Physics: It's All Around You!

This summer I had the true pleasure of visiting Hershey Park and talking about physics to over 500 park guests who were there for "Physics Day". Physics Days have cropped up over the past 20 years. They are days where the amusement park opens its doors to an educational audience. Learners are typically given activities and questions about the rides and geography of the park itself, and perform calculations that relate to everything from speed and velocity to centripetal force and kinetic energy. The greatest thing about this type of experience is that it emphasizes one of the most important ideas about physics: IT'S ALL AROUND YOU!

When most people think of physics they think of an ultra intelligent, geeky type who sees a different world than we do. Really though, we all live in the same world and physics itself is about finding out the rules about how things around us work. So for you or a physicist the world is the same. Objects fall for example for all people! Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds go around for everyone. And bumper cars crash together the same way for you and your friends as for an astrophysicist. The key is to look at these things with a sense of curiosity and wonder - like we all had as two or three year olds! Asking questions that begin with "How...?" and "Why...?" are the most important things that you can do, and being persistent until you find the answer. Such simple questions like "Does a bowling ball and a tennis ball fall the same distance in the same time?" have transfixed many physics students as well as the greats Galileo and Newton.

So the next time you find yourself at the park, the pool or the ski  slope, remember - physics is going on all around you! Just look at something happening, wonder about it, and you have started down the same path as the greatest physicists who have ever lived!

Tell us where YOU or your students have noticed physics at work in your world!