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Life of Fred
Elementary Physics
Stanley F. Schmidt, Ph.D.
Polka Dot Publishing
A Note Before We Begin
In the last chapter of this book, Fred is telling the story of howphysicists discovered things about the atom. He tells about howHeisenberg announced his uncertainty principle in 1927: We will never beable to locate an electron exactly.
We have lost the electron. When my father was deliveringpianos back in 1927, he never lost a single piano.
The first quarter century of our lives is the best time to learn new
things. Four-year-olds can learn a new language a lot easier than forty-year-olds.
We have lost the electron.We might lose pianos.
But we don’t want to lose this chance to learn.
In the government schools, physics is often taught in the twelfth grade. Too much time is lost waiting that long. This book fills a big gap. The title of this book might have been Physics after Arithmetic or Physicsbefore Algebra.
It fits nicely right here
Life of Fred: FractionsLife of Fred: Decimals and Percents
Life of Fred: Elementary PhysicsLife of Fred: Pre-Algebra 1 with BiologyLife of Fred: Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics
THREE THINGS FOR MAXIMUM SUCCESS
1. There is a Your Turn to Play at the end of each chapter/lesson. Please
write out the answers on paper before you look at the Complete Solutionsoffered on the next page. It will help you to learn. Students who do thisoften do much better on the Bridges that come at the end of every fivechapters.
1927
7
2. Get a sheet of paper and head it with Formulas. If your handwriting is
really good, Formulas. If your handwriting isn’t so good, Formulas. You will
not be graded on your handwriting skills.✶
Write down each formula that you encounter in the book and drawa little picture.
3. I can’t think of a third thing.
HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED
Each chapter is a lesson—40 chapters and six Bridges to cross. Enjoy your journey with Fred.
This is the last book in the Life of Fred series in which I ask younot to use your calculator. This is your last chance to practice youraddition and multiplication tables. In Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra 1 withBiology, you can haul out your calculator and use it to your heart’s content.
Reading is the fastest way to learn. It is much faster than watchingvideos or listening to a lecture. Just ask my daughter, Jill.
✶ That may come later in life. If you become a teacher and your handwriting at
the blackboard looks like this, your students might giggle.
8
Contents
Chapter 1 Friction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13math vs. physicshow to move a safenature can surprise us
Chapter 2 Proportional. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17friction is independent of speedconstants of proportionalityexact speed of light
Chapter 3 One Meter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21history of the meterperiod of a pendulumsquare roots
Chapter 4 c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25continuing the history of the meterhard c and soft c, hard g and soft gconstant of proportionality for friction, μ
Chapter 5 Finding Mu.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29solving 1.7 = 4μdistance equals rate times time, d = rtducks pronounce μ differently than cows
Chapter 6 Super Fred. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33when in life to start weightlifting mathematicians use erasers; physicists shove themwhy Super Fred can’t push a safe down the hallway
The Bridge (with five tries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Chapter 7 Measuring Force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
two types of scalesplotting pointsexperiments with a spring
Chapter 8 Absolute Truth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48how many experiments to prove something is truehunch, conjecture, theory, lawtwo suns in our solar system
Chapter 9 Four Ways to Stretch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Hooke’s lawbreaking rubber bands
9
Chapter 10 Two Kinds of Friction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55kinetic friction vs. static frictionhow to compute μk and μs
why we write from left to rightChapter 11 Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
nine forms of energythe Energy Cards gamestoring energy
Chapter 12 A Time for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63why dolls should not drive bulldozershow to make it easier for students
to see their teacherThe Bridge (with five tries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Chapter 13 Flabbergasted Fred. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
slope of a lineKingie shows Fred a new way to find μs
a mathematician—one of the safest occupationsChapter 14 Normal Force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
how you know that you have a liveradding vectorsresolving a vector into two perpendicular vectors
Chapter 15 Math Makes Things Easier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85similar trianglesKingie proves his new way of finding μs is right
Chapter 16 Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89what is work for us is not work for physicistswork equals force times distancethe coldest possible temperture
Chapter 17 Transfer of Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93squishing Fred into the plastic regionLaw of Conservation of Energythe universe is pure energyperpetual motion machines
Chapter 18 Storing Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97photosynthesisCalories, ergs, joules, and electron voltsone tablespoon of butter
