ALKALI METALS IN WATER

Somehow, I never get tired of adding alkali metals to water!

Thanks to KM for recording this on his new cellphone.

NEUTRINOS

If you missed Stephen Parke on the National Programme on Saturday, you can listen to his interview here

PHYSICS CLASSROOM

The old link on the right-hand side wasn't working: the Physics Classroom is now being hosted by Glenbrook South Physics website.

Check it out, it's brilliant!

TARANAKI TECH AT OTAGO

On a recent visit to Otago University's Physics Department I was pleased to see one of Ecoinnovations' generators being used in the energy research laboratory.
Mike Lawley makes these generators in Taranaki from Fisher & Paykel "Smart-Drive" washing-machine motors.

HOLIDAY ROCK COLLECTION - ROCK GUIDE

Here's an online rock guide you can start using to classify your rocks.

NEW ZEALAND FROM THE SPACE SHUTTLE

Enjoy this photograph, which the space shuttle commander took for NPBHS student Charley Miles. Space shuttle on the left (tail fin pointing towards Earth) New Zealand on the right!

This makes a superb desktop image.

Click on the photo for the full version.

NPBHS CREST IN SPACE

The NPBHS tiger-jacket crest presented to NASA by Charley Miles in 2006 is currently in space, aboard the shuttle.
TVNZ Video:

COW'S EYE DISSECTION

Today we dissected cows' eyes.
Although our scalpels and scissors were a bit blunt, we were able to cut up the eyes and see the main features, including the

• lens,
  
• cornea,
  
• aqueous and vitreous humours,
• retina,
• tapetum (the shiny layer that looks like paua shell and reflects light),
• optic nerve.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

LEN LYE

Not really about physics (any more than anything isn't!) but this picture is historically interesting, especially to residents of New Plymouth. It shows Len Lye (in black) attempting to erect an early (12m) version of his famous "Windwand" in New York in 1960. The technology back then simply wasn't up to Lye's vision. Now you can see a 45m Windwand on the New Plymouth foreshore. Lye's sculptures show an instinctive understanding of physics: if you get the chance, go and see his works. They are particularly interesting to students studying harmonics and wave-forms. The gentleman assisting him in the photo, wearing a white suit, is the English writer Robert Graves (author of "Goodbye to All That" and "I, Claudius"). In 1942 Robert Graves' daughter Catherine married the New Zealand nuclear physicist Dr. Clifford Dalton, who was later to invent the fast-breeder reactor. After Dalton's death in 1961, Catherine alleged that he had been murdered for his part in breaking the American monopoloy on nuclear technology, and even that the death of another New Zealand-born physicist, Dr. Gilbert Bogle, in 1963 was part of a cover-up to prevent Bogle from investigating Dalton's death. However it is generally accepted that Dalton died of cancer, and that Bogle's mysterious death beside a Sydney river was probably caused by hydrogen sulphide poisoning.

SAFETY FIRST

10SCAMC modelling the latest in laboratory eyewear


















Come on guys let's be serious!

USING COMPUTER DATA-LOGGING

Data-logging

Using the "datastudio" software we can find the acceleration of a free-falling object. The sensor we used was a picket-fence and photogate.
Angus shows the screen display of graphs and tables produced.

PHYSICS (YR10)

The Bugatti Veyron has a top speed in excess of 400km/hr. You need a good broadband connection to watch this movie. You may get better results by double-clicking the screen and watching it direct at dailymotion.

Bugatti Veyron at top speed

It accelerates from 200km/hr to 300km/hr in 9.4s

To convert from km/hr to m/s you need to divide by 3.6.

1) What is the average acceleration in m/s² over the 9.4s?
2) If the mass of the Veyron is 1950kg, what is the average force applied by the car on the road over the 9.4s?

Post your answers as 'comments'.

RUSTING (YR10)

The results of our rusting experiment:

The tube on the left has a stopper, and a small amount of Calcium Chloride to exclude and absorb any air (Oxygen)
This nail has no rust.

The middle tube has no stopper and is half-full of plain water. The nail is therefore open to reaction with Oxygen and Water. This nail had a lot of rusting.
The tube on the right is filled with boiled water (to remove dissolved Oxygen) and covered with a layer of oil. This nail had only a very small amount of rust

Conclusion:

Both Oxygen and Water (as well as Iron, of course! - Thanks to Ken "what's the frequency?" Lockhart) are needed for rusting to occur.

Wikipedia link