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, not only individual terms but also collections, such as "Pub physics" and "Accidents" and "Stunts": A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J-K, L, M-O, P-Q, R, S, T-Z
Seven videos in my Flying Circus of Physics video series with Cleveland State University has been posted. About one per month is going up. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChrOvC-DFkPNxKIxe-XKD3g
Facebook Flying Circus of Physics site (public site): my old television videos, many photos, and more stories. Here is the link. Come for a visit.
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
---- Jearl Walker
Flying Circus of Physics Spotlight
Fans at some sporting events can be so enthusiastic that they shake the ground enough for seismic detectors to record ground waves. With coordinated jumping, you would think the stadium would collapse.
Flying Circus of Physics Sample
Wintergreen glow in the closet
You and a friend first adapt your eyes to darkness for about 15 minutes in a closet or outside on a moonless night. Then have your friend chew a wintergreen Life Saver candy (a candy in the shape of a marine life saver and infused with the oil of wintergreen) with the mouth as open as possible so that you can see inside. Why does each bite initially produce a faint flash of blue light, and why do later bites fail to produce the light? (If you don’t want to eat the candy, squeeze it with a pair of pliers until it fractures.) Why does tonic water have a faint blue tint? MORE
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