Application to the Academy!

Yesterday my Physics teacher gave me an application form for a Physics Academy in London during the Summer and I've been trying to write about 'why I would like to be accepted into the academy' for hours and hours (with help from my wonderful dad!)... It's so hard! Also how cool would it be if I was excepted into an 'Academy'?! This is my application piece (it is 3 hundred words, I don't blame you if you want to stop reading now!)

'I have a genuine love for Physics and submit this application as I believe that acceptance into the Academy will provide me with the opportunity of developing and expanding my knowledge. Attendance would also give me the opportunity of meeting others with similar interests and ambitions.

At the beginning of this academic year I chose Physics as an option because I saw it as an opportunity to widen my mathematical knowledge.  However, I can genuinely say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire Physics course, so much so that I now wish to continue my studies in the subject at University. Even with concepts which have proven particularly difficult to grasp, I have tirelessly worked at to gain a proper understanding. A level Physics has certainly helped me to enhance my perseverance and determination in my studies.

My interest has grown throughout the past eight months from the excitement of visiting the Diamond Particle Accelerator in Oxford to attending a two day Physics course in November at Nottingham University.  I have always enjoyed a challenge and Physics is a subject which continues to push me to the best that I can be.

This year I was given the opportunity of becoming a Physics mentor. I enjoy looking at Physics from this different perspective and also as it allows me to enrich the learning of others as well as myself.

I wish to follow a career in Physics and it is my current intention to study Mathematical Physics at University when I complete my A Level studies.  The Academy will enable me to build on the practical experience I have already learnt at Sacred Heart, prepare me for University and assist me in attaining the appropriate grades in my A Level studies.'

Congratulations if you made it to the end!

Back Tracking

So, I've had the weekend to reconsider wave particle duality and although I still find it to be extraordinarily strange, I haven't resigned myself to never accepting it... This is for a few reasons:

1. I remembered the willingness with which I accepted the string theory. The only real diffference between this and that is that it was something that I had no preconceptions or previous image of.

2. I witnessed the amazement of my 4 year old nephew who discovered that his ice 'disappeared' in his drink. Something which he believed to be solid wasn't anymore and there was no way to avoid the proof.

3. I have been trying to consider a way in which a particle can travel in a wave formation and experience interference etc and pretty much failed (of course I realise that most things have probably already been considered by people who actually know what they are talking about but Richard Feynman, an American physicist of the 20th century, once said that 'science is the believe in the ignorance of experts' so I figured I may as well have a go!)

Wave particle duality...

So today we did wave particle duality in physics... Which was just about bearable when we applied it to light. But then we went onto electrons.. How can electrons be be a wave? They have mass and charge?!! Its totally not cool... At all...

Is it too soon for another Brian post?

I never watch Tracy Beaker but I flicked onto it for a few seconds and BAM! There was Brian!! He is everywhere!! In my cupboard, on my TV, on my computer and in my school (well in the corridors... Well on the walls...) but hey, I'm not complaining ;)

Wall of Cool

So, I have started a physics wall! Well, its currently a Physics door because then I can close it away when people come over if I need to.. But I'm hoping to stick at it long enough to expand onto a wall!

And no - before anyone starts trying to be funny - no, it isn't just an excuse to have a poster of Brian!

Reason to Like Physics Number Three

There are some pretty awesome words!! Sometimes when me and my Physics class (there's only 6 of us) are talking about Physicsy things people think we are speaking another language and I'm not going to lie, for a few seconds I feel infinitely cool.

Some examples of great words are:

1. Spaghettification - when something falls into a black hole and the gravity closest is a lot higher so the object is stretched like spaghetti

2. Supersymetry - as previously discussed (I have made it my life's goal to actually understand this - well one of my life goals)

3. Space - Sometimes I wonder how they decided to call it that. It is most definitely a whole lot more than just space!

4. Strangeness - So something is happening with particle physics that you don't understand? Call it a new characteristic called strangenss and you're sorted ;)

And those are just the S words!

