went to the library and worked on a puzzle. She was a happy woman today

Posted by: jewells45 at January 30, 2016 06:46 PM (CNHr1)

197
Dick Table Tennis:

https://goo.gl/MkDchr


Ouch!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at January 30, 2016 06:47 PM (iQIUe)

198 Thar be nood!

Posted by: Bandersnatch at January 30, 2016 06:49 PM (1xUj/)

199 It will not be Obastard's first time in a mosque, will it?

Posted by: CMU VET at January 30, 2016 06:49 PM (ejB0r)

200 170 >> I'm willing to discuss the physics of Kate Upton on a trampoline.

Merely a third-order differential equation. Not that working that out in your head isn't interesting.

******************

I'd like to provide all three solutions to the problem of Kate Upton bouncing on a trampoline...

Posted by: Sasquatch the Original trans-Wookie at January 30, 2016 06:49 PM (LEJHr)

201 Dick Table Tennis:

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang!

Ow, My Balls!

Posted by: Frito at January 30, 2016 06:50 PM (Pwh6H)

202 Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar.

Hydrogen A: "I think I've lost an electron".

Hydrogen B: "Are you sure?"

Hydrogen A: "I'm positive!"

Posted by: Zombie Nils Bohr at January 30, 2016 06:51 PM (bIhmV)

203 Posted by: jewells45 at January 30, 2016 06:46 PM (CNHr1)

That's great, jewells. I hope she has many more days like this.

Posted by: stace at January 30, 2016 06:52 PM (CoX6k)

204 It was a beautiful day today! Sunny and 57. Me and
my son and daughter went to visit mom. She got a new bed courtesy of
hospice and is in love with it. We went to the library and worked on a
puzzle. She was a happy woman today

Posted by: jewells45 at January 30, 2016 06:46 PM (CNHr1)

Glad to here your mom and you all had a good day, jewells.

Posted by: redbanzai at January 30, 2016 06:53 PM (NPofj)

205 Ooo, a Fisiks and Kemistry Open thread.....

I'll come back later.....

Posted by: Puddleglum at January 30, 2016 06:56 PM (NGd+i)

206 I can't remember physics. I do remember a sixth grade science teacher though. He brought a hand cranked generator to class. This was a defining moment in my life. What he did would get him fired today. He dared people, 100% males of course, to hold the ends of the electrodes while he turned the crank.

While not the initial volunteer, inevitably my opportunity came. I whinched, I fought to unclench my hands, I dropped to my knees, as every one of my male classmates had done. I learned an important lesson about electricity; respect.

Based on that knowledge I went on to a career in working with electricity, not because I was fearless, but because I had respect and caution, and when computers came along, the ability to read a wiring diagram translated instantly into understanding computer programming, which translated to a radical extension of my working career. I made millions, my employer probably made a hundred million.

All because of a single lesson. One which would be impossible to recreate in a contemporary classroom. Pity that.

Posted by: ugg boots at January 30, 2016 07:00 PM (fbovC)

207 Wonderful Jewells.

Posted by: PaleRider at January 30, 2016 07:01 PM (chkUd)

208 Great story, ugg boots.

Science marches forward. Hybrid polymers:

"We have created a surprising new polymer with nano-sized compartments
that can be removed and chemically regenerated multiple times,"

bit.ly/20eJ5vk


Posted by: KT at January 30, 2016 07:08 PM (qahv/)

209 The only equation I remember from my Science classes is the one for good sex:

"The mass of the ass times the cube of the boob divided by the heat of the meat times the torque of the pork."

Also this one:

B4(I4Q) === RU
------
15

Posted by: Noam Sayen at January 30, 2016 07:16 PM (bIhmV)

210 Dang! You're supposed to read it as, "RU over 15"

Posted by: Noam Sayen at January 30, 2016 07:17 PM (bIhmV)

211 I'm doing an experiment on how much popcorn I can cram in my mouth.

Posted by: Weasel at January 30, 2016 07:21 PM (e3bId)

212 Grade 11 Chem. Teacher demonstrating in classroom. A 500 ml beaker half full of water. A tiny chunk of sodium. A glass petri dish on top. Some fizzing around and a little clink as the petri dish jumped up an inch.
Well, that wasn't too impressive.
Repeat with a MUCH larger chunk of sodium. Boom. Up goes the petri dish. Down come petri dish fragments as well as most of four eight foot fluorescent tubes from the ceiling lights 10 feet overhead.
One chunk of light tube conked the teacher on the head resulting in an impressive (if not dangeeous) scalp wound. One smashed the beaker of water and knocked over the oil-filled bottle of sodium.
Hilarity ensued. I think half the class thought we were going to lose the whole end of the school.

