with mr mackenzie
There’s a nice guide to particle physics on The Particle Adventure web site. The site has it’s own free apps for android & apple devices that are worth installing.
Here’s Prof Cox with a two part summary of particle physics.
and a short video with just the quarks
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlv06lSAC7c
The video below was made before the Higgs boson was confirmed, so please bear that in mind. It’s still a nice video though.
Learn about the world’s largest neutrino detector in Antarctica.
It seems general relativity is 100 years old today. We’ve been struggling a bit with this topic, so I thought these videos might help.
Why Einstein is such a big deal from Fusion Media Network on Vimeo.
General relativity explained in under 3 minutes from Fusion Media Network on Vimeo.
Science Museum – Einstein’s Cosmos from ORDER Productions on Vimeo.
The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is radiation left over from the big bang. When the universe was very young, just as space became transparent to light, electromagnetic energy would have propagated through space at a much shorter wavelength. Nowadays, the temperature of space has fallen to approximately 2.7 K (that’s 2.7 K above absolute zero!) and, using Wien’s Law, we can confirm that the peak wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation is so long that the background radiation lies in the microwave portion of the em spectrum.
The CMB was first detected in 1964 by Richard Woodrow Wilson and Arno Allan Penzias, who worked at Bell Laboratories in the USA.
Astronomers often refer to the colour of a star, which seems a bit odd because we mostly see stars as white twinkly objects. However, even with the naked eye, we can look closely at certain stars and detect a hint of colour – just look at this image of the Orion constellation. As we view him, the left shoulder has a red coloured star, while the right shoulder and right foot appear to be blue.
Now click on the image to see the same view at much higher resolution. In the hi-res photo, look at the stars in the background. They’re not all white!
What can the colour of a star tell us?
We’re having a quick look (get it?) at Special Relativity before tackling General Relativity. Here are some videos to get you thinking.
A Tale of Two Twins from Oliver Luo on Vimeo.
Sorry, folks. I forgot to post the solutions to the last homework exercise. See attached file which also includes the questions.
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For those of you who have found the dynamics and space unit quite long and hard to remember, you might want to start with these revision notes instead. Don’t forget that a fuller set of notes is available here.
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Those experiments to determine the latent heat of fusion and latent heat of vaporisation for water bring the dynamics and space unit to a close. Here is a copy of the handout we used in class. You will be tested on this unit in your double period next week, so please remember to download a copy of the summery notes to help with revision this weekend.
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We’ve been looking at the risks and benefits of space exploration.
Tim Peake, the British astronaut about to start work on the International Space Station, appeared on The One Show last week to talk about his training for the mission.
Interview with Tim Peake before he goes to the International Space Station from mr mackenzie on Vimeo.
We’re going over your drafts of the Outcome 1 report tomorrow.
For those who have mistakes in the raw data, a pdf version is attached below.
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