Related papers: Simplifying the vacuum bazooka
This paper presents an approximate analytical solution to the Falling Astronaut Problem by means of the hyperbolic tangent, and it explores the educational opportunities presented by this technique. The author's previous paper presented a…
The use of compressed air cannons in an undergraduate lab provides a way to illustrate the cooperation of diverse physics concepts, such as conservation of momentum, the work-kinetic energy theorem, expansion of gas, air drag, and…
Projectile motion is a constant theme in introductory-physics courses. It is often used to illustrate the application of differential and integral calculus. While most of the problems used for this purpose, such as maximizing the range, are…
We consider the problem of the motion of a projectile thrown vertically upward from a surface. In addition to gravity, the drag force of the medium is taken into account, which is considered a quadratic function of the relative velocity of…
A classic problem of the motion of a projectile thrown at an angle to the horizon is studied. Air resistance force is taken into account with the use of the quadratic resistance law. The projectile motion is described analytically with…
The motion of a projectile with horizontal initial velocity V0, moving under the action of the gravitational field and a drag force is studied analytically. As it is well known, the projectile reaches a terminal velocity Vterm. There is a…
Projectile motion is one of the most fundamental problems in introductory physics, offering a clear context to connect algebraic reasoning with conceptual understanding. This work presents a computational and pedagogical framework that…
We conjecture that the random walk and the corresponding diffusion in the relativistic velocity space is an adequate method for describing the acceleration process in relativistic jets. Considering a simple toy model, the main features of…
This work is a theoretical study of the speed at which the material of an impacted target is ejected during the formation of an impact crater. Our model, starting from the first principle of thermodynamics, can describes the speed of the…
The relativistic addition of parallel velocities is derived involving relativity only via the time dilation formula, avoiding the length contraction used by many authors in conjunction with time dilation. The followed scenario involves a…
We present a ballistic description of the propagation of the working surface of a relativistic jet. Using simple laws of conservation of mass and linear momentum at the working surface, we obtain a full description of the jet flow…
This article describes a wind tunnel's ease of construction and its uses as a visualization tool that integrates concepts at the primary and secondary levels. An Appendix contains detailed building instructions. A web site (under…
A theoretical expression for the drag on a spherical bubble is derived for the entire range from very viscous to inertial flow conditions. It is based on a solution for only that part of the velocity profile that determines the drag. It is…
We perform direct numerical simulations of a bi-disperse suspension of heavy spherical particles in forced, homogeneous, and isotropic three-dimensional turbulence. We compute the joint distribution of relative particle distances and…
In the Special Theory of Relativity space and time intervals are different in different frames of reference. As a consequence, the quantity 'velocity' of classical mechanics splits into different quantities in Special Relativity, coordinate…
The proper choice of a measurement technique that minimizes systematic and random uncertainty is an essential part of experimental physics. These issues are difficult to teach in the introductory laboratory, though: because most experiments…
A novel pedagogical technique is presented that can be used in the undergraduate (UG) class to formulate a relativistically extended Kinetic Theory of Gases and thermal speed distribution, while assuming the basic thermal symmetry arguments…
The Ping Pong gun or Ping Pong bazooka has been a popular and compelling tool for physics education. However, the design necessarily means the ball emerges at subsonic speed. The design has been modified to include a pressure chamber and a…
We present results for the bubble wall velocity and bubble wall thickness during a cosmological first-order phase transition in a condensed form. Our results are for minimal extensions of the Standard Model but in principle are applicable…
We introduce a new picture of vacuum decay which, in contrast to existing semiclassical techniques, provides a real-time description and does not rely on classically-forbidden tunneling paths. Using lattice simulations, we observe vacuum…