L
Labyrinths, mirror, 6.66, 6.66
Lady of Shallot, 6.75
Lake
freezing, 4.23
Nyos, carbon dioxide eruption, 2.55
oxbow, 2.26
Peigneur, sudden draining in a large vortex, 2.23
LaMothe, Henri, diving, 1.49
Lancaster bomber, 1.94
Landing on water, 1.218
Landslides, 2.115
Langmuir circulations, 2.111, 2.137
Laser scanning, 6.164
Lassos, 1.84
Laundry brightener, 6.137, 6.159
Laundry, drying of hanging, 4.55
Lava lamps, 4.102
Lead, molten, 4.6, 4.6, 4.7
Leaves, 2.10, 2.11
Le pastis, 6.113
Leaning tower in Pisa, 1.67, 1.67
Leaves, colors of aspen, 6.121
Lee, Bruce, 1.45
Leger, Fernand, art, 7.54
Lego blocks, 1.66
Leidenfrost effect, 4.6 - 4.8, 4.6, 5.30
Length contraction, relativistic, 1.162
Leverage Russian style, 1.261
Levitation
magic trick, 1.210
magnetic, 5.48
Lewis and Clark, 3.57
Lichtenberg figures, 5.2, 5.18
Licking cold pipes, 4.26, 4.26
Lifting bottle, pub trick, 1.57
Lightning
animals, 5.2
ball and bead, 5.5
cause, 5.1
cell phone, 5.2
explosion, mine, 5.4
ipods, 5.2
lodestones, 5.38
people, 5.2
rods, 5.7
sprites, 5.6, 5.6
strike to car, 5.3, 5.3
trees, 5.4
vehicles, 5.3
Line across distant rain, 6.147
Line across water, 2.148
Linothorax body armor, 1.130
Liquefaction, 2.103, 2.175
Liquid bridges, 2.86, 2.112
Liquid marbles, 2.94
Liquid mountaineering, 2.169
Liquid nitrogen, use of, 4.6, 4.6, 4.31
Liquid origami, 2.170
Liquid rope coils, 2.62
Little Prince, 1.157
Lizards, rain harvesting, 2.82
Lizards, walking on water, 2.42
Lodestones, 5.38
Lone Ranger theme music, 3.86
Long jump, 1.38, 1.38
Longitudinal dunes, 2.111
Lottery cheating, 2.162
Lotus effect, 2.93
Lowell, Percival, 7.4
Lunar eclipse, 6.26
Lung squeeze, 2.53
M
Macarney, Scott, 2.7
Mach bands, 7.25
Maddison, Robbie, jump, 1.81
Magic tricks,
see Pub physics (below)
coin
disappearing, 6.89
passing through small opening, 1.246
Criss Angel
floating, 1.210
walking on water, 6.89
impossible stairway at RIT, 1.258
Penn and Teller, road kill, 1.203
toothpick trick, 1.251
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 5.40
Magnetic surprise, 5.58
Magnus effect, 2.14-2.17
Mandrill monkey, colors, 6.115
Manet, Edouard, 6.75, 6.75
Manhole explosion, 4.109
Map of physics, 1.250
Maps in clouds, 6.20
Marangoni effect, 2.88
Mars
dust devils, 2.39, 2.39
razorbacks, 5.53
Mass dampers, building oscillations, 1.133, 1.133
Matchstick bar trick, 5.8
Maxwell’s spot, 7.45
Maze, mirror, 6.66, 6.66
Mayan pyramid echo, 3.65, 3.65
McCartney, Paul, 3.86
Meandering rivers, 2.26, 2.26
Meandering thin streams, 2.149
Meat colors, 4.45, 6.135
Melon, catching with face, 2.169
Men in Black, upside down racing, 2.1
Meridian line in Paris church, optics, 6.23
Meringue insulation, 4.98
Meringue pies, 5.36
Mermaids and mermen, 6.30
Merry-go-round, 1.19
Meteor strike, 1.37, 1.37
Methane explosion, 5.4
Microwave oven, heating in, 4.48, 4.48
Middle Eastern coffee, 2.91
Milk, optical properties, 6.61, 6.111, 6.124
Miller Lite vortex bottle, 2.168
Mines
abandoned, 4.96
explosion, 5.4
Miniature golf, 1.75
Minnaert, Marcel, 6.50
Mirage, 6.28 – 6.30, 6.28
Mirror
air-traffic controllers, 6.63
Archimedes's death ray, 6.81
Arthur C. Clark football story, 6.82
blind spot, vehicle, 6.74
kaleidoscope, 6.65
labyrinth, 6.66, 6.66
laser shoot game, 6.67
Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 6.75, 6.75
maze, 6.66, 6.66
multiple mirrors, 6.64, 6.68, 6.75, 6.75
one-way, 6.72
Pepper's ghost illusion, 6.62
rear-view, 6.73
reflection inversin, 6.60
side-view, 6.74, 6.74
space, to shine on ground, 6.82
