Physics, astronomy open house fun for all

The IU Physics and Astronomy Society asked a question Saturday to a crowded lecture hall in Swain West, and more than two-thirds of those in the classroom raised their hands with enthusiasm that would make any professor jealous.\nBut this was not the typical college lecture. "Super Heroes, Super Physics" was the theme of the lecture at this year's open house, and the hands that waved about so enthusiastically were those of several elementary and middle school students.\nThe open house focused on the interactive side of physics and encouraged children and adults to get in touch with their curiosity by sampling a series of physics-related activities and experiments. \nThe outdoor exploratorium included an activity called "Table Antics," in which participants could play magician, sweeping a tablecloth out from under dish ware.\nBloomington resident Gina Forrest attended the open house with her two children, who both seemed to enjoy all the experiments at the open house. \n"They'll stay here forever," Forrest said. \nForrest and her children sampled all the outside experiments and especially enjoyed the seismometer, a tool that surveys the ground and allows the person in control to find everything from dead bodies to old soda cans and buried treasure. \nThe seismometer exhibit was just one example of presenting physics in an interactive way.\n"Science is so important, and you should be able to do more with it than just reading about it in a book," Forrest said.\nAfter stopping to browse the outside portion of the open house, most visitors moved to the inside of Swain Hall West to see what other physics lessons the event offered.\nThe indoor physics events included those relating to light, electricity, magnetism, mechanics, temperature and philosophies of science. Each room focused on a single aspect of physics and included several activities for everyone to try.\nInside the acoustics room, for example, one could find "squawking chickens," an experiment in which students could make a "squawking" noise with just a plastic cup, string, water and a sponge. This turned out to be one of the most popular activities.\nAlso located at the front of the acoustics room was a large table with several tuning forks and pans of water. Children could dip the tuning forks in the water and listen to the difference in sound.\n"At one point, this table was completely covered in water," physics professor Jon Urheim said. "But the kids that just go crazy (are the best). They turn all the knobs and just like to play with things."\nOne of the most anticipated rooms was the liquid nitrogen room. A group of middle school students from Brownsburg, Ind., experienced first-hand the freezing power of liquid nitrogen when they poured it on flowers and balloons.\n"We like liquid nitrogen too much. Flowers frozen in liquid nitrogen are tasty," Brownsburg eighth-grader Kelsey Roe joked.\n"We like to watch things freeze. Next year, everyone should come," Brownsburg eighth-grader Janet Watson said.\nLiquid nitrogen also played a key role in another room -- the same room where the "Super Heroes, Super Physics" lecture was held. \nEvery year, the society hosts a lecture for the open house, and the grand finale is the implosion of a large steel drum using nothing but air pressure and liquid nitrogen to cool the drum. The first experiment was a success, but the implosion failed in the second lecture of the day because the drums were stronger than in years past, the society members said.\nThis year, the people trying to implode the drum were not just physics students, but super heroes. To go along with the theme of the lecture, "Super Heroes, Super Physics," members of the society dressed up as super heroes, each with his or her own physics-related specialty. \n"This is the fourth year I've done this. We always plan last-minute, but it always comes out OK," said IUPAS President Andrew Ferguson, who dressed up as Electricity and Magnetism Man. "We had fun, and it felt like the audience had fun. That's all we can really ask for"