At this point of our project we have taken videos and plotted position vs. time graphs for each video to discover the velocity of the swipe. On average, we got constant velocities throughout each swipe and we ranged the swipe speeds from very slow to very fast. We obtained this data from plotting the cards location on the video using the program Logger Pro. We made sure to set the scale and orient the axis so the data came out accurately. We used a scale of 86mm, which was the length of the V-card. We then saved each graph and noted which velocities we’re accepted on the door swipe. We also tested swiping the card in the opposite direction, which no matter what, did not get recognized by the system. This is something we are going to look into while doing research.

Additionally, we used the V-card in the V-print machine. Unlike the door swipe, it seemed as though no matter what, it would accept the swipe. It would accept it swiped forward or backward, flipped towards or away from us, and at any speed. Continue reading →

Video time length estimate: approximately 5-6 minutes

Equipment used: Wattsup Pro, video camera

Introduction

• Three scientists in the lab in white lab coats
• Introduce show title: “Modern Technology Misconceptions Mythbusted”
• Danyelle + self introduction
• Maliha introduction
• Michael introduction
• “Nowadays, the average student has many misconceptions about modern technology… our goal today here is to debunk some of these myths… first, let’s see what it is kids are really thinking…”
• Maliha

Myth 1 (Danyelle in charge of asking 5 people- by Thursday): [Insert clip of students answering myth question (Ex: What saves more energy: turning off your laptop after each use or keeping it on sleep mode during non-use?”)]

• Conduct experiment using Wattsup Pro to find out which option uses the least amount of kilowatts
• Recorded in lab

Myth 2 (Michael in charge of asking 5 people- by Thursday): ask students “Why do you think flight attendants ask passengers to shut off electronic equipment during take off and landing?”

• [Insert clip of students answering question]
• With research we will answer the above question
• [Insert re-enacted clip of plane crashing using props] & [Insert clip of phone being off and plane flying normally]
• [Insert clip of “scientist” explaining science behind each scene and illustrating on whiteboard what can go wrong/where it goes wrong]
• Source list
• www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/aero_10/interfere_textonly.html

Myth 3 (Maliha in charge of asking 5 people- by Thursday): ask students “Do you think string lights use a greater amount of energy than a regular light bulb?”

• [Insert clip of students answering question]
• [Insert clip using Wattsup Pro to experiment on different strands of lights in different dorm rooms and different lamps]
• Conclude myth

Conclusion

• Figure the percent of students that answered the questions correctly and display results

>>SOME FILMING EXPECTED TO BE DONE BY FRIDAY’S (APRIL 22) DUE DATE

To test whether “average” music listeners can interpret a difference in sound quality or listening experience between songs played in digital (mp3) format and songs played in analog (vinyl) format, Group 10 planned an experiment that would require participants to listen to two 90-second samples of a primarily acoustic song (one played in mp3 format, and the other played in analog format).  The participant was blindfolded, and the order in which we played the analog and mp3 formats was determined by a coin-toss before each test.  After answering questions about the differences they noticed between the two copies of the same acoustic song, the experiment was repeated with a primarily electronic song.  We decided to use two songs from the acoustic and electronic genres primarily to see if there was any difference in format preference for either genre (for example, it has been argued that analog recordings better capture the range and depth of acoustic instruments, and that mp3s may be ideally suited to play computer-generated music).

The following questions were asked of participants after each of their two “tests”:

1)    Without defining the term, which sound source was of “higher quality”?

2)    Did you notice any memorable characteristics of either sound source?

3)    If you had to guess which sound source was played from a computer, which would you choose?

For our first round of data collection, we sampled six participants, four males and two females, all students at Vassar College and between the ages of 18 and 22.  *Please note that we plan to have sampled a total of twenty participants by next week.

At this first stage in our data gathering process, we cannot identify a significant difference in our data, and thus cannot conclusively state whether our hypothesis, that analog music will be interpreted by listeners as “higher quality”, cannot yet be confirmed.

Preferred Format by Music Type:

If anyone is interested, here are the links to the two songs we used!

Electronic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyoDbX1EkPQ

Acoustic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCD14IrOcIs

In our research for our project film on Bad Physics in film, we discovered multiple clips that break some pretty simple physics rules. Here are a few of the clips we found and the data that says the physics is wrong!

The above clip is from George Lucas’ Star Wars. What’s wrong with it? Well, first off, there are laser beams shooting from those spaceships, and that is not realistic. Even if deathly laser beams were real, they would not be visible because they would travel at the speed of light. These lasers would have to have pulsed waves because they would more energy to destroy a target. Because they are pulsed they are less monochromatic, making them colorless as opposed the reds and greens seen in the clip. (Data from our wonderful LTT class!)  Another thing that is wronf with the clip is the explosions. Those can’t happen in space because there is no oxygen available to continue the explosion. You also would not be able to hear the explosion (or the laser beams for that matter) because there is no sound in space. This is because there is no gas in space to transmit the sound waves.

There are a lot of things wrong with this clip, but we’ll start with the man stopping the van 30 seconds into the clip. Not possible. Here are some calculations!

CALCULATION: p = mv; (2,700kg*27m/s) = 72,900 N*s (for typical ~6000lb van going 60 mph) ; (70kg * 4.4 m/s) = 308 N*s ( for typical 154 lb human with a running head start @ 10 mph to stop truck).  The human would gain a lot of momentum in the opposite direction and the van would lose a small amount of momentum. Momentum is conserved. Human is crushed.

Of course sometimes, Physics in movies can be correct. The following clip is a ‘how they did it’ scene for the Guiness record-breaking car flip in Casino Royale.

The funny thing is, the car flip is definitely possible if used with the right machinery. At first, the stuntmen could not get the car to flip the way they wanted it to because of what they were using. Then they used some new things, as seen in the clip, and they car flipped a lot more than they thought it would. But if you were to watch the scene straight from the film, you would think it was naturally possible for a car to flip that many times just by swerving your car off the road. But you can not. You would need the proper equipment to do so.

There is more information, calculation, and resources to come later, but we don’t want to give it all away now!

We were able to analyze the absorbances of five samples of alcohol: gin, whiskey, light tequila, dark tequila, and grain alcohol. Interestingly, absorbance peaks were similar for gin, light tequila, and grain alcohol (samples 1, 4, and 5, respectively); both whiskey (2) and dark tequila (3) had unique absorbance spectra:

Data table of absorbance peaks.

The absorbance data correlates with qualitative observations of color:

From left to right, water, gin, whiskey, dark tequila, light tequila, and grain alcohol in spectrophotometry cuvettes.

We will analyze the data and create a song to present to the class.