Fryeburg Academy Physics

What part of the human body has the highest density of hairs per square centimeter?

Hint #1: It’s not your head

Hint #2: It’s an area in plain sight

A discussion of this came up in F period today, and since I offered them some extra credit I figured I should offer the same to everyone.

One of my favorite science fiction books is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and I highly recommend it for everyone.  I frequently make references to it in class, and think how much smarter you’ll feel if you get some of my little jokes.  Example: I’ve said before that the answer to “the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything” is 42; that comes from the Hitchhiker’s Guide.  Your extra credit assignment is to read the book by the end of Thanksgiving break.  You don’t have to buy it (I think our school library has a copy), but you do have to read it.

If you approach me before the end of the first day back from Thanksgiving break (December 1) and can prove to me that you’ve read the book (I’ll ask you a few questions), I’ll give you extra credit worth a 10-point homework assignment.  Not huge, but if you’re on the edge between grades it could bump you up.

At the end of the school year, I hope you’ll have not only an understanding of physics, but also some sense of how the world works, and how the process of science works as well.  One of the most useful skills anyone can have is the ability to approach life with a critical and skeptical thought process, using logic and some good old-fashioned common sense.  I’ve already posted a link to an episode of a podcast called Skeptoid, where the author (who has no scientific credentials, by the way) does some research into a host of pop culture fads and phenomena.  As you might guess from the title, he’s a skeptic, which doesn’t mean he automatically doubts everything he sees or hears.  Instead he keeps an open mind, researches the topic, then makes a decision based on his research.  When you actually look at the facts behind things like alternative medicine, hauntings, UFO sightings, and other paranormal events, there’s not much that will hold up to serious scrutiny.

What I would like you to think about for today is the title of this post: what’s the harm?  Specifically, let’s look at Sylvia Browne, one of the most well-known psychics in the United States.  She makes predictions of the future and claims to talk with the dead; she appeared regularly on The Montel Williams Show, has appeared several times on Larry King Live, has written numerous books about spirituality, and will even do a psychic reading for you over the phone.

You can probably guess how I feel about Ms. Browne (and psychics in general), but I’m not here to tell you what I think.  I want you to make your own decision.  Here’s a link to a video of Sylvia doing her thing in front of a live audience.  This video was posted by an apparently genuine believer, and I have not watched it.  As you watch it, think about the following questions:

• What information do we need to prove her statements?
• What prior information does she need to have to make these claims?

Psychics always create a lot of controversy, and Sylvia is no exception.  There is a website called Stop Sylvia Browne that aims to do just that, and she even has a Wikipedia article just about the controversy.  Skeptics everywhere seem to hate the woman and are actively trying to discredit her claims of psychic powers.

So here is the question: what’s the harm?  What does it matter if she tells some people that their loved ones are living peacefully on the “otherside?”  Why bother trying to stop the woman if she tells people what they want to hear?  For one, because she’s making a lot of money by doing it.  Her books are always popular, and she charges quite a pretty penny for a phone consultation: $850 for a conversation that lasts 20-30 minutes.  That something near $2000 per hour.  I would bet that the people who call for advice don’t have that kind of money.  So I ask again: What’s the harm?  You decide.

I recently made a post about programming your graphing calculator, and it would be interesting to see how many of you might have looked over the program or tried to program something else (read: any comments?).

I hope everyone has the QUAD program for their graphing calculator, since it’s a really useful tool and can make your life a lot easier.  If you don’t have it (or even if you do), here is a document that will show you how to program it.  Use the ALPHA button to access the letters on the keypad, and you can find other symbols hidden behind the MATH button.

Quadratic Equation Solver

Once you see how some of these programs are structured, you might try your hand at some other introductory programs.

This blog post came to my attention this afternoon, and I thought it was kind of entertaining.  Interested to see your thoughts, how many of the choices you can identify, and what you decided upon.  I’ll tell you later what my choice was.

This week, a new show premiers on the Discovery Channel.  Called Time Warp, it looks to be a collection of videos made with high-speed video cameras.  These cameras record at 300 frames per second or more, and a normal camera records at 30 frames per second.  When we watch the 300 frames at a 30-frame per second rate, we see everything slowed down by a factor of ten; what took one second in real life is expanded on the video to ten seconds.  This lets us see lots of things that we would miss otherwise, things that happen too fast for our eyes (or a normal camera) to see.  I think this photography is fascinating, and I’m excited for the show.  It’s on Wednesday nights at 8pm on the Discovery Channel (channel 55 on the dorm TV).

Here’s a segment from the pilot episode; fascinating!

I’ve recently been talking about quadratic equation solving programs for your TI graphing calculator, and I shared the program with those of you who brought your calculators to class last week.  If you don’t have it, see me with your calculator and I’ll be happy to transfer the nifty program to your machine.

Take a minute to look over the program and you’ll get a sense of how it’s constructed.  Press the PRGM button, then the right arrow to highlight the word EDIT, then enter.  This brings up the program code and lets you edit it.  (By the way I wouln’t recommend pressing CLEAR, or deleting or adding any text, as this usually tends to make the program not work properly.  If you do something to break the program, accidentally or otherwise, just see me and I’ll fix you up).

You’ll probably see a few of these basic commands:

• Disp – Display.  Disp “Input A” displays the text in quotes on the screen. Disp X will display the variable X on the screen.
• Input X – This takes whatever you enter and stores it as variable X.
• If…Then…Else – This is conditional programming. If a certain condition is met it takes the Then action, and if not it takes the Else action.
• Computations – Things like B^2-4AC are part of the quadratic equation, and these lines tell the calculator what to do with the information it has collected.

This program is written in Assembly Language, which is a very basic computer programming language similar to FORTRAN.  It’s pretty straightforward, and if you look around enough you’ll find resources like this about how to program your calculator.  Once you get the hang of it it’s not bad, just a little tedious.  Try it, see what you can program for yourself!

Here’s a nice little reason to follow the blog: an extra credit opportunity.  I won’t be announcing this in class, so you either get it from here or by word of mouth.  I know everyone has a lot of free time and is looking for interesting and academically-suited activities to occupy this free time.  This assignment is optional and can have no negative impact upon your grade (aside from taking time you might otherwise be using to study for a test or something).  It will count as an assessment worth twenty points, basically an extra test.

There has been a lot of discussion recently of alternative and renewable energy sources, for example using wind and solar power to generate electricity.  One thing you’ll hear about frequently is the biofuel ethanol, which is made from corn and other grains, and is intended to replace, or at least reduce the amount of, gasoline burned as automotive fuel.  Your assignment is to research ethanol and write a paper of not fewer than 500 words (2 pages or so) about your findings.

Your paper should give a background of ethanol as a fuel, list the advantages and disadvantages of using it instead of or mixed with gasoline, and end with your own opinion on whether ethanol is a viable source of energy.

Since this is a research paper, you will be required to cite your sources.  A super formal MLA-style citation is not required, but your paper should finish with a works cited page with the specific location of your source.  Just as a reminder, Wikipedia is not a viable source; you’re welcome to consult it for background, but the actual quotations should come from legitimate sources (like sources listed at the bottom of the Wikipedia article).

A paper that does not meet all of these requirements will not be considered for credit.  Likewise, a paper that contains copied and pasted text that is not properly cited will not be considered.

If you choose to do this assignment, it will be due before the bell rings at 2:32 pm on Friday November 7, 2008.