Posted by: Pjf at January 30, 2016 07:31 PM (ffo2W)

213 @168 Physics is the discipline that describes natural phenomena primarily in terms of fundamental laws expressed in a mathematical form. A extremely vague description, yes, but it's the only one that holds up to any examination.

Posted by: Prof. Fido, Ph. D. at January 30, 2016 07:50 PM (cbsx0)

214 My college physics teacher did the "will this pendulum break my nose" demonstration -- and rocketed out of class on the last day using an office chair and fire extinguisher.

But the bestest demonstration of all was my high school chemistry teacher. After a number of the kids kept pestering him to teach us how to make gunpowder, he put on a big show of mixing some up in a bowl on his desk, until he had quite a heap of it there in front of him. He then dropped his cigarette (oh, yes: he taught chemistry with a butt hanging out of his mouth at all times) into the pile of black powder. The front row kids yelped and ducked as . . . the pile caught fire and burned smokily for a few seconds until he put it out. Because gunpowder doesn't explode, it combusts.

Posted by: Trimegistus at January 30, 2016 08:03 PM (zq6az)

215 The smokestack is a nice touch.

Posted by: profligatewaste at January 30, 2016 08:03 PM (+gatN)

216
17:52:30...:

Posted by: Spun and Murky at January 30, 2016 08:47 PM (Bi1Tt)

217 MIT physicist Walter Lewin would do the ladder/pendulum thing.

His videos are on Youtube.

Posted by: aquaviva at January 30, 2016 08:57 PM (rUfyz)

218 High school physics teacher dropped an entire holding tank of liquid mercury on the floor. Shit went EVERYWHERE. Students helped clean up and were throwing it at each other. This was early 80's. Catholic school.

Posted by: aquaviva at January 30, 2016 08:59 PM (rUfyz)

219 My physics teacher had a high ceiling and did the bowling ball pendulum. However, he held it suspended about two inches away from his face with a big kitchen spoon, then 'let it go' by rapidly pulling the kitchen spoon away. He was unharmed.

He then explained that when he was our age and his teacher did the experiment, he did it with his bare hands, holding the bowling ball on both sides. And when he let go, he unconsciously gave it a slight push with his fingers as you might. More than enough to make it come back and crack him in the face.

Posted by: luagha at January 31, 2016 03:03 AM (7Jg/P)

220 Richard Feynman used the bowling ball in class, and it was dramatized in the film, The Challenger Disaster. BTW, with the 30th anniversary, that movie, which focuses on the NASA committee that investigated the disaster, is a recommend if you are interested in the topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D30_3JlDfzk

Posted by: EstoniaKat at January 31, 2016 05:06 AM (UYMIV)

221 "Did anyone have a physics instructor who would climb a ladder where a pendulum with a heavy weight was secured, then allow the pendulum to swing away....and back toward him?

I have heard rumors, but nobody ever claimed to have seen it."

Yes, I too have seen such sorcery. The late Professor Albert Allen Bartlett* of the University of Colorado would provide just this sort of demonstration to his Freshman Physics classes.

*Behind his back, we called Professor Bartlett "A Squared" because we were freshmen and Physics majors and therefore very clever.

BTW, A Squared has a fascinating series of videos, still available on YouTube, on what he called the greatest failing of Mankind....The inability to understand the exponential function. It has applications to our ever-expanding national debt.

Posted by: Relapsed Physics Geek at January 31, 2016 08:53 AM (qSNBW)

222 Did this experiment the first day when teaching Freshman Physics. Also had a poster that said Obey Gravity; It's the Law.. Ditto to the comment above about Professor Bartlett--awesome man, and his lectures beat any other professor I ever had.

Posted by: rocdoctom at January 31, 2016 10:27 AM (IhFHP)

223 The great Walter Lewin does the pendelum trick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a0FbQdH3dY

Posted by: Bob at January 31, 2016 10:32 AM (fVGlW)

224 Huma + Hildabeast = 69

Posted by: huma at January 31, 2016 12:06 PM (p546x)

225 Sadly, a Newton is only half an apple.

Posted by: TexasJew at January 31, 2016 03:40 PM (N7G17)

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