Weeks III & IV (September 13 - 25)

Physics of the Mundane

Honors 1500

Adam Johnston

Assigned Readings:

·         Hatton & Plouffe: pp 7-11 (Pirsig), 11-25 (Kneller), 25-37 (Bauer), 46-51 (von Baeyer).

·         Feynman: Chapter 2 (pp. 23–45)

 

Schedule:

Week III:

9/13

Madness of stirring hot chocolate.

Lab notebooks due!

Environmental physics I
(Weather permitting)

Learning volumes:
Graphical analysis

Week IV:

9/20

The runaway bowling ball:
Analysis of motion

Motion, the easy way.

Debriefing and discussion.
The methods of science.

Response paper due!

 

Suggested reading response questions (although you are free to address another issue(s)):

To what extent is scientific method a universal way of knowing?  Is there a single scientific method that applies to all areas of research?  Does such a scientific method apply to all ways of individual decision making?  What aspect of the scientific method makes it appropriate for research?  Is this the same aspect that makes it appropriate for everyday activities?

Lab problem(s):

With the help of your research colleagues, you should have created an entire data set which describes various motions of a bowling ball and super powered car.  From these tables of information, construct graphs of position versus time, and from these graphs, describe the motion that is evident.  (So, for example, you could label on the graph where the object is speeding up, slowing down, stopped, etc.; and you could give a general description of the overall motion described in the graph as a whole.)