This year’s “Flame Challenge” asks scientists to explain color in terms an 11-year-old can understand. The rules limit answers to either 300 words of text or a 6-minute video. 300 words is ridiculously short, so video is clearly the way to go. Of course, I’m not much of a video expert, but then, one of… Continue reading What Is Color?
Shave and a Haircut
Kate has been cutting The Pip’s hair a little bit at a time, and this morning he demanded a trim. This is a somewhat fraught process, as he’s two, and thus tends not to hold still very well. While Kate was trying to get him arranged, SteelyKid came bouncing into the bathroom to “watch,” which… Continue reading Shave and a Haircut
Friday Miscellany
I got book edits this week, gave an exam on Thursday, and pre-registration for our spring term classes is just beginning, so I have a parade of students begging to get into this course or that one to deal with. So I have no more time for detailed blogging, but will do a bit of… Continue reading Friday Miscellany
What Is the Resistance of an Instek GDM 396 Current Meter?
Last week, we looked at the resistance of a voltage sensor by using the discharge of a capacitor, getting a value that was a bit high, but not wildly out of line with the specs. This time out, we’re going to look at the resistance of a current meter, because some students asked about it… Continue reading What Is the Resistance of an Instek GDM 396 Current Meter?
Against “Gen Eds”
Matt Reed, who will forever be “Dean Dad” to me, has a post on “new” topics that might be considered for “gen ed” requirements, that is, the core courses that all students are required to take. This spins off a question Rebecca Townsend asked (no link in original), “Should public speaking be a general education… Continue reading Against “Gen Eds”
Uncertain Dots, Episode 6
This week’s episode of Uncertain Dots is, if anything, even more free-form than previous weeks, including a brief cameo from one of Rhett’s kids: Topic covered include the arrangement of faculty offices, the relative lack of demos for E&M (compared to mechanics, where there are endless videos to analyze, etc.) a little bit about science… Continue reading Uncertain Dots, Episode 6
Least Physics-y Physical Activity?
I’m running errands today, so here’s a quick post picking up a question from last week’s Olympic physics hangout: What sport involves the least physics? One of the kids in the classes we were video chatting with asked that, and I really like the question, though it was a struggle to answer. It’s one of… Continue reading Least Physics-y Physical Activity?
Science Journalism vs. Sports Journalism
Over at Backreaction, Bee takes up the eternal question of scientists vs. journalists in exactly the manner you would expect from a physicist: she makes a graph. Several of them, in fact. It’s generally a good analysis of the situation, namely that scientists and journalists disagree about how to maximize information transfer within the constraints… Continue reading Science Journalism vs. Sports Journalism
Olympic Physics Chat
I spent a while on Friday morning talking about the physics of the Olympics with a couple of science classes in Tennessee and Lawrence Norris from the National Society of Black Physicists, organized by Adam “@2footgiraffe” Taylor. This was done via a Google hangout, so the video is recorded on YouTube: The recording seems to… Continue reading Olympic Physics Chat
What Is the Resistance of a PASCO 750 Interface Box?
For the latest in our ongoing series of post where I overthink simple questions, I’d like to present the longest single continuous experiment in Uncertain Principles history, which took six and a half hours yesterday. All to answer the question in the post title. This may seem like a waste, given that I could download… Continue reading What Is the Resistance of a PASCO 750 Interface Box?