Everything is in Motion, Everything is Connected, Everything is Relative
Details
Facilitator: Brian Jones
Phone: 970-980-1378
Email: physicsjones@gmail.com
Class Time
AM Section: Friday mornings, 9:30 – 11:30 AM
PM Section: Friday afternoons, 1:30 – 3:30 PM
January 10, 17, 24, 31
Both sections of the class will cover the same material. So if you need to miss a morning or afternoon, you are welcome to come to the other section.
Class Location
Foothills Activity Center
Course Description
When you tune a radio to a spot between stations, the static you hear is, in part, radiation that was emitted a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, a remnant of the birth of the universe. You can use a laser pointer and a dab of glue to visualize the chaotic and incessant motion of molecules. You can make a measurement that affects the outcome of another measurement thousands of miles away, with no communication. The matter that we know and understand only makes up only 4% of the universe‚ and we aren’t sure what the other 96% is.
In the past two courses I’ve offered we’ve looked at the physics of life and the physics of everyday life, dealing with topics most people have some familiarity with. This course is a bit different. We’ll still do some tabletop experiments and share some interesting demonstrations. But we’ll use what these teach us to illuminate some of the most fascinating topics in all of science, things you may never have thought about.
As always, we will assume no knowledge or background in science—everyone will be able to follow everything we do. But we’ll use simple demonstrations, activities, and thought experiments as a jumping off point that lets us consider some truly mind blowing questions.
Tentative Outline
Week 1: We Don’t Know What the Universe is Made of: The Strange Story of Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Week 2: Is Time Travel Possible? Relativity, the Malleability of Space and Time, Destiny and Free Will
Week 3: Everything is Random and Unknowable, But Everything is Connected: The Strange Quantum World
Week 4: Turning Lead into Gold: How Nuclear Physics Made the Dream of the Alchemists True
Slides
Week 1: Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Week 2: Relativity
Week 3: Quantum Physics
Week 4: Nuclear Physics