Physically Incorrect Needs You!
I’ve been writing this blog for quite a while now (almost half a year). It has been an enjoyable experience, but it seems a bit lonely sometimes, as only a brave few have attempted to solve the puzzles I’ve put on the site.
Basically, I’d like to ask you, my readers - if there are any […]
Physics Puzzle: Infinite Resistor Network
Another weekend has come, and another puzzle with it! This time, we’ll be making good use of Ohm’s law.
Quite a few physics puzzles ask you to find the equivalent resistor of a given network - a particularly famous one is finding the equivalent resistor between two opposite corners of a cube having a resistor R […]
My Top 5 Mechanics Textbooks
Or: “What, No Goldstein?”
Of all of physics, mechanics is my favorite subject (followed by electromagnetism). It’s the easiest to grasp, because it deals with daily phenomena, but the problems can be very challenging. As a service to the aspiring physics undergraduate and graduate student, here is a list of my top 5 mechanics textbooks.
An Introduction […]
Physics Puzzle: Crooke’s Radiometer
Here’s a riddle about a well known object known as Crooke’s radiometer. This is a glass “bulb”-like object with four plates fitted on a metal rod, free to rotate (much like a horizontal windmill). Each plate has a black side and a silver side, as is evident from the photo:
The inside of the bulb is […]
Physics Puzzle: Gas Pressure
After our last week’s excursion into computer science, we’re back to physics and an interesting puzzle, which I’ll split into two parts - one will be given in a few days.
An ideal gas of temperature T1 is stored in a container with walls at a fixed temperature T2. Will the pressure exerted by the gas on the […]
Computer Science Puzzle: Finding the Maximal Sum of a Vector
While this is a physics-oriented blog, computer science has some great puzzles, too! If you’re a professional computer scientist they’ll probably be easy for you, or you’ll already know the answer, but for anyone who isn’t familiar with the ropes, they can be very challenging. It’s always good to learn something new, too.
This week’s puzzle […]
Physics Puzzle: Balls on a Stick
There’s an interesting physics puzzle hiding behind that painful title.
Consider an infinitely long stick, with masses m initially placed along it (at rest) at distances d:
A constant force F is applied to the first, leftmost mass. Assume completely inelastic collisions. Can you compute, after a long enough time, the velocity of the initial mass? Can you compute the velocity […]