I remember so vividly when my high school physics teacher, Mitch Johnson, said, “Cartoons are funny because they defy the laws of Physics.” He said it so matter-of-factly that I only wrote an entire essay about it on my application to Oxford! The Simpsons, in all its genius, echo the notion with the couch gag depicted above. Why is it funny?
Now check out this amazing world record setting trampoline video!! The amount of our year contained in this video is astonishing!! While you’re here, this basketball dribbling video is just about everything!
I happen to love hummingbirds!! They have beautiful iridescent throats that dazzle the eye. They are acrobats with a mind-bending figure 8 wing flap allowing for lift on both the up and down strokes lending to their characteristic float. They are designed for quick elusive movements due their relatively small moment of inertia around the roll axis. They are very similar to the snitch in Harry Potter in this regard!! They are essentially Physics machines! So, in order to truly understand the hummingbird, or any other loving organism, or the world around us or even the physical universe, we need to understand Physics and it’s principles!
What is Physics??
If you look up the definition of Physics, you’ll probably find something to the likes of “the science of matter and energy and the interactions of the two”. I’m sorry, I missed that as I just fell asleep!
I prefer to think of it as the Konomi Code to the Universe!!
Back in 1985 Kazuhisa Hashimoto was working on the arcade game Gradius. During testing, he found the game incredibly challenging so he developed a shortcut that allowed him to easily get to where he needed to be without dying. The code, referred to as the Konomi Code, gives the player a full set of power-ups usually afforded throughout the game!
If you enter “up up down down left right left right B A Start” you will attain the necessary power-ups; most notably you will receive 30 lives in the classic NES game Contra.
Now, this code has permeated throughout pop culture with appearances in Wreck-it Ralph, Bank of Canada, Archer, Gravity Falls, Fortnite, The Incredibles, the 2016 Marks and Spencer Christmas site in England, Google Hangouts and various Conde Naste UK sites. However, you can just grab your iPhone and say the code to Siri!!!
In Physics, we manipulate the Konomi Code to the universe. We have the cheat codes. So, hopefully, by the end of the class you will you will look at the world just a bit differently. In particular, this video of Flanders and how it relates to the padding underneath the backboards in the gym!! Why is it so funny!?!
Let’s see what I mean in the next couple of examples!
The 2020 British Grand Prix looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for the great Lewis Hamilton. Throughout a brilliant race, Hamilton had built a lead of over 30 seconds. Well, you no what they say, you can never count your chickens before they’re hatched! What happened next was truly one of the most exciting finishes in all of sport!! Check out the race recap narrated by the best there is, David Croft and Martin Brundle!
We want to know if/when and where Max Verstappen catches up to Lewis!! Let’s delve! And you can’t find out the results here!!
Well, that was super fun!! Now let’s analyze the trend that’s sweeping the nation…Maria Kart in a laundry basket on a treadmill into a pool!!
Linearization!!
Here is our first topic!! It involves a process of linearization which is an important and powerful tool for data analysis and the development of relationships!!
Here is the Jumping Jumper Elves lab to practice linearization!
I would absolutely recommend watching this video concerning graphs of position/velocity/acceleration as a function of time
Below you will find links to YouTube channels that are very useful to the course!!
Film Clas 