stage mirror orientation, 6.61
vehicle blind spot, 6.74, 6.74
Waterhouse's I Am Half Sick of Shadows, 6.75
wooden, 6.165
Missing fundamental effect, 3.29
Mist, champagne and soda, 4.24
MIT, 4.94, 4.99, 6.23, 6.23
MJS, 1.39
Mobile phones,
heating, 4.101
inside guitar, 3.94
Mohole, 1.141
Mohorovicic, A., 1.141
Moire patterns, 7.12
Molenaar, D., honey, yogurt, 2.159
Molten lead, 4.6, 4.6
Mona Lisa’s smile, 7.31
Monet, Claude, 7.10
Moon
color, 6.26, 6.50, 6.50, 7.53
face, 1.186
illusion, 7.1
madness, 1.139
opposition brightening, 6.44
seeing dark part, 6.43, 6.43
Moonbow, 6.2
Moose-car collisions, 1.215
Morning glory climbing, 1.206
Morpho butterfly colors, 6.115
Moth eyes, 6.117, 6.117
Motion illusion, 7.13, 7.13
Motorcycles, 1.80-1.81, 1.81
Motorcycle Ball of Death, 1.211
Mount St. Helens, sound waves, 3.18
Mountain colors, 6.6
Mountaineering, 2.169
Mountain shadows, 6.36
Movies and television shows,
Christmas Story, 4.26
Dune, 1.224
Goldfinger (James Bond), 2.158
Groucho walking, 1.259
Indiana Jones, 1.208
Knight Rider truck stunt, 1.226
Men in Black, 2.1
Powers of Ten, 6.163
The Birds, 2.166
The Italian Job (original), 1.216
Yellow Submarine, 7.22
Mpemba effect, 4.12
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), 5.40, 5.40
Mud cracks, 4.68
Munch, Edvard, 6.8, 6.61
Muons, 7.46
Murmuring brooks, 3.45
Museum glass, 6.88
Music
aeolian tones, 3.2
Blue Man Group, 3.9
Blue Moon, 6.50
bottle resonance, 3.41, 3.41
Chladni singing, 2.141
crude noise music, 3.92
digeridoo, 3.37
echoes, 3.65, 3.65
fruit instruments, 3.91
harmonic kiss, 3.4
Hendrix, 5.44, 5.45
Lone Ranger theme, road noise, 3.86
retinal detachment, heavy metal, 1.11
road noise music, 3.88
Rogers and Hart, 6.50
rude noise music, 3.92
singing bowls, 2.74
soprano singing, 3.4
telephone wire swinging, 3.2, 3.2
vegetable instruments, 3.91
whistling, 3.3
wine glass, 3.44, 3.44
Mushroom catapulting, 2.99
Mushroom clouds, 4.76
N
Nacre, optics, 6.116
Nacreous clouds, 6.144
Nails, bed of, 1.56, 1.56
Negative lift, 2.1
Negative afterimage, 7.15
Negative pressure, 2.136
Negative strike, lightning, 5.4
Neon spreading, 7.13
Nestea grain behavior, 2.106
Neutron decay, 6.161
Newgrange megalithic mound, 3.66, 6.23, 6.23
Newton's first law of motion, 1.253
Niagara Falls, falling over, 1.195
Night brightness, 6.148
Noctilucent clouds, 6.59
Noise enhancing sound, 3.31
Noise, rude, 3.93
Noise-induced hearing loss, 3.30
Noisy neighbors, 3.68
Non-Newtonian fluids, 2.58, 2.58
Nose blocking the view, 7.21
Nude in shower optics, 6.88
O
Oasis mirage, 6.28, 6.28
Ocean
Bay of Fundy tide, 2.34
beach,
cusps, 2.72
sand, 2.102
bow riding by porpoises and dolphins, 2.70, 2.70
brightness, 6.140
colors, 6.38
dead water, 2.35, 2.35
deep diving ascents, 2.52
glitter, 6.37, 6.39, 6.140
iceberg, green, 6.53
straits, Gibraltar, Messina, Sicily, 2.146
submarine, escape from, 2.54
surfing, 2.69
tides, 2.33, 2.34
wakes, ducks and ships, 2.63
waves,
diffraction, 2.66, 2.165
generation, 2.63
rogue, 2.64, 2.64
whales and bubble nets, 2.79
Oil paintings, depth in, 7.14
Oil fire, 4.80, 4.80
Oil slicks, colors, 6.114
Oil stains on road, 2.151
Oil, calming waves, 2.73, 2.73
Oil, patterns in heated, 2.90
Olive in martini, 2.25
Ommatidia, 6.117
One-inch punch, 1.45
One-wheel vehicle, 1.219
One-way mirrors, 6.72
Op art, 7.13, 7.13
Opals, 6.95, 6.95
Opal-like coloring of beetle, 6.95
Opposition brightening, 6.44
Optically variable graphics, 6.109
Orchard spraying, freeze prevention, 4.15
