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Re: [Phys-L] cosmology activities

On 5/31/19 3:05 AM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

Anyone have lab activities for cosmology? Hard to do because it is so
abstract. Hubble Law? Bungee cords? Redshifts? I figure there might be some
graphing/plotting/mathematical exercises, and not much "tangible" ideas as
in other topics.

This probably isn't the sort of answer that was expected, but
it is at least tangentially related to cosmology. It contains
a lot of good modern physics. Much of it can explained even at
the elementary-school level. I for one find it fascinating.

The key idea is to use /masking tape/ to construct geodesics.
You can apply tape to surfaces that have zero or nonzero
intrinsic curvature and see what happens.

This creates a correct model of motion in curved spacetime. It
is dramatically different from the all-too-widely-used incorrect
models, so it is a good way to dispel misconceptions.

The lurid details are here:
https://www.av8n.com/physics/geodesics.htm

Please let me know if any of that is incorrect or unclear.