Super Moon was Super!

Well the super moon definitely didn't disappoint! I wore my glasses the whole way home (I usually sleep!) and just stared at it!! It was bigger and brighter than I have ever seen! What was even better was that I knew I was definitely staring at the right thing, I'm not entirely sure it actually was Jupiter that I was staring at before!

Ps. Due to the suggestion of a loyal follower I looked at this - wow! It is at glastonbury and I think the moon looks even bigger because it is closer to the horizon and therefore easier for our eye to compare and understand its size!

Super moon!!

Since the moon has an eliptical orbit sometimes it is closer to us than other times. This makes it seem 14% bigger (though it's hard to tell) and 30% brighter and when this coincides with a full moon it's called a super moon and it's happening TONIGHT!! Tonight the moon will only be 221567 miles away!! And it's not even cloudy so we should be able to see it well!!

The closeness of the moon should only increase sea tides by a few cm and although there is no proven like between human behavoir and the moon the word lunacy is derived from the Roman goddess of the moon Luna so beware!!

It's okay to laugh!

Here are some physics jokes - enjoy!

Where does bad light end up?
In prism ;)

Why did one resitor marry another?
Because he couldn't resist-her!

Oh?!

I've heard the term 'String Theory' bouncing around for a while now and I finally decided that I need to know what it is actually about.

Basically, it is insane! It goes against anything I have ever learnt or believe in the world around me and that feels pretty awesome actually!! The basic definition that I found is that string theory is an attempt to unite quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity (we are trying to find a theory of everything) by saying that fundamental particles arent point-like but actually 1 dimensional string structures which vibrate. Worse still is that for this to work, other than our current 4 dimentsional (legnth width height and time) there needs to be 6 other dimensions somewhere?! This theory isn't finalised or fully accepted  but its pretty fascinating! Plus I found the word 'supersymmetric' - I'm too afraid to find out what it means incase it isn't as awesome as it sounds!

Ps. I finally built up the courage to google - the word was too awesome for me - wikepedia says that it 'is a symmetry that relates elementary particles of one spin to other particles that differ by half a unit of spin and are known as superpartners.' it then went on to talk about bosons (basically the only word I recognised in a sentence) and I felt a little out of my depth! For now I'm better to be content with a little bit of ignorance I think!

I lalalalalalalaLOVE it!

What? You don't think a picture of
Brian is strictly necessary?

So, I have resisted this long and not spoken about Professor Brian Cox because I didn't want there to be too many posts about him in a row but enough time has passed! It is possible that I think about this too much but I don't want people to think I'm obsessed...

I absolutely love his new series!! I mean I actually love it! It has pretty much sorted out half of my chemistry revision and earned me some science nerd points at school (they don't know about the blog!) I find it slightly absurd the amount of posturing and death/end of the universe references Brian manages to fit into one hour but that kind of makes the show all the more brilliant! Plus watching it makes be feel smart!

Getting Tired

Today I got a 54% in a Physics test and this reminded me why sometimes I don't like Physics... It's REALLY hard!

Of course normally this is also a reason why I like Physics, the challenge and the extra buzz you get when you actually do well (to be honest it's been a while since I felt this!) but... it can be kind of frustrating! I can see where I went wrong and thats whats important but it just feels bad! As exams draw closer, I'm getting tired and my patience is wearing thin - I just want to be good already!

I just have to trust that it will get better and maybe lower my expectations a little. It will be worth it, welll it had better be!

Tsunami in Japan

I pray to God for the people of Japan. That as many as possible will be saved. This natural disaster just highlights how powerless we really are, with everything we have developed and learnt, we still can't stop or prevent something so destructive and terrible. I also pray that the nuclear plant is restored to a stable, safe position as soon as possible and that enough people are treated for radiation as quickly as possible. However only so much is possible and this isn't enough. Please God, help them and help us to help them.

Reason to like Physics Number Two

I have never met a horrible physicist.

