Category Archives: physics

One die to rule them all

Posted on January 16, 2020 by

For a number of years I’ve been working on finding ways to turn what looks like an unfair die to a fair one (see these posts). Recently I’ve made a lot of progress. This post shows how I’ve turned a … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, mathematica, physics, research | 4 Comments

Shooting circuits

Posted on June 27, 2019 by

I’ve posted before about how I struggle teaching complex circuits (really just circuits that contain batteries and resistors in ways that can’t be analyzed with parallel and series tricks). There you’ll read about how I find that if I just … Continue reading →

Posted in general physics, physics | 8 Comments

Doppler Drum Corps

Posted on April 7, 2019 by

One of my favorite oral exam questions to give students in introductory physics classes is to ask them whether marching bands should worry about tuning because of the Doppler Effect (lots of details below but the short version: if there’s … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, general physics, mathematica, parenting, physics | 4 Comments

Stable, asymmetric dice

Posted on October 12, 2018 by

A while ago I set about trying to find asymmetric dice that might be fair. I’ve put a lot more work into it, but mostly because there’s been a lot of frustrating interesting tangents. Here’s the main thrust of the … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, mathematica, physics | 6 Comments

Fair Asymmetric Dice, getting there

Posted on April 29, 2018 by

Ever since my son and I worked on whether different types of 20-sided dice were fair I’ve been thinking about whether there might be some oddly shaped dice that could still be fair.  I’ve watched these three numberphile videos and I’ve looked … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, mathematica, physics | 7 Comments

Critical Disagreement

Posted on February 13, 2018 by

I’m just wrapping up my time spent at a really great conference that’s all about the First-Year Experience for students in college. I’ve got lots of thoughts running through my head, including lots of cool ideas for a large part … Continue reading →

Posted in dean, physics, teaching | 2 Comments

Mass changing orbits

Posted on December 28, 2017 by

A few weeks ago my good friend John Burk posted some intriguing questions about what happens to planetary orbits as the sun loses mass (all that heat has to come from somewhere!). I’ve been thinking about it ever since and … Continue reading →

Posted in general physics, mathematica, physics | 2 Comments

Snow wave

Posted on December 10, 2017 by

Earlier today I posted this pic and asked a question about it on twitter: What determines the wavelength of the snow pattern? pic.twitter.com/KqPKla2IIJ — Andy Rundquist (@arundquist) December 10, 2017 If you click through you’ll see lots of great ideas. … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, teaching, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Propellers with rolling shutter

Posted on July 22, 2017 by

I really loved Smarter Every Day’s cool video about propellers shot by digital video cameras: I especially like how he stuck with it over several years! I liked the explanation a lot about why the propellers take on such weird … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, math, mathematica, physics, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Helium whistling

Posted on May 14, 2017 by

Earlier today my son asked me a question I didn’t know the answer to. So I took to twitter: son asked if inhaling He raises you whistle. I say yes but I'm not sure. Anyone know? — Andy Rundquist (@arundquist) … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, physics, teaching, twitter | 3 Comments