Extended Index
The Flying Circus of Physics,
second edition
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B
Backdraft in a room fire, 4.79
Backpacks on bungee cords, 1.196
Bacteria and electric field, 5.8, 5.8
Bacteria and surgery, 5.31
Baked Alaska, desert, 4.98
Balancing
baseball bat, 1.239
bicycle, 1.239
blocks, 1.66
bottle on cigarette lighter, 1.164
bottle on knives, 1.239
bowling balls, 1.201
bricks on head, by tossing them up onto the top, 1.239
building, 1.204
building cranes, 1.206
bus on cliff edge, The Italian Job movie, 1.216
car and train surfing, 1.199
chair on cliff edge, 1.239
climbing stairs on your head, 1.254
coin on folded paper edge, pub trick, 1.91
coins, 1.239
Chinese totems, huge loads on three-wheeled cycle, 1.239
currency balanced on one finger, 1.239
dominoes and domino amplifier, 1.68, 1.68
donkey, dangling from cart, rather sad, 1.229
eggs standing on end, 1.138, 1.138
hammer, 1.217
lorry on cliff edge, The Italian Job movie (original one), 1.216
rocks, precariously balanced and earthquakes, 1.125
rods, circus act, 1.238
safety pins on rim of drinking glass, 1.239
stones and bowling balls, 1.201
strong wind, standing and walking, 1.227
table wobble, how to fix with a rotation, 1.268
toys, 1.239
truck turning, 1.239
two-finger handstand, 1.239
unicycle, 1.116
Ball bouncing,
adjacent pendulum balls, 1.42
baseball on top of basketball, chain collision, 1.43
racquetball shots (Z-shot), 1.77
Super Ball tricks, 1.76, 1.76
zing echo, 3.77
Ballet
grand jete (hanging in the air), 1.35
tour jete and fouette turn, 1.100
Ball suspended in air stream, 2.144, 2.144
Ballistospore fungi catapult, 2.99
Ball lightning, 5.5, 5.5
Ball of Death, circus act, 1.211
Balloons
ascent, 2.56
buoyancy motion in turning car, 2.131
bursting, 1.212
inflating, 4.70
in air stream, 2.144
flying in a lawn chair, 2.56, 2.56
Ballpoint pen ink viscosity behavior, 2.58
Banana, radioactive potassium, 4.101
Bar at the Folies-Bergère, strange reflection from mirror, 6.75, 6.75
Barchan sand dunes, migration and mergence process, 2.111
Barroom physics, see Pub physics
Bartell, Scott, Alexander the Great body armor, 1.130
Baseball,
aerodynamics, 2.16
baseball and basketball falling together, 1.43
catching fly ball, 1.21
ball dropped from great height, 1.22
hitting a baseball, 1.23
humidifying, Denver team's practice of, 1.23
seeing the ball in flight, 7.9
Basilisk lizard, 2.42, 2.58, 6.89
Basketball,
baseball and basketball falling together, 1.43
free throw, 1.33, 1.33, 1.34
hang time in a jump, 1.35,
spin, use of, 1.228
Bathroom, physics in a
bathtub optics, 6.85
breath figures on misty mirror, 2.92
circular pattern around falling water stream, 2.29
colored rings in misty mirror, 6.110
electric field in toilet stall, 5.52
electrostatic charging by splashing, 5.13
eyeglass condensation, 4.66
flatulence, production of the noise, 3.89, 3.93
hydraulic jump (shock wave) in sink, 2.29
mirror
apparent left-right reversal, 6.60
breath figures and wetting, 2.92
color rings in foggy mirror, 6.170
fogging process, 4.65
nude-in-the-shower effect, 6.88
plumbing rumbling, cavitation resonance, 3.47
razor blade reflections, shiny turns dark, 6.69
sausage shadow effect, 6.99
shadows in the water, 6.99
shampoo stream bounce, 2.60, 2.60
shaver cuttings on water, motion when surface tension changed, 2.150
shaving with twin blades, 1.193
shower curtain, flutter, 2.21
video of me, The Daily Planet show
shower-door optics, nude-in-the-shower effect, 6.88, 6.90
shower singing, 3.67
splashing sounds, 3.87
steam devils, 2.39
tearing toilet paper, 1.93
toilet functioning, 2.41
toilet stall electric field, 5.52, 5.52
towel popping sounds, 3.59
viewing through water surface, 6.85
vortex, bathtub, 2.23
scam of apparent reversal at equator, 2.23
water bells in a water stream, 2.101
wet towel popping, 3.59
Bats, detection by
acoustic mirror effect, 3.24
flower acts as retroreflector, 3.25
insect, Doppler shift, 3.24, 3.24
Battery
bounce and remaining energy, 5.63