The Bridge (with five tries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Chapter 19 Metric System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
1 kilogram doesn’t equal 2.20466262 poundsphysicists say that no one in Germany weighs 55 kg
10
Chapter 20 Measuring Mass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113one way to measure mass without having
to count the atoms1 kg is a chunk of metal in France
Chapter 21 A Second Way to Measure Mass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117inertiaPing-Pong balls hurt less than golf ballswhy cramming doesn’t work
Chapter 22 Pressure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121how to check if you have lost some math abilityofficial definition of pressurewhy getting hit with the point of a corkscrew hurts
Chapter 23 Swim Masks.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125area of an ellipse1 square foot equals 144 square inchesexponents
Chapter 24 Density. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129swimming in cotton candyneutron starsweight of one atom of ironCavalieri’s Principlefluid pressure, p = dh
The Bridge (with five tries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Chapter 25 Why Bubbles Float Upward.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
special glass in car windshieldsbuoyancy, b = dvChapter 26 temporarily canceled
Chapter 26 Why Things Sink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151finding the volume of a desk lamp1 cubic foot = 12 3 cubic inches80-pound rubber ducky
Chapter 27 Nose and Brain.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155an advantage of a huge noseyour brain floats
Chapter 28 The Long Straw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159air has weightcan’t use a straw on the moonwhy it is nice that ice floats
Chapter 29 Nature Loves Vacuums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163knowing by looking50-foot glass tubes
11
Chapter 30 Weighing the Atmosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1672,123 pounds of pressure on every square foot
of Kitty’s backpopping Fred’s head
The Bridge (with five tries). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Chapter 31 Water Fountains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
learning etiquetteelectric circuitsan elevator definition of an electron
Chapter 32 A Small History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187bologna, baloney, and Bolognadead frogs and electric circuitswhy we don’t put frogs in our flashlights
Chapter 33 Kitty Café. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191café or cafemaking schematic drawings of electrical circuits
Chapter 34 Volts and Amperes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197batteries don’t make electronshow many electrons in an ampereresistors
Chapter 35 Ohms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201why “I” stands for currentwhy we wear clothes on days ending in y.
Chapter 36 Ohm’s Law.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205series circuitsV = IR reminds Fred of virtue
Chapter 37 Parallel Circuits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209computing the ohms of resistors in parallelproof of the formula for resistors in parallel
The Final Bridge (with six tries!). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Chapter 38 Lunch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
the number of atoms in a piece of baconHistory of the Atom
Chapter 39 From Strange to Stranger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233how to speak metaphoricallymore atomic history
Chapter 40 Stranger to Unbelievable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239up to 1932, when we knew about four particlesthe hundreds of particles since 1932
Answers to The Bridges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
12
Chapter One Friction
Fred always thought that early morning was one of the five best timesof the day to go jogging. Other best times were the forenoon✶, noon,afternoon, and evening.
It was morning. Fred got on his jogging clothes and headed out hisoffice door. The routine was almost always the same. He would headdown the hallway past the nine vending machines, down two flights ofstairs, and out into the fresh morning air.
Today was different. He couldn’t get down the hallway. A giantsafe near the vending machines blocked his way.
There was a note attached to the safe thatread, “This is as far as I’m going to deliver thissafe. This is too heavy to carry. I quit.”
This is silly, Fred thought. He shouldn’thave tried to carry it. He could have slid it downthe hallway.
Fred tried pushing the safe. No dice.✶✶
What kept the safe from moving wasfriction—where the safe rubbed against the floor. If the safe were floating one inch off the floor,Fred could have pushed it down the hall with onehand.
Fred headed back to his office to thinkthings over and do experiments.
✶ The later part of the morning is called the forenoon.
✶✶ No dice is an idiom. No dice means that it doesn’t work or it is useless.
An idiom is a phrase in which the individual words do not “add up” to whatthe phrase means.
When you say, “How do you do?” a person looking at the individual wordsmight respond, “How do I do what?”
When you say, “Let’s make a date to go fishing,” this is silly. All the dates onthe calendar have already been established: January 1, January 2, January 3. . . . If youreally made a date, it might be something like January 42.
13
Chapter One Friction
This is the numeral 3. Numerals are what wewrite down to help us think about the number.
