The Tabletop Explainer: Recent Episodes
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Quasi-weekly answerers to science questions, along with brief lessons and ideas for teachers and students.
Now you can find out where you are even if you don't have GPS. Learn how to find south along with your latitude and longitude using only a few household items.
Last week we covered the two postulates of special relativity, and next week we'll use geometry to derive some of its consequences, but first we need to learn some nomenclature. It's not exciting, but it will prove helpful in the long run.
The bizarre consequences of special relativity arise from two postulates, two things which once accepted lead to Einstein's space-time. In this series of five episodes, we will introduce and build upon these postulates to derive the consequences of special relativity.
The quadrant is a simple tool for measuring the altitude (angle) of an object above the horizon. This episode makes use of a printable template found at: http://www.davidcolarusso.com/handouts/quadrant.pdf
Einstein may have believed God doesn't play dice, but God need not conform to Einstein's beliefs. This piece explores the phenomenon of quantum mechanical tunneling whose explanation requires us to accept the reality of quantum mechanics. It's not a trick; it's reality.
In the movie Speed a bus is forced to jump an unfinished portion of highway to avoid setting off a bomb on the bus rigged to explode should it go below fifty miles an hour. Of course, they make it, but we want to know if this could really happen.
What do bicycle wheels, figure skaters, and exploding stars have in common? That's right, angular momentum.
Electricity and magnetism are intimately connected. Explore their relationship in this short explanation of the hand rules.
In the inaugural episode of the Tabletop Explainer, examine the magnetic field. What is is and what is it good for?