lemon, 5.27
Bay of Fundy tides, 2.34
Beach physics
conch shell sounds, 3.36
cusps, 2.72
footstep fill with water, 2.102
harbor waves diffraction, 2.165
reflection glitter, 6.39
sand bar reflections, 2.132
sandcastles, 2.86
sand formations around beach stones, 2.112
sand squeaking, 3.69
sand wetness, 2.102
scarps, 2.86
shorebirds prey harvesting with surface tension, 2.83
stone skipping, 1.94, 1.94
surfing, 2.69, 2.69
surf skimmer, 2.130
UV exposure, wet versus dry tee shirt, 6.86, 6.159
waves through small opening, diffraction, 2.66
waves turning toward shore, refraction, 2.65
Bead lightning, 5.5
Beading
drops on hot skillet, 4.5
saliva threads, 2.81
spider web capture threads, 2.81
welding, 2.81
Beamon, Bob, record long jump, 1.38
Beano stick (toy), 1.161
Beanstalk to space (skyhook), 1.137
Béarnaise sauce, 5.37
Beating of penguin sounds, 3.15
Beatles
Blue Meanies, perception effects in The Yellow Submarine movie, 7.22
Paul is Dead rumor in reversed music, 3.86
Bed of nails, lying on, 1.56, 1.56
video of me, The Tonight Show
Bedouins, black robes in hot desert, cooling effect, 4.59
Bedroom
snoring, 3.7
visual effect upon waking, 7.4
Beer, see also Pub physics
beer boot, 2.120
beer spots on bottle caps, 2.190
Brazil nut effect in beer, 2.108
bubble paths, 2.123
bubbles, 2.76, 2.76
can, crushed, 1.229
cooling by water evaporation, 4.61, 4.61
fast pouring, 2.194
fizzing sounds, 3.84
foam, 2.77,
foam clearing with glug-glug, 2.120
freezing, 4.24, 4.24
glass, visual illusion of beer amount, 6.136, 7.52
Guinness bubbles moving downward, 2.76, 2.76
video of me
Guinness widget, 2.76
glug-glug, 2.120, 2.120
gushing, 2.76, 2.76
Miller Lite vortex bottle, 2.168
prank, tapping causing eruption, 2.76
sloshing, effect of foam head, 2.199
yard-of-ale, 2.120, 2.120
Bees,
electrical effects in pollination, 5.32
navigation by polarized sky light, 7.38
thermal attack to kill invading hornet, 4.3, 4.3
van Gogh's Sunflowers, attraction to the drawn flowers, 7.54
vision, 7.54
Beetles
bombardier, Coanda effect on the acid stream, 2.50, 2.50
brilliant white due to internal filaments, 6.158
click beetle leaping, 1.40
fog basking, condensation on hydrophilic bumps, 4.67
Hercules beetle, color shifting, 6.115
opal coloration by optical interference, 6.95
remote fire sensing by infrared detection, 4.2
scarabeid, colors due to surface structures, 6.115
tiger beetle, colors due to surface structure, 6.115
whirl-a-gig colors, diffraction gratings, 6.115
Beever, Julian, sidewalk anamorphic art, 6.77
Bell, Alexander Graham, magnetic search for lethal bullet, 5.41
Bell, cathedral, would not ring, 1.121
Belt of Venus, red or orange border to sunset dark patch, 6.14
Benard cells, circulation pattern in heated oil, 2.90
Bends, accents from deep dives, 2.52
Bergship, proposed World War II iceberg aircraft carrier, 2.160
Bergy seltzer, melting iceberg noise, 3.70
Bernoulli effect,
ball floating in air stream, 2.144
passing trains, 2.3
reversing egg, 2.50
upside down racing, 2.1
Berry, Michael, Christmas ornament reflections, pupil size, 7.28, 7.28
Beta emission, radioactive decay
bananas, 4.101
gun sights, 6.161
Bicycle
acrobatics, 1.239
circus loop-the-loop acts, 1.20, 2.1
riding and turning, 1.80
rolling wheel blurry appearance, 1.247
Big Bertha, long range artillery, Coriolis effect, 1.136
Big-horn sheep
head-to-head collisions, 1.10
rock climbing, 1.61
Billiard shots, 1.74
Birds
droppings (poop)
danger of electric flashover, 5.22
surface tension of water, 2.98
flight in vee formation, 2.18, 2.18
flocks, 2.166
spinning, 2.27
shorebirds prey harvesting with surface tension, 2.83
transmission lines
electrocution, 5.22
excretion and flashover, 2.98
Birefringence, 6.129
Bishop’s ring, solar ring due to volcano explosion, 6.9
Black and white cardboard, light absorption, 6.69
Blackouts, regional electrical, solar flares, induced current, 5.47
Black robes in desert, cooling effect, 4.59
Black velvet, optics, 6.131
Blind spot
car mirrors, 6.74, 6.74