I realise that there must be some somewhere, laws of probability and all but their numbers must be particularly small. Granted my only experiences of Physics people are tour guides, on television and in classrooms or lecture halls but that could pretty much also be said about my experience of every kind of people so I feel like my variables are controlled enough for me to make a reasonable conclusion.

In my A level Physics class we are all really good friends and I really love that because its one of the reasons Physics is a lesson I genuinely look forward to.

In summary, Physics is made by its people. its people are pretty awesome so therefore Physics is awesome!

Bang goes the Theory

This isn't particularly Physics related but I just watched 'Bang goes the theory - Bang goes winter weather' on BBC iplayer and literally loved every second of it!

It combined what I have been doing in Chemistry with the earths atmosphere, what I have been doing in Physics about wind chill and what I did in Geography in regards to weather characteristics into an incredibly interesting and entertaining programme. The scale of the experiments couldn't possibly fail to impress anybody and it must be impossible to find fault with the presentation of the show. Even though it is the evening after a particularly strenuous day of revision and homework I can honestly say I wasn't tempted to close my eyes once - and that is an extremely high compliment to the show!

I also loved the weather themed sound track throughout!

In Loving Memory of an Old Friend

Today is a day I will remember for my whole life. A monumentus landmark in my mathematical life that will stay with me forever - I bought a new calculator!!

I've had the same calculator for the last 6 years. It has been my faithful friend through two key stages. Where seating plans and timetable slots have separted me from other friends (especially my biology friend who broke my heart and left me for biology) my calculator was there to comfort me and no one has been able to separate me from my calculator - trust me people have tried!

I don't think it is at all unreasonable to allocate at least some of the success of my GCSE examinations and recent further maths module result to my trusty calculator!

Just when I thought my calculator and I were inseparable, destined to be together till infinity and beyond - BAM!! A level maths!

I resisted for as long as I could, I honestly did! I even resorted to stubbornly multiplying by pi to convert my answer so it could be in terms of pi... And then we got to the log section of the course and the multibase log button was too tempting... Please don't judge me! 

Out of the way - Maths Genius coming through!!

'Maths genius' isn't too extreme a word for someone who just got an A in a further maths module right? Because I totally just actually got an A in my further maths exam!!

I'm just kidding, I'm no genius but I did just get an A in my further maths exam!! Oh did I mention that already? Never mind, who cares!? I got an A!! Wow, it's nice to say that a few times, I don't get to show off enough in real life :)

And this is physics related because I need an A in AS level further maths to study physics at my favourite universities..

Saving the World by Destroying Evil Sound Waves

Okay so I'm going to write my first post that actually contains some Physics - you have been warned!

So yesterday I talked about avoiding my Physics essay and this evening I actually finished it. It was quite interesting once I got into it and started using my other favourite website (since yesterday it is now demoted to second favourite...), howstuffworks and I actually understood what I was doing!

The essay was supposed to be all about noise and how to reduce it, I'm not exactly sure that my teacher wanted more than half of it to be taken up by noise cancelling headphones but it was so cool I just couldn't help myself!

The headphones 'destroy' background noise by using small microphones to pick up on the noise and then replicate the waves. The wave now has the same width and height (frequency and amplitude) as the original sound wave. However the wave is rotated by 180 degrees so when it is emitted the peaks (convex part) of our new wave aligns with the troughs (concave part) and vice versa so they look like the image where the orange line is one wave and the pink line is the other wave.

The noise is now cancelled! Of course I realise that sound waves are longitudal and not transverse so this must be a simplified explanation but this is cool right?! The sound practically disappears!

I guess maybe the title exaggerates slightly but Noise Induced Hearing Loss is a serious problem! At least thats what I read on the internet... Everyone knows the internet is always right!

New Favourite Website

I have found my new favourite Physics website! I found it through the Institute of Phyiscs website and find the videos incredibly interesting - this is the most perfect example of how cool physics really can be!!

http://scicast.org.uk/

I can also confirm that it is also a brilliant way to avoid a particularly challenging Physics essay! I simply have to convince my physics friends at school to help make a video now, which shouldn't be too hard once they see this website!



