Is Intergalactic space travel possible? The Andromeda Galaxy is around 2.5 million light years away - a distance so large that even with the speed of light at traveling as 300,000,000m/s it has taken 2.5 million years for that light to arrive. The question is, would it ever be possible for a journey to the... Continue Reading →
Bullet Projectile Motion Experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na6QspKHt48 Bullet Projectile Motion Experiment This is a classic physics experiment which counter to our intuition. We have a situation where 1 ball is dropped from a point, and another ball is thrown horizontally from that same point. The question is which ball will hit the ground first? (diagram from School for Champions site) Looking... Continue Reading →
The Monkey and the Hunter – How to Shoot a Monkey
This is a classic puzzle which is discussed in some more detail by the excellent Wired article. The puzzle is best represented by the picture below. We have a hunter who whilst in the jungle stumbles across a monkey on a tree branch. However he knows that the monkey, being clever, will drop from the branch... Continue Reading →
Galileo: Throwing cannonballs off The Leaning Tower of Pisa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5_dOEyAfk Galileo: Throwing cannonballs off The Leaning Tower of Pisa This post is inspired by the excellent book by Robert Banks - Towing Icebergs. This book would make a great investment if you want some novel ideas for a maths investigation. Galileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician and astronomer who (reputedly) conducted experiments from the... Continue Reading →