Caffinated Physics

I've been working on Unit 4 and 5 of Physics A level... and I've found the best way for me to learn the new concepts is to apply them to, or with the aid of, an object I know and love... A cup of coffee!

I've decided to make some posters which demonstrate a few of the fundemental concepts I've learnt so far - the first being "How fast is your coffee?", which uses angular speed to work out am instantaneous linear speed relative to the Sun of my favourite caffinated beverage. Although this is a pointless excercise (absolute speed means absolutely nothing! ), it is some good practice, and a bit of fun to boot.

I plan to follow it up with "How hot is the perfect capuchino?" (thermal physics) and "How long does 1 teaspoon of sugar take to dissolve in coffee?" (more thermofluid physics), as well as "How to drink coffee while in orbit" (that should be fun!).

Any other ideas for bits of physics you don't understand which I can explain with the aid of a ground-bean-based drink? Quantum physics might be fun!

I'll be publishing the full posters in full technicolour on my blog, and I'll link them when they're up. The first is only half finished and its nearly 2:30AM here, so its not getting finished in this session.

(BTW the answer is a maximum linear velocity of about 108,838 km per hour )

 

You need decaf to make it work with Compton Scattering

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/star17abby/cs1.png

 

i was just about to say dont use decaf! there is no 'speed' in decaf so all your calculations would be out.

 

Mmm, good plan! I'd say Compton Scattering would be best described in terms of espresso shots. When it collides with an electron at rest, some of the espresso is "drunk" and there is less "energy" in the cup teee heee heee.

 

http://www.nicholaslidster.plus.com/cp/howfast/howfast_small.jpg

There you go!

The writing is a bit blurry in the compressed JPG, but in print it is perfectly legible. Trust me on that one