See the World Through Rainbows

Wow - I love my mum too much! She went to the Science Museum and not only bought me astronaut strawberries (which weren't exactly how I imagined they would be.... They had an odd texture and were surprisingly sour - luckily the total coolness of them counteracted the unyummyness of them!!) and - HOLOGRAPHIC GLASSES! When you wear them light is diffracted into heart shaped rainbows!! My life is almost complete!

Stamp collectors

Ernest Rutherford once said that 'everything in science is either Physics or stamp collecting'. He was later awarded a Nobel prize in Chemistry - the perfection of this makes me smile :)

Euclid

I'm currently reading 'Fermats Last Theorem' by Simon Singh and it is actually brilliant! There are parts that I love so much I simply have to share them!

One of my favourite little stories from the book is this: Euclid was the first head of the mathematical department of Alexandria (an ancient city with the biggest library in the world). The story goes that a student asked Euclid what the use was of the piece of mathematics that he was learning. Euclid turned to his slave and said 'give the boy a coin if he wishes to profit from all that he learns' and the student was expelled.

I suppose that just goes to show how times have changed. Back then they did maths just for the purity of numbers, the joy of a puzzle and satisfaction of completeness and now we do it in the name of science for development - I wonder what Euclid would say?

Heartbreak

Professor Brian Cox is amazing - there I said it!

I admire Brian(and feel as though I know him well enough to call him by his first name?!) but purely in a scientific sense. We first met in his tv series 'wonders of the universe' but it wasn't until stargazing live that I officially acknowledged an admiration for him. That show was perfect physics viewing: interesting, witty and accessible.

A friend of mine admires the professor in a more 'extra curricular' way, which has lead to many interesting discussions (including inviting him to our school)!!

So when we heard that our Professor Brian Cox was participating in a physics gig we were overflowing with excitement and reading up on it even further it seemed perfect!! And then we saw the dates... Why Brian? Why would you plan an event only available on two days - two days that are the day before and the day of my first alevel exam? Why Brian? Why?!

So needless to say, I'm not going... But my friend and I cannot stay mad at Brian for long, happy birthday for yesterday and I'll be seeing you on Sunday ;)

Stage one geek initiation

Recently I finished my first ever complete physics book!! Finally I am one step closer to complete physics nerd - so excited, I'm nearly there!

Except... Well... I'm not really sure it totally counts... Well it's just that it's... A comic strip :0 It was the comic strip history of space - and I really enjoyed it!

Okay, so maybe it wasn't partically intellectually stimulating but it was genuinely interesting which is surely more important? I suppose it slightly diminishes my geek points for this book but I actually finished the book which is more than I can say for physics books before. I'll be stepping up my game soon though...

Physics fail number one...

My physics teachers are literally ALWAYS telling me off for forgetting units in my work and as a consequence my classmates and family have also started making jokes about this. So I'm starting to get better at remembering them but last night as I lay in bed I realised my fatal mistake... I started a Physics blog entitled '299 792 458' because it's the speed of light and I was trying to be clever but I forgot to include units!!! Ahhhh I fail so bad... I don't think I can change the name of the blog now? Maybe now I'll finally learn my lesson, a lesson that I can share so you can learn from my mistakes...

Ps I have since discovered how to change the blog name! Phew!

Reason to like physics number 1

It is absolutely the ultimate excuse to have a nerdified geek out!

It allows you to laugh a disproportionate amount at jokes such as:

What do nuclear physists have for lunch?

Fission chips

And not have to apologise for a particularly tacky sense of humour.

You can visit the science museum for your 17^th birthday, have plenty of people to go with and have a fantastic time.

You can start a physics blog in which you talk about reasons to like physics.

You don’t have to pretend to be unimpressed when a balloon can bend water or you get a perfect line from an experiment.

Physics makes being a nerd cool – who can resist that?!