To-Do for this week

For this week I will be updating my blog with the following entries:

Explanation of Schrodinger's Cat

Project One Update : Muzzle Velocity Estimates

Everyday Physics Phenomenon: Photosynthesis

Stay Tuned,

JPLittleton

Internet Problems...

My residence is having internet problems so I will not be able to post a concise post until that is fixed. Meanwhile it looks like the next advanced topic will be Schrodinger's Cat so I will start preparing for that since it is an abstract topic no matter how you explain it.

JPLittleton

Project One: A Study of Projectile Motion

Good morning everyone, today I announce that my first physics project will be done with projectile motion.

How will I do that? Well, throwing a ball is boring after a while and can be very tiring after many throws. Guns are cool and the effects are more dramatic but a little too dangerous for this project. The 'cannon' in the picture is a happy alternative. It is a compressed air cannon made out of PVC that operates around 60 psi and is designed to shoot water balloons. My aerospace engineering friend(also in the picture holding the cannon in the yellow shirt) and I made the cannon out of boredom one weekend and had fun with it until it broke last spring. My plan is to rebuild it and improve on the basic design we had.

DISCLAIMER: Please do not try to duplicate this project at home! There is some danger associated with this project and also can be illegal in some areas of the country.

So since that is out of the way, the question is how will I be keeping in line with my blog's original purpose of physics education and furthering science through a water balloon cannon? The answer is to use the scientific method to try and accomplish some goal.

Here are the steps as defined on wikipedia's article on the scientific method

1. Define the question
2. Gather information and resources (observe)
3. Form hypothesis
4. Perform experiment and collect data
5. Analyze data
6. Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis
7. Publish results
8. Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

The question for this project is:

Can a home-made compressed air cannon be made accurate enough to hit a 50-Gallon drum from 200 meters consistantly, ie 3+ shots in a row, with water balloons?

So now begins the second step, information gathering. The next post will be about basic projectile motion and other theories involved with this project.

Do you think this project is a reasonable one? Too easy? Too hard? Too dangerous? Feedback is always appriciated.

JPLittleton

Everyday Physics Observations:Rayleigh Scattering

So one of the things I appreciate most about physics is the ability to recognize everyday phenomenon and realize what physical effects cause them. One of the physical effect that everyone has seen is Rayleigh Scattering.

Rayleigh Scattering is the scattering of light by particles that are smaller than the wavelength of light that hits the particle. When light hits a particle that is small the scattering angle of the light is dependent on the wavelength. As illustrated in the following picture I made. In this picture below white light is scattered from a particle indicated by the black circle. Longer wavelengths, i.e. red and yellow wavelengths, are scattered the least but shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are scattered at greater angles from the original path of light.

How has everyone seen this effect? This is the reason why some eyes are blue. The particles that are in the iris are smaller than in other types of eyes and this leads to blue wavelengths being scattered off of the iris. If you would like to learn more about what other physical effects lead to other eye colors I invite you to check out wikipedia's article on eye color. So next time you see anyone with beautiful baby blues, you can thank Rayleigh Scattering. (Photo by paul+photos = moody's on Flickr)




The most important phenomenon that can be explained by Rayleigh Scattering is the color of the sky. This picture, taken by kevindooley on Flickr, is a perfect example of Rayleigh Scattering. You can see that closer to the sun the light is redder, then the light fades to yellow as you get farther away from the sun, and then finally to blue. This is due to the scattering angle of the light that is hitting the particles in the atmosphere. This gradient from red to yellow to blue is present throughout the day around the disk of the sun but the colors do not spread out enough to be noticed until the sun is close to the horizon during sunset.

This is just one of the many physical effects you can observe on a daily basis. If you have any questions about Rayleigh Scattering feel free to ask and I will gladly answer them.

JPLittleton

It all started when...

I decided that I wanted to do something with physics from a young age. My mom was always pushing me to try new things or do something different in order to enrich my childhood. I think my obsession with physics started when I saw Star Trek: The Next Generation and I said, "Mom, I'm going to fly a starship one day." From that point on I was destined to become a nerd and still am glad to be a nerd today.

It was one singular inspiring moment that drove me to learn constellation names, learn math techniques beyond my grade level, and just have a curiosity for anything scientific. Everything I learned I became more curious and wanted to learn more and push myself to find out new ideas and things to learn. Because of this I am studying physics and wanting to share all that with everyone else. I am really curious to know if other people have had a similar experience with what they are passionate about. Was there a singular moment that pushed you into the field you study/work in today?

JPLittleton