Why is there eight times more ice in Antarctica than in the Arctic? Why can you warm your hands by blowing gently, and cool your hands by blowing hard? Why would a pitcher scuff a baseball?Which weighs more-a pound of feathers or a pound of iron? Let science experts Christopher Jargodzki and Franklin Potter guide you through the curiosities of physics and you'll find the answers to these and hundreds of other quirky conundrums. You'll discover why sounds carry well over water (especially in the summer), how a mouse can be levitated in a magnetic field, why backspin is so important when shooting a basketball, and whether women are indeed as strong as men.
With nearly 400 questions and answers on everything from race cars to jumping fleas to vanishing elephants, Mad about Physics presents a comprehensive collection of braintwisters and paradoxes that will challenge and entertain even the brainiest of science lovers. Whether you're a physicist by trade or just want to give your brain a power workout, this collection of intriguing and unusual physics challenges will send you on a highly entertaining ride that reveals the relevance of physics in our everyday lives.
Table of Contents:
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
To the Reader xv
Chapter 1 Temperature Risin’ 1
Chapter 2 Color My World 1 3
Chapter 3 Splish! Splash! 25
Chapter 4 Fly like an Eagle 4 1
Chapter 5 Good Vibrations 53
Chapter 6 Opposites Attract 65
Chapter 7 Bodies in Motion 79
Chapter 8 Stairway to Heaven 101
Chapter 9 Life in the Fast Lane 1 1 1
Chapter 10 Born to Run 121
Chapter 1 1 Third Stone from the Sun 131
Chapter 12 Across the Universe 143
Answers
Temperature Risin’ 155
Color My World 166
Splish! Splash! 1 7 5
Fly like an Eagle 185
Good Vibrations 194
Opposites Attract 209
Bodies in Motion 219
Stairway to Heaven 239
Life in the Fast Lane 247
Born to Run 255
Third Stone from the Sun 269
Across the Universe 283
Index 298
About the Author :
CHRISTOPHER P. JARGODZKI, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Physics at Central Missouri State University and the author of two previous books of science braintwisters. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, and received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in theoretical physics from the University of California. FRANKLIN POTTER, Ph.D., is an Associate Specialist in Physics at the University of California at Irvine and conducts research in elementary particle physics and cosmology. He received his B.S. degree from Cal Tech and Ph.D. in physics from Texas Tech University.
