Helpmyphysics

Hi S3 Physicists! Here is a video introducing you to the electromagnetic spectrum.

Now that we`ve studied the stethoscope have a look at this movie which appeared on Mr Mackenzies excellent fizzics site.

This is a movie showing how ultrasound is used to image babies in a mother`s womb.

The ultrasound from Jarrod Allen on Vimeo.

Notes on Ultrasound

The picture above shows the extent of the snowfall over Scotland these last few days.

Jamie Lang of Mr Mallon`s Physics class shows how to measure the speed of sound using two microphones attached to an electronic timer.
The distance between the microphones was 1 metre.

Download speed of sound worksheet here.

Ever wondered which is faster between light and sound?

Well our new standard grade physics class along with our technician Mr McKenna set out to race sound and light.
We used a special machine that activated a flash lamp when it detected sound. So the light flashed at the same time as the sound was created.

Can you think of anything in nature where sound and light are created at the same time?
Who will win the race. Check out the video!

Started Standard Grade Physics with my new S3.
We thought about what we would explore on our two year journey as though we were embarking on a similar journey into space.

As a class we wrote down what areas of knowledge and expertise would be needed to make the space journey successful.

Well what we wrote down was remarkably like the topics we will be studying over the next few years.

Well done S3 and the best of luck for your Standard Grade journey into physics.

The distances in space are far too large to be measured in kilometres. It is a bit like marking the road distances in millimetres.
Instead astronomers use the light year. The light year is the distance a beam of light travels in one year.

You can use the fantastic Wolframalpha website to explore the distances in space and on Earth in terms of how quickly a beam of light will take to cover he distance.
All you have to do is type into the box light year. You will find the distance a light year in metres.

Try typing in:
Glasgow to Paris. You can equate the distance in terms of how long it would take light to travel this distance = 2.99milliseconds. So we could say that Paris is about 3 milli-light-seconds from Glasgow.
Try typing in Earth to Mars you`ll find that the distance between Earth and Mars is 9.6 light-minutes.

You can download a special worksheet which you can use with Wolfram Alpha.

Download worksheet here. (pdf)
WolframAlpha

Have fun converting distances into lightyears, lightminutes or even lightmilliseconds.

I hope you have completed your bootcamp question booklet and you now have to complete your Easter revision booklet.
I will post the answers over the holidays, so keep looking at the Standard Grade Zone.

Anyway have a happy Easter holiday but remember to work hard.

Get a Voki now!

Fancy yourself as a theme park creator? Then try out this wonderful simulation.
Watch out for the changes in energy. Check out how gravitational potential energy can be changed into kinetic energy.
Go on! Have some fun with physics.

Theme park physics

Hi physics lovers! Here is a wee movie we filmed using our physics monkey to show us how seatbelts prevent drivers and their passengers from being injured when their cars stop suddenly.

1. Think
2. History of seatbelts