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Re: [Phys-L] real-world physics



Bernard,

Yes, so many episodes of Mythbusters just make me want to grab them and shout, "Impulse Momentum Theorem," in their face.

The most recent episode is yet another failure along these same lines. They're testing whether 4 inches of bubble wrap can protect you from a 35 foot fall. It should be clear that decelerating from that speed over a space of 4 inches requires enough force to be lethal.

Be careful in presenting this to your students. We did an exercise last fall where we "busted" Mythbusters on some similar shaky science. Students were excited about the topic, but were VERY disappointed to learn that the Mythbusters were wrong.

Paul

On Jun 4, 2012, at 7:10 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:


On 2012, Jun 04, , at 15:02, John Denker wrote:


Another example: Their analysis of "killer cable snap" was verrry incomplete.
Hint: Good science-fair project ... but do it on a tiny scale and be careful.


Read comments for amputations:

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/10/episode_62_killer_cable_snaps.html


bc a bit queazy.
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