Tag: physics

Metersticks

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Three metersticks
Various vintages.

In our Physics & Astronomy labs, we use metersticks with great frequency. Often for measurements, sometimes to approximate distances that make the arithmetic easier, and occasionally as a handy tool for pointing to the projector screen.

They aren’t super-high precision any more than the rulers you remember from elementary school, and for that we have other tools. Sometimes, as you can see above, the years have warped and twisted things a bit. We adjust.

As you might expect, they offer metric distances on one side, inches and feet on the other. The best ones – the oldest set – were long ago painted black to conceal those SAE units. Clearly, someone grew weary of students measuring everything in inches and then complaining that the math wasn’t working out right.

Trail Snacks

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Highbush blueberries on trailside
Not pictured: lowbush blueberries, which are already all eaten.

Physics doesn’t rely on field work as much as some other disciplines – biology, geology – but sometimes it’s necessary and the fresh air does us good. So do the occasional wild treats found along the trail.

Just be sure to share them with the local bears and birds!

Old stone dam at Penn Roosevelt State Park.
Good ol’ Penn Roosevelt dam!

Boxes Upon Boxes

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
The Original.

In great big boxes full of boxes, the toys begin to arrive. We stash them in corners, in front of other shelves, any place mostly out of the way before separating, sorting, packing, and distributing.

Three hundred yo-yos, Imperials and Butterflies, in an assortment of colors. Every box is full of surprises!

Slide Projector

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Slide projector, no carousel
The classic.

Remember slide film? Carousels and projectors and hauling out the big screen to see those vacation photos? Are you old enough to remember high school and/or college lectures on slides? The shop techs remember.

Nowadays everyone’s much more likely to use Slides than slides, of course. More portable, for the most part. Easier to edit, up until the last moment. Overall, a lot of advantages. But the old-school ones were pretty cool, too.

One can only hope that back in the days of the Audio-Visual Aids Department (we’re assuming they’ve been subsumed into L&IT, but not ruling out the possibility of a now-defunct academic department), they wheeled these – and film projectors, and VCRs, and hopefully LaserDiscs, too – into your classroom space on the classic steel cart. Embedded YouTube clips just aren’t the same.

Pinholes

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Pinhole camera image on floor
It’s the sun!

Much of our day revolves around the Physics and Astronomy labs in Olin Science Building, which was the finest construction the budget could shoulder in 1954.

Which, after 7 decades, some renovations, and who knows what else, means there are a few minor holes here and there.

Holes which act like a pinhole camera in an otherwise dark lab, casting images of the sun and tree branches on the floor.

Copper-coated

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Shiny!

Copper-coated steel BBs, used in several different labs throughout physics and astronomy. Like many of the odds and ends we use for labs and demonstrations, these aren’t used as intended by the manufacturer. In this case, one can only imagine that off-label use is actually safer.

Stopper Knots

Posted on by Brian Garthwaite
Kevlar string, of course.

There are a handful of occupations and/or hobbies which reward those interested in the craft of knot-tying. The big ones include boating, camping, climbing, and fishing. (There may be hobby overlap.) Arborists, equestrians, and surgeons need specific, functional knots, too.

Turns out so do lab technicians.

We’re slowly adding knots to our repertoire, for all manner of purposes. Pictured above: a doubled-up double overhand stopper. (A single knot was insufficiently stopper-ing given the thread diameter and pendulum bobs on hand.) Alpine butterflies, bowlines, non-slip mono loops, trucker’s hitches. Now we just want an excuse to use the Double Dragon Loop!