The Flying Circus of Physics is a book about curious events and effects of the everyday world. This site is an extension of the book.
Spotlight story for this month: Click on the title down below here
Secondary stories for this month: Click on "News/Updates" in menu at the left
Archived stories and links (hundreds): 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
Index to this site and the book: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J-K, L-O, P-Q, R-S, T-Z
Store (books, tee shirts, mug): click on "Store" in the menu at the left
Newsletter Emailed every three months (I am the only one that can see your email address. Indeed, I am the only one that can access anything here.) Sign up in the menu at the left.
Facebook Flying Circus of Physics site (public site): my old television videos and many photos. Here is the link. Come for a visit, and consider signing up as a fan of the site.
Jay Waller stories: Physics for
Citations (over 11,000) and links (over 2000) for items in the book (pdf files):
Chap 1, Chap 2, Chap 3, Chap 4, Chap 5, Chap 6, Chap 7
A random sample from the book appears at lower right each time you come to this site.
---- Jearl Walker
ps. If the biplane at the top of the page doesn't have sound and motion, download the free flash player from Adobe.com.
Flying Circus of Physics Spotlight
Surfing
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Surfing a big wave requires a subtle interplay of forces. Here are both a description of those forces and sample calculations. Here is also is the techniques of avoiding a wipeout.
Flying Circus of Physics Sample
Cocktail-party effect
In a small party with people standing and talking in pairs, each member of a pair stands at a “socially acceptable” distance from the other and the two can hear each other without any trouble. However, as the density of people in the room increases, why does hearing become more difficult, and what does each member of a pair do in response? Why can a voice still be distinguished? You might notice these same effects in many other environments, such as a noisy restaurant or subway car. MORE
© 2014 Jearl Walker. All Rights Reserved