Orchestra pit acoustics, 3.61
Origami, liquid, 2.170
Ornament reflections, 6.68, 7.28
Oscillating of head, 1.133
Oscillating pole, 1.118, 1.196
Ostwald ripening, 2.77, 4.70
Otoacoustic emissions, 3.28
Ouzo effect, optics, 6.113
Overtone singing, 3.6
Oxbow lake, 2.26
P
Packing hard solids, 1.237, 2.139
Paint brushes, 2.95
Pan, colors on cooking, 6.114
Panic escape, 2.105
Paper ball, 1.145, 1.145
Paper clip linking, 1.252
Parachuting, 1.50, 1.55, 1.158
Parchment paper effect, 2.170
Paris church, meridian line, optics, 6.23
Patterned ground via freezing, 4.29
Patterns in melting snow, 4.39
Peachy skin, 6.133
Pearls, optics, 6.116
Pedestrian flow, 2.105,
Pedestrian throw, 1.215
Peeling tape glow, 5.17, 5.17
Pencil, 1.69, 1.70, 6.99
Pendulum,
bell that would not ring, 1.121
building sway, 1.133
carnival bottle swing, 1.177
carrying loads
on the head, 1.117
with oscillating poles, 1.118
coupled pendulums, 1.119
incense swing, 1.114, 1.114
inverted pendulum, 1.116
Poe's pendulum in the pit, 1.115
pumping playground swing, 1.113
spring pendulum, 1.120
swinging watches, 1.180
unicycle rider, 1.116
Wilberforce pendulum, 1.150
Penguins
huddling, 4.4
leaping, 1.197
vision, 7.18
voices, 3.15
Pepper’s ghost, 6.62
Percolators, 4.51
Permafrost, sounds in, 3.79
Perpetual motion, Boyle's, 2.195
Pervious concrete, 2.184
Petals, color saturation, 6.120
Petro station fire, 5.9, 5.9
Phantom accidents, 1.3
Phonograph record, optics, 6.107
Phosphenes, 7.7
Photonic crystal, 6.95
Physics death roll, 1.209
Picture becoming crooked, 1.147, 1.147
Pine needle sounds, 3.2
Pingos, 4.27
Pinhole cameras, 6.102
Pinhole images of Sun, 6.103, 6.103
Pinhole reading, 7.33
Pinning, 2.84, 291, 2.91
Pinspeck cameras, 6.102
Pipes, bursting by ice, 4.25
Pisa, leaning tower of, 1.67, 1.67
Pit stop, 5.9
Pizzas
cooking, 4.47
eating hot, 4.42
tossing, 1.222
Plants
aspen tree colors, 6.121
heat producing, 4.57
iridescent, 6.118
oscillating, 1.132
tumble weed attack, 2.186
twining, 1.206
Plastic stretching, 1.142
Plastic strips, flying, 5.59
Plastic surgery apron and bacteria, 5.8
Plastic wrap, electrical effects, 5.34
Platoons, traffic, 1.2
Platypus, 5.56
Ploughing boulders, 4.30
Plumbing rumbling, 3.47
Pointillism, 7.11
Poisson spot, 6.151, 6.151
Polar-bear hairs, 4.58
Polarization
ant navigation, 6.128, 6.128, 7.38
building reflections, 6.126
Haidinger's brush, 7.39
human detection of, 7.39
insect detection of, 6.126, 7.38
print ink, 6.160
skylight, 6.127, 6.128, 6.128
Polarizing sunglasses, 6.126, 6.126
Polar route, radiation during, 7.46
Pole vaulting, 1.26
Pollination, electrical effects, 5.32
Ponytail, 1.245
Pool shots, 1.74
Pop can stability, 1.149
Popcorn, 4.48, 4.49
Popcorn, cell phone heating, 4.101
Popped rice, 4.49
Porpoise, bow-riding, 2.70, 2.70
Positive afterimage, 7.15
Positive strike, lightning, 5.4
Posphor gun sights, 6.161
Potassium-40, isotope, 4.101
Potato stickers, 4.64
Pottery, water cooling by, 4.61
Pouring
art, 2.188
beer boot, 2.120
Boyle's perpetual motion device, 2.195
fast, airline pouring, 2.194
Guinness, 2.76, 2.76
glug-glug, 2.120, 2.120
gushing, 2.76, 2.76
liquid stream bouncing, 2.60, 2.60
rainbow, alcoholic layers, 2.187
ribboning, 2.62
smooth, 2.75
tea, standing on rotating platform, 1.242
water onto car, 2.191
yard of ale, 2.120, 2.120
Powder patterns, 2.141
Powders
electrical effects, 5.11, 5.11, 5.12, 5.18, 5.29
explosions, 5.11, 5.11
lack of color, 6.130
oscillating, 2.108
razorbacks, Martian, 5.53
Power outage, solar effects, 5.47
