astorrs

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Member since: Oct 1 2008, 3:41 PM EDT
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Hello, my name is Alex
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MY VITALS

Insert your profile picture here!Occupation: Astronomer
Home town: Catonsville
Location
: Maryland
Astrological sign: You've got to be kidding...



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MORE ABOUT ME...

I joined this wiki because: I'm part of Project ASTRO in Baltimore

The best word to describe me is: Lucky

Interests: Astronomy, music, fatherhood

Favorite movies: Casablanca, Dr. Zhivago

Favorite TV shows: No TV


My hero(es): Archie Cochran

My superpower is: understanding others

If I could live anywhere, it would be: where my family is

My dream job(s): I've got it!

What else you should know about me: I'm not really an orangutan, I just play one on the web...

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Latest page update: Oct 2 2008, 4:41 PM EDT
Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
astorrs gravity lab 0 Oct 1 2008, 3:48 PM EDT by astorrs
astorrs
Thread started: Oct 1 2008, 3:48 PM EDT  Watch
Julia Punch (of RPEMS) and I just did an interesting project to try to teach the kids about gravity. We had them make mobiles of the Earth-Moon system, and hung them from the ceiling. This is the handout we made.

Ideally (if the stick was massless) the thing would balance at the center of gravity, but using 1/16" oak dowels from Home Depot, the thing balances in the center. We're looking at using some dried bamboo from Julia's yard the next time. You can model the mass difference by using a roll of pennies ($0.50) for the Earth and a single penny for the Moon-- sting 'em up 30" apart and they balance quite close to the Earth. I kept their attention by holding this over my head and having it "orbit" as I summarized at the end of the class, passing it from hand to hand as necessary.

You could use a similar apparatus to demonstrate reflex motion of a star with an orbiting planet, if you wanted to teach about planets around other stars.
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