That is way too fat to be a line!
small essay
Math vs. Physics
If this were just a math problem, Fred would have headed back tohis office to think things over. He wouldn’t have to do any experimentssince math doesn’t involve “stuff.”
Physics deals with stuff—everything from atoms to stars. If you liketo play with the dirt under your fingernails or with 500-pound safes sittingin the hallway, then you will need physics.
There is no stuff in mathematics. You will never be walking in aforest and trip over the number three.
3You have never seen a line. Lines are infinitely thin. They are not
composed of atoms of ink.
Mathematicians like to say that math is pure.
Physicists might say that math is fairy dust.
Mathematicians will point out that without this fairy dust physicistswould be helpless. All of physics needs math.
end of small essay
When Fred got back to his office, Kingiewas at work doing another oil painting.
“Your safe has arrived,” Fred announced. “It’s out in the hallway.”
“Wonderful. If you would just bring it in,I would be grateful.”
Everyone knows that Kingie wouldn’t bemuch help in moving safes since he is a beanbag doll with no legs.
14
Chapter One Friction
1.9 cm
1.9 cm
5 cm
Fred said, “I’ll try and get it moved, but first I need to learn moreabout friction. This is more than a math problem. The only way to findout about how friction operates is to do experiments in order to find outwhat is true.”
He put three telephone books on his chairso that he would be tall enough to sit at his desk. The desk and chair that KITTENS University hadsupplied were not designed for teachers who areonly three-feet tall.
Fred built a tiny safe that looked just like the real one in thehallway except that it was only two inches (5 cm) tall. He tied a string onit and pulled it across his desktop.
Then he turned it on its side and pulled it across his desktop.
Please write your answers down before you turn the page and see the answers. You will learn alot more if you do it that way rather than just reading the questions and reading the answers.
Your Turn to Play
1. The dimensions of the tiny safe were 1.9 cm wide, 1.8 cm deep, and 5cm tall. When the safe was standing upright what is the area of the basethat was touching the desktop?
2. When the tiny safe was placed on its side, what was the area touchingthe desktop?
3. Now I’m going to ask you to guess.
When the safe was lying on its side, the area in contact with thedesktop was larger. Did that make it harder to pull the safe?
15
Chapter One Friction
. . . . . . . C O M P L E T E S O L U T I O N S . . . . . . .
1. The base of the safe is a rectangle. The area of a rectangle is length times width. A = lw.
(1.9)(1.8) = 1.9 × 1.8
152 19
342 3.42 sq cm
2. The area of the side of the safe is (5)(1.8).
1.8 × 5
90 9.0 sq cm
3. A lot of times we won’t know what the physical law is until weexperiment. Sometimes nature surprises us.
✔ Ask most three-year-olds, “Is the earth flat?”and they will say yes. If you tell them it is a sphere (aball), they won’t believe you and will tell you thatpeople on the bottom would fall off.
✔ Ask most seven-year-olds, “If you throw abilliard ball and a cannon ball off a cliff, which willhit the ground first?” Most will say that the heavierthing falls faster. The surprising truth is that, except for the friction caused by air (wind resistance), everything falls at the same speed.
When Fred did his experiment, he found that it didn’t matter whetherthe safe was upright or on its side. The force he had to apply to the stringwas the same. Many people would never guess that.
Friction is independent of the area of contact between the two rubbingsurfaces.
16
Index> greater than.. . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 154
a priori. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
absolute truth in physics. . . . . . . . 48, 49
absolute zero (temperature). . . . . . . . 92
acceleration of an object.. . . . . . . . . . 58
adding decimal numbers. . . . . . . . . . 186
adding vectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82, 84
Alessandro Volta. . . . . . . . . . . 188, 190
alpha particles.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
ammeter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197, 199, 203
amount of fiction in the Life of Fred
books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
amperes. . . . . . . . . . 197, 198, 201, 211
angles in any triangle always add up
to 180º. . . . . . . . . 87, 89, 101,
106, 140, 176
animal electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Arabic numerals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
area of a rectangle. . 16, 38, 39, 41, 42,
68, 69, 72, 74, 104,
136, 171, 179, 223
Arnold Sommerfeld. . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
atomic weight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
billion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128, 229
brain juice (cerebrospinal fluid). . . . 156
breaking point--stretching springs. . . . .
53, 67, 74, 220
buoyancy. . . . . 147, 148, 152-154, 157,
172, 175, 215, 217
c = the speed of light in a vacuum. . . . .