"Powers of Ten" --- the video, 6.163
Prairie dog, 2.22
Precariously balanced rocks, 1.125
Precession, 1.104
Pressure regulator, 1.171
Pressure within airplanes, 4.69
Pressure, negative, 2.136
Projecticles, lucky, 1.228
Prommel, sword, 1.198
Pub physics
Stories here at the web site:
1000 drops from an empty bottle, 2.167
Balancing a coin on a folded paper edge, 1.91
Balancing a hammer and a lorry, 1.217
Balancing bottle on knives, 1.239
Beer spots in bottle caps, 2.190
Beer cooling, 4.61
Blowing out a candle, 2.50
Bottle cap, beer spots, 2.190
Bottle cap into bottle, 2.180
Brazil-nut effect, 2.108
Burnt wood match, 4.105
Business card hole, 1.251
Can stuck to hand, 2.120
Champagne cork as a morter round, 1.225
Champagne, raisin 2.177
Coin balancing, 1.239
Coin through small opening, 1.246
Collecting grains of black pepper, 2.150
Cooling beer, 4.61
Egg tricks, 2.176, 1.138
Egg spin, 1.107, 1.107
Electric dipole, 5.57
Escaping from a cellophane pocket, 2.162
Evaporating wine, 2.193
Evaporative cooling, 4.61
Exchanging water and whiskey, 2.120
Fast pouring, 2.194
Hand twist rod inversion, 1.256
Hanging a bottle on the wall, 1.221
Hanging bottle caps on your face, 1.57
Hanging spoons from the nose, 1.57
Height versus circumference, 1.248
Hole in hand, 7.55
How water can hide a coin, 6.84
Inflating a long bag, 2.174
Inverted can of Red Bull, 2.120
Inverted glass, wine rising into, 4.108
Lifting a bottle wiht thumb and one finger, 1.57
Lifting rice with a rod, 2.125
Lifting shot glass with palm, 4.104
Lighting a candle, 4.78
Making a coin rattle, 4.103
Making a ketchup packet float and dive, 2.172
Making straw paper strech and crawl, 2.171
Matchstick rocket, 1.168
Moving match sticks on a glass rim, 3.43
Oil blobs in water, 2.178
Opening a bottle without a bottle opener, 1.262
Paper clip linking, 1.252
Pencil through plastic water bag, 2.179
Pins in water, 2.192
Plastic straw, popping, 3.93
Pouring a rainbow, 2.187
Rainbow, pouring, 2.187
Raisin, chapagne, 2.177
Removing a bill from between balanced bottles, 1.164
Removing a coin from under a mug, 1.230
Removing a lighter from under a bottle, 1.164
Removing the cork from a wine bottle, 1.213
Reversing an egg in a tequila glass, 2.50
Rotating a matchstick balanced within a glass container, 5.8
Separating two pub glasses, 2.183
Shoe used to open wine bottle, 2.196
Shot glass pick up with palm, 4.110
Slam-freezing a beer or soda, 4.24
Standing eggs on end, 1.138
Straw picking up a glass, 1.234
Straw, sucking through a long, 2.41
Styrofoam cups, 5.8
Tia Maria wormy action, 2.89
Toothpick, one passing through another, 1.251
Toothpick design with water, 2.170
Transferring a steel ball between beer mats, 1.232
Tying a ring hitch, 1.223
Using glug-glug to clear beer foam, 2.120
Vortex beer bottle, 2.168
Water and the disappearing cigarette, 1.57
Water stream deflection, 5.57
Wine, evaporating, 2.193
Yard of ale and beer boot, 2.120
References and links for book stories
1.110, 1.122, 1.138, 1.149
Pulfrich illusion, 7.23
Pumpkins, optics of, 6.157
Pupil diameter, 7.28, 7.28
Purkinje’s blue arcs, 7.44
Purple light, twilight, 6.145
Purring
animals, 3.8
stroboscopic effect, 7.8
Putting in golf, 1.36, 3.83
Putt-putt boats, 4.52, 4.52
Putt-putt golf, 1.75
Puzzle
mirror maze, 6.66, 6.66
water and block, 2.164
Pyke, Geoffrey, 2.160
Pykrete, 2.160
Pyramid, Egyptian, 1.64
Q
Quicksand, 2.102, 2.104
Quiet zones near explosions, 3.18
Quarks, 6.161
Index A-C
Index D-K
Index R-S
Index T-Z
end