Category Archives: Physics

A Universe From Nothing

Posted on February 16, 2014 by bsturge93

Lawrence Krauss is a cosmologist and theoretical physicist famous for being one of the first scientists to posit that most of the energy of the universe resides in empty space. The video above  is called “A Universe from Nothing” and I would like to comment on a few parts of the video that will hopefully encourage you … Continue reading A Universe From Nothing → Continue reading →

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Travel Inside a Black Hole

Posted on February 16, 2014 by gradytlynch

Although we usually think of black holes as extremely massive objects, anything in the universe with mass can theoretically become a black hole. As this video discusses, it is mathematically possible for a black hole to form with the mass of the earth, or even Mount Everest. However, the object’s Schwarzschild radius, the size it […] Continue reading →

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Why is gravity so weak?

Posted on February 16, 2014 by bsturge93

Gravity is a fundamental force that holds together our solar system, our galaxy, and every person to Earth. It must be pretty strong to hold something as massive as Jupiter in orbit right? Actually, compared to the three other fundamental forces, gravity is unimaginably weak. To demonstrate this, use a common refrigerator magnet to pick … Continue reading Why is gravity so weak? → Continue reading →

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Gravitation and the theory of everything

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Over the last several class periods, we have talked a lot about the force of gravitation. Incidentally, gravitation is considered one of the four fundamental forces of nature, along with weak force, strong force, and electromagnetic force. Interestingly, though, gravitation is the only one of these that is explained by a separate theory—the general theory… Continue reading →

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Constantly Falling

Posted on February 16, 2014 by ilman

Contrary to popular belief, there is gravity in space, in fact gravity is everywhere. On the International Space Station, there is as much gravitational force as it is on Earth’s surface. But then… why are those astronauts (in the video) merrily floating around? Not to ruin the party or anything, but they are not floating […] Continue reading →

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Alcubierre Warp Drive

Posted on February 14, 2014 by joshkphilips

Image Source Physicists and astronomers today are confident that the age of our universe is about 13.8 billion years. However, they are also confident that our universe is much bigger than 13.8 billion light years. But how can this be if nothing in our universe can travel faster than the speed of light? The fact […] Continue reading →

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The Precession of Earth’s Axis

Posted on January 27, 2014 by gradytlynch

I’m a very visual learner, so when trying to understand the phenomenon of axial precession, I sought out a visual representation of what exactly is going on. This video perfectly explains (for this level class) the causes and implications of axial precession. It leaves us with an advanced understanding of how axial precession affects our […] Continue reading →

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Balancing eggs on the spring equinox

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

It is a popular myth that the spring equinox is the one day of the year that raw eggs can be perfectly balanced on end. When I was in elementary school, entire classes at my school would go outside with a bunch of eggs and try to balance them in a row. More often than… Continue reading →

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Beyond The Speed of Light?

Posted on January 27, 2014 by joshkphilips

How concrete are our laws of physics? Could there be a way to bend the laws and essentially travel beyond the speed of light? Could such an ability open the possibilities for interstellar space travel? These are some of the questions that surround the intriguing idea of wormholes. Two wormholes could in theory act as […] Continue reading →

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Different speeds of light

Posted on January 26, 2014 by drewhamilton0

Although we often refer to “the speed of light” as a singular value (c = 299,792,458 m/s), the truth is that when we see light, it is actually moving slower than this speed. This is because the light we see is not moving in a vacuum, but through our atmosphere instead. Light moves at different speeds… Continue reading →

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