19, 101
Calories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 100, 101
car windshields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Carl David Anderson. . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Cavalieri’s Principle. . . . 131, 132, 137,
141, 147, 219, 222
Celsius temperature scale. . . . . . . . . . 92
Central Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Christina Rossetti
“A Royal Princess”. . . . . . . . . . . 40
“Advent”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
“Goblin Market”. . . . . . . . . . . . 175
“In the Willow Shade”. . . . . . . . 220
“Later Life #16”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
“Later Life #21”. . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
“Memento Mori”. . . . . . . . . . . . 104
closed systems. . . . . . . . . . 95, 108, 120
coefficient of friction. . . . . . . 38-42, 72
coefficient of kinetic friction. . . 65, 95,
101, 104, 106, 108, 136, 174,
177, 219, 221
coefficient of static friction. . . . . . . . . .
.. . . . . . . . . . . 65, 69, 74, 101, 102, 108,
140, 171, 174, 215, 217
coefficient of static friction found using
slope. . . . 75-88, 103, 106, 133,
175, 216, 223
connection between fossils and
astronomy.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
constant of proportionality for friction
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
continuous variables. . . . 19, 23, 39, 41,
42, 68, 69, 73, 74, 102, 107,
108, 136, 141, 218, 222, 223
conversion factors. . . 92, 100-102, 107,
108, 110, 111, 116, 133, 135,
138, 140, 141, 152, 168, 173,
175, 176, 179, 189, 195, 199,
218, 219, 222, 223, 228
converting a mixed number into an
improper fraction. . . . . . . . . 52
cubic inches and cubic feet. . . . . . . . 152
cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
d = rt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 41, 141, 172
285
Index
degrees in an angle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Democritus. . . . . . . . 229, 231, 241, 244
density of liquid water vs. density
of ice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
density of water. . . . . . . . . . . . 152, 167
digits in a number. . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 105
Dirac’s equation. . . . . . . . . . . . 243, 244
discrete variables. . . 19, 38, 40, 69, 73,
102, 107, 108, 136, 141, 218,
222
elastic limit--stretching springs.. . . . . . .
52, 53, 67, 74, 93, 220
electrical engineering major. . . . . . . 225
electromagnetic radiation. . . . . 238, 240
elliptical constructions. . 184, 185, 193,
208, 228
Energy Cards game. . . . . . . . . . . 59-62
Ernest Rutherford. . . . . . . 230, 231, 233
etiquette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
exponents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128, 133
F = kx stretching a spring. . . . . . . . . 48
F = μN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 29, 30, 35
first coordinate and second coordinate
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
foot-pounds. . . . 90-92, 94, 95, 97, 100,
101, 109, 111
forenoon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
friction into heat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
friction is independent of speed. . . . . 17
friction is independent of the area of
contact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Georg Ohm. . . . . . . . . . . . 205, 206, 215
Giant Chart of Energy. . . . 59, 68, 139,
178
gibbous moon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Gregorian calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
hard c and soft c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
hard g and soft g. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
helium.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Henri Becquerel. . . . . . . . . . . . 230, 231
History of the Atom. . . . . . . . . 229-244
Hooke’s law. . . . . . 51, 67, 69, 216, 220
How do you know that China exists?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
hunch--conjecture--theory--law. . 48, 49
hung vs. hanged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
idiom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
imperial system.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
inductive and deductive reasoning. . . . .
50, 73, 74, 101, 102, 106,
136, 177, 179, 218, 220
inertia. . . . . . . . . . . . 117, 118, 139, 219
International Bureau of Weights and
Measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Isaac Newton. . . . . . . . . . 119, 230, 231
J. J. Thomson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230, 231
James Chadwick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Jeanette MacDonald. . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
joules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109, 111
Kelvin temperature scale. . . . . . . . . . 92
kilograms. . . . . . . . . 109-111, 113-115
kilowatt-hours.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
kinetic friction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
kryptonite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Law of Conservation of Energy. . . . . . .
