Sunday, March 1, 2009
Optical Illusion Assignment
Though some of you are done, I want to remind all of you your assignment parameters are:
Find an optical illusion. Print and cut it out. Classify the type. Tell us how it works. Write that information on an index card. Put both on a piece of construction paper and put on the wall in the classroom.
Classify the type of optical illusion (Physiological (Hermann Grid and Mach Band examples), Conceptual (Kanizsa's Triangle), or Cognitive illusions. Conceptual and cognitive images are often confused. What is most important to know for our class is the difference between a conceptual (brain interpretation) "mistake" and a physical (afterimage, parallel line skewed by color) eye or nerve "mistake".
What does this have to do with physics and earth science? Light, my friends, is how you are reading this. Human's ability to understand it and grasp it are dynamic and everchanging. Al Sheckel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, did most of his research on perception. He is an amazing, truant, dynamic, brilliant, and odd man. His work on perception, light, and the human brain is ground breaking. He's also one of the folks on the edge of edgy in terms of "the brain trust" an inventors group and other very cool things. He also came up with the darwin bumper sticker with a friend. If that isn't cool I don't know what is.
Find an optical illusion. Print and cut it out. Classify the type. Tell us how it works. Write that information on an index card. Put both on a piece of construction paper and put on the wall in the classroom.
Classify the type of optical illusion (Physiological (Hermann Grid and Mach Band examples), Conceptual (Kanizsa's Triangle), or Cognitive illusions. Conceptual and cognitive images are often confused. What is most important to know for our class is the difference between a conceptual (brain interpretation) "mistake" and a physical (afterimage, parallel line skewed by color) eye or nerve "mistake".
What does this have to do with physics and earth science? Light, my friends, is how you are reading this. Human's ability to understand it and grasp it are dynamic and everchanging. Al Sheckel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, did most of his research on perception. He is an amazing, truant, dynamic, brilliant, and odd man. His work on perception, light, and the human brain is ground breaking. He's also one of the folks on the edge of edgy in terms of "the brain trust" an inventors group and other very cool things. He also came up with the darwin bumper sticker with a friend. If that isn't cool I don't know what is.
The Eye
We are currently studying the eye. Here is a diagram of the eye. The parts of the eye are underneath.
Cornea - the clear, dome-shaped tissue covering the front of the eye.
Eyebrow - a patch of dense hair located above the eye.
Eyelash - one of the many hairs on the edge of the eyelids.
Eyelid - the flap of skin that can cover and protect the eye.
Iris - the colored part of the eye - it controls the amount of light that enters the eye by changing the size of the pupil.
Lens - a crystalline structure located just behind the iris - it focuses light onto the retina.
Optic nerve - the nerve that transmits electrical impulses from the retina to the brain.
Pupil - the opening in the center of the iris- it changes size as the amount of light changes (the more light, the smaller the hole).
Retina - sensory tissue that lines the back of the eye. It contains millions of photoreceptors (rods and cones) that convert light rays into electrical impulses that are relayed to the brain via the optic nerve.
Tear - clear, salty liquid that is produced by glands in the eyes.
Vitreous - a thick, transparent liquid that fills the center of the eye - it is mostly water and gives the eye its form and shape (also called the vitreous humor).
Cornea - the clear, dome-shaped tissue covering the front of the eye.
Eyebrow - a patch of dense hair located above the eye.
Eyelash - one of the many hairs on the edge of the eyelids.
Eyelid - the flap of skin that can cover and protect the eye.
Iris - the colored part of the eye - it controls the amount of light that enters the eye by changing the size of the pupil.
Lens - a crystalline structure located just behind the iris - it focuses light onto the retina.
Optic nerve - the nerve that transmits electrical impulses from the retina to the brain.
Pupil - the opening in the center of the iris- it changes size as the amount of light changes (the more light, the smaller the hole).
Retina - sensory tissue that lines the back of the eye. It contains millions of photoreceptors (rods and cones) that convert light rays into electrical impulses that are relayed to the brain via the optic nerve.
Tear - clear, salty liquid that is produced by glands in the eyes.
Vitreous - a thick, transparent liquid that fills the center of the eye - it is mostly water and gives the eye its form and shape (also called the vitreous humor).
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Flame Tube
Here is a demonstration of a student playing flute into a flame tube: on youtube
It is a wonderful demonstration. Maybe by the next time I teach this I'll be able to buy a frequency generator!!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Supersonic
Above picture is of a jet cracking the sound barrier:
The term supersonic is used to define a speed that is over the speed of sound (Mach 1). At a typical temperature like 21 °C (70 °F), the threshold value required for an object to be traveling at a supersonic speed is approximately 344 m/s, (1,129 ft/s, 761 mph or 1,238 km/h). Speeds greater than 5 times the speed of sound are often referred to as hypersonic. Speeds where only some parts of the air around an object (such as the ends of rotor blades) reach supersonic speeds are labeled transonic (typically somewhere between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.2).
Sounds are travelling vibrations (pressure waves) in an elastic medium. In gases sound travels longitudinally at different speeds, mostly depending on the molecular mass and temperature of the gas; (pressure has little effect).
New Sesmester, New Topics
Hello, a new semester and new topics.
Waves:
Vocabulary waves: frequency, wavelength, amplitude, trough, crest, compressional wave, transverse wave, and more.
Objectives: Be able to differentiate compressional and transverse waves.
Be able to label a picture like that above.
Sound:
Vocabulary sound: decibels (dBs), compressional wave, ultrasound technology, compression and rarefraction, resonance, pitch, frequency, and more.
Objectives:
Know what raising the amplitude of a wave will have an affect on the sound.
Know what increasing the size of the wavelength does to the sound we hear.
Know the decibel scale and what levels do damage to a person's hearing.
Describe hat is going on with the changes made in the flame waves in the roubins tube
Human ear: Be able to identify all the parts below: (stirrup, anvil, ear, eustacian tube, pinna, cochlea, eardrum, nerve cords, outer ear canal
Waves:
Vocabulary waves: frequency, wavelength, amplitude, trough, crest, compressional wave, transverse wave, and more.
Objectives: Be able to differentiate compressional and transverse waves.
Be able to label a picture like that above.
Sound:
Vocabulary sound: decibels (dBs), compressional wave, ultrasound technology, compression and rarefraction, resonance, pitch, frequency, and more.
Objectives:
Know what raising the amplitude of a wave will have an affect on the sound.
Know what increasing the size of the wavelength does to the sound we hear.
Know the decibel scale and what levels do damage to a person's hearing.
Describe hat is going on with the changes made in the flame waves in the roubins tube
Human ear: Be able to identify all the parts below: (stirrup, anvil, ear, eustacian tube, pinna, cochlea, eardrum, nerve cords, outer ear canal
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