vision, 7.3, 7.3
Blister effect, visual,7.27
Blizzards and whiteouts, 6.55
Block stacking, 1.66, 1.66, 1.68
Blood
cells, seeing their motion in your eye, 7.4
flow in snakes, giraffes, tall dinosaurs, 2.47
pressure sounds during medical measurements, 3.49
veins, why blue instead of red, 6.123
Blowguns, 1.244
Blue arcs, visual, 7.44
Blue Christmas light weakens faster with distance than red light, 6.17, 6.17
Blue jay, colors due to surface structure, 6.115
Blue Meanies, perception effects in The Yellow Submarine movie, 7.22
Blue moon, 6.50, 6.50
Blue mountains, 6.6
Blue Oyster Cult, early laser scanning of audience, 6.164
Blue ribbon on sea horizon, 6.141
Blue skin, color change when skin is cold, 6.115, 6.122
Boats
drawn together, 2.128
canal water level, 2.30, 2.30
dead water, 2.35, 2.35
dry dock, 2.45
lead bar in boat, puzzle, 2.43
sailboats, 2.161
wakes, 2.68
Bobsleds, 1.155
Body armor
cloth, Alexander the Great, 1.130
fabric, modern day, 1.130
Japanese samurai horo, silk versus arrows, 1.130
Boiling water ordeal, 4.88
Boiling water
process, 4.43
sounds, 3.51
Bolas, 1.30
Bomb, rotating, used in World War II, dam busters, 1.94, 1.94
Bombardier beetle, Coanda effect with acid spray, 2.50, 2.50
Bond, James, movie, Oddjob sucked through airplane window, 2.158
Bonfire signaling, 4.76
Books and short stories
Alice in Wonderland, falling through Earth, 1.141
A Slight Case of Sunstroke, Arthur C. Clarke, referee mirror death, 6.82
The Desert of Ice, Jules Verne, ice lens, 6.93
The Little Prince, gravitation, small planet, 1.157
The Lord of the Flies, eyeglasses, starting fire, 6.93
The Pendulum in the Pit, 1.115
The Worst Hard Time, electric discharge, dust storm, 5.29
Book spinning, 1.96
Boomerang, 2.9
Booms
from sand dunes, 3.69, 3.69
from sky, mysterious brontides, 3.57
Bore, tidal, 2.32
Bottle
rocking and rolling, 1.110
wobbling, 1.110
Bottle cap
beer spots left on caps, 2.190
stuck to face, 1.57
Cleveland State University video of me
Bottle opening
corkscrew substitute, 1.269
opening with a shoe, 2.196
prying open, 1.262
Bottle resonance,
Blue Man group, 3.9
dinosaur resonance, 3.9, 3.9
tapping, buzzing, blowing, 3.41, 3.41
whistlers, 3.77, 3.77
Bouncing
ball, 1.76, 1.76
liquid streams, 2.60
Bowling, 1.73
Bowling balls, stacking, 1.201
Bowling in game of cricket, 2.17
Bow-wave riding, porpoise, 2.70
Boxing, 1.46, 1.46
Boyle's perpetual motion machine, 1.261
Bragg scattering, acoustic, 3.86
Brain damage
big-horn sheep head-to-head collisions, 1.10
boxing, 1.46, 1.46
football (soccer), 1.241
woodpecker, 1.10
Braking, car, 1.5-1.9, 1.152
Brazil-nut effect, 2.108, 2.108
Breakfast physics
acoustics, breakfast cereal, 3.53, 3.53
cereal grain attraction (Cheerios effect), 2.85, 2.85
video, homemade
cereal magnetism, iron fortified cereals, 5.43, 5.43
coffee
appearance, 2.87
cooling rates, 4.60
drinking hot, 4.42
heated in hot sand, 4.115
patterns on surface, 2.90
vortex when cold milk is added, 2.24
coffee cup acoustics, frequency shifting, 3.40
dunking of cookie or biscuit, the proper way, 2.95
egg tricks
egg into and out of bottle, 2.176
reversing egg in tequila glass, 2.50
spinning hard-boiled and fresh eggs, 1.107, 1.107
honey and yogurt draining patterns, 2.159
liquid rope coils of honey, 2.62
tea
leaves gathering at center of stirred tea, 2.25
teapot effect of stream clinging to spout, 2.51
video of me, Daily Planet show
roll patterns in, 2.90
secondary flow, 2.25
teapot effect, stream doubling back on spout, 2.51
teapot, self-pouring, 2.198
teapot whistling, 3.3
tumbling toast, landing butter-side down, 1.99, 1.99
video of me, Daily Planet show
Bridge
footbridge oscillation, 1.124, 1.124
Golden Gate Bridge, flattened by pedestrians, 1.181
I-95 bridge collapse, 1.71, 1.71
Le Point Normandie, wind-induced cable oscillations, 2.129
London Millennium Bridge, oscillations due to pedestrians, 1.124, 1.124
Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapse in moderate wind, 2.4, 2.4
Bright nights, 6.148