94-97, 120, 216
Law of the Conservation of Matter.. . 49
leap seconds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
leap years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
liter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Louis de Broglie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Luigi Galvani. . . . . 187, 188, 190, 191,
193
m, cm, and nm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
mass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
286
Index
mass—how to measure it. . . . 113, 114,
117, 136
matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
meter (defined). . . . 21-23, 25, 101, 111
metric system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52, 109
Metropolitan Museum of Art. . . . . . 221
million. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128, 229
Mirror Poem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
nature hates a vacuum. . . . . . . . . . . 163
Nemesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
neutron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
neutron star. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
newtons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Newton’s First Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Newton’s Second Law. . . . . . . . . . . 118
Niels Bohr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233-235
normal force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 80, 82
North Pole and West Pole. . . . . . . . . 79
numerals. . . . . . . . . 14, 35, 38, 105, 218
ohmmeter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
ohms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Ohm’s Law. . . . 206, 207, 211, 214, 219
omega. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
orbital magnetic quantum number. . 240
orbital quantum number. . . . . . . . . . 240
parallel circuits. . . . . . . . . . . . . 210-212
parallelepiped. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Paul Dirac.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Pauli exclusion principle. . . . . . . . . 241
percent problems. . . . . . 162, 165, 166,
169-171, 173, 176, 177, 185, 195,
216, 217, 222
period of a pendulum. . . . . . . 22, 24, 72
perpendicular. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 81
perpetual motion machines. . . . . . 96, 99
photon.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
photosynthesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
physics experiment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
pi is approximately 3.14159265358979
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111, 153
plastic region--stretching springs. . . 53,
67, 74, 93, 220
plotting points.. . . . . . . . 24, 45, 51, 69,
74, 101, 105, 108, 134,
141, 178, 180, 215
positron.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
pressure (definition). . . . 123, 126, 136,
137, 142, 144, 145
Pressure in a fluid is equal to density
times height. . . 132, 133, 135,
140, 141, 144, 146, 167, 169,
172, 177, 179, 222
principal quantum number. . . . 234, 240
proportional . . . . . . . . 18, 118, 119, 201
proportional limit--stretching springs
. . . . . . . . . . 52, 67, 74, 93, 220
psi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
quadrillion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198, 229
question mark at the end of a quotation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
quintillion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
quotient.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
QWERTYUIOP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
radio waves.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
resistance in parallel circuits. . 210-215,
217, 219, 222, 223
resistors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
right angle.. . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 80, 87, 89
Roman numerals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Rules of Golf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
safe occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
schematic drawing. . . . . . 195, 209, 210
Schrödinger’s equation. . . . . . . . . . . 242
second of atomic time (defined). . . . 115
second-order partial differential
equations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
287
Index
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sentence fragments. . . . . . . . . . 236, 241
series circuit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207, 212
similar triangles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 89
simultaneous events and Einstein. . . . 49
slope of a line. . . . . . . . . 76, 77, 79, 172
small essays
A Secret about Being a Good
Leader/Boss/Parent. . . . . . 209
Areas of Swim Masks. . . . . . . . 127
How Many Atoms Is in That Piece
of Bacon?. . . . . . . . . . 228, 229
Least Dense and Really Dense
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Making Tons of Money. . . . . . . 196
Math vs. Physics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Story of the Meter. . . 21-23, 25
speaking metaphorically. . . . . . . . . . 235
spectrometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
speed of light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
spin magnetic quantum number. . . . 240
spring scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
square inches and square feet. . . . . 127,
128, 215, 223
square roots. . . 24, 138, 142, 172, 176,
178, 222
static friction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 57
storing energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
stretching springs--the four cases. . . . . .
52, 53, 67, 74, 220
subshells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
sucking on a straw. . 160, 161, 163, 167
Super Fred. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 43
theorems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Thomas Edison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Thomas Merton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
thought experiment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Three-Body Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
trillion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
two kinds of friction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
uncertainty principle. . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
V = IR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
vectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
voltmeter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
volts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197, 201
volume of a box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
volume of a desk lamp. . . . . . . . . . . 151
volume of a sphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
wave-particle duality. . . . . . . . 183, 240
wavelength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
wavelength of an electron.. . . . . . . . 240
wavelengths of various colors. . . . . 237
weight density (definition). . . . . . . . 130
weight of one oxygen atom.. . . . . . . 228
Werner Heisenberg.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Wolfgang Pauli.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
work (as defined in physics). . . . 90, 91,
94, 101, 108, 111, 137, 139,
141, 173, 177-180, 221
X-rays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
288
