Helpmyphysics

I was a boy aged seven at Christmas 1968. I have vivid memories of getting up really early on Christmas morning and my Dad taking me round to Corpus Christi Church Calderbank for the Dawn Mass of Christmas. I was an altar boy and was chosen to serve this Mass of Christmas. The morning was very dark.

In those days Scotland `didn`t celebrate Christmas`. So Dad attended Mass with me before going back home to open our presents while he had to go off to work leaving me, my sister, Mam and our year old brother to our Christmas morning.

I remember the excitement of that Christmas Eve when three Apollo astronauts: Borman, Lovell and Anders were about to go into Moon orbit. This was the first time a spaceship had gone to the moon.

I will always feel the excitement as the news on television broadcast the message these astronauts delivered from the orbit of the moon.

The words from Genesis read by the astronauts still make my neck hairs stand on end.

But it was Jim Lovell who I remember more for his famous reply to the control centre at Houston after the big engine fired to bring the astronauts home to earth.

” Houston. There is a Santa Claus!”

As always my annual Christmas poster competition is what a scientist would like for a gift on Christmas morning.
There were some fantastic entries.
The winner is judged to be Christopher Mullen 2K
Christopher`s science lab bike caught the judges imagination.
Congratulations Christopher! Pick up your prize in the new year.

1. Runner Up was Patrick Goodfellow 1.5 for his binocular contact lenses. Geat for stargazing. Congratulations Patrick.
2. Consolation prizes judged to be great ideas were Morgan McConville`s flying shoes.
3. Anthony Hamilton`s amazing IEA machine which does everything and I mean everything! Congratulations.

A Happy Christmas from Mr Mallon.

Hi second year.

Just as promised click on the link below to download a cracking looking periodic table.
Periodic Table

Can you find how many elements naturally occur as liquids?

Hi physics lovers. Check these two videos below on internal resistance.

How to calculate the internal resistance of a cell.

Investigating the internal resistance of a cell.

Hi S4 physicists! Hope your study is going well.
Here is a Nasty 9 Quiz on Telecommunications.
Answers are on the last slide. Enjoy!

Here is an interesting poster showing the dose equivalent for various situations.
Dose equivalent is measured in sieverts.

Sievert Poster

A couple of months ago my higher physics class performed the famous egg experiment.

Could an egg be thrown at something without breaking?

Our physics tells us that to bring something to a stop its momentum must be reduced to zero.
Now there are 2 possibilities:

1. The egg`s momentum could be reduced to zero over a very short time resulting in the need for a LARGE force to be applied to the egg.
2. Or. The egg`s momentum could be reduced to zero over a longer time resulting in the need for a smaller force to be applied to the egg.

In our movie we throw the egg at a bed sheet and at a solid wooden board.
In both cases the size of the momentum is nearly the same.

So we have this equation:

impulse = change of momentum
Ft = mv – mu.
So if the egg `s momentum is brought to zero over a longish time then the force required to stop it would be small, thus the force to stop the egg wouldn`t damage it!

Could a bedsheet prove this?

You judge.

Click on the link here to take you to the PhET circuit builder.
Use the worksheet below to carry out the practical.

internalresistancePhET

Find out how they work here