Discoveries in the Physics & Astronomy shop | Science, curiosities, and surprises
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!
What’s your favorite holiday? Whichever you choose, it’s kind of like that around here, because it’s almost toy kit time! Classical and Modern Physics I – better known ’round here as PHYS 211, or just plain old 211 – gives out a bag full of toys to each and every student. More than three hundred of these are getting ready for distribution.
We do the same for PHYS 212 in the spring, with all sorts of goodies for electricity and magnetism, but in the fall, it’s all about mechanics. Stuff that moves. Toys, exactly like you’d expect them to be. Yo-yos, Slinkys, bouncy balls, blowdart guns, drinking birds, and more.
Always balloons. Every toy kit, every semester, we include balloons. For science. More specifically to help illustrate the principles of physics for homework and problem-solving sessions. What better way to learn than with hands-on experimentation?
Here we have that childhood classic, the Duncan Imperial. Some of the kits will get the Butterfly instead – when you go purchasing hundreds at a time, you take what’s available and fits in the budget – but either way, it’s the return to a certain moment of childhood. At least for the shop techs. If there’s anyone in this world who’s guaranteed to get excited about nifty gizmos, it’s us.
(If there’s anyone in this world who can have serious conversations about the varying quality and potential factors affecting a bouncy ball’s bounce, it’s us. But that’s a topic for another time.)
And, since you were bound to ask: no, neither of us can remember how to do any of our childhood yo-yo tricks. Doesn’t stop us from trying.