For the Love of Physics (46 page)

classroom and home demonstrations:

of air column,
121
–22

of air flow,
73
–75

of air pressure,
59
–60,
64
–65,
71

of artificial gravity,
55
–58

of building a motor,
158
–61

of conservation of energy,
168
–69,
173
–74

creating fogbows,
96
–97

of drinking with a straw,
75
–77

of electrical potential,
140
–41

of electromagnetism,
156

of energy conversion,
170

of Fiestaware,
183
–84

of glassbows,
100
–102

of high-frequency sound,
106

of homemade rainbow,
86
–88,
87

of hydrostatic pressure,
67
–70

of liquid magnet,
151

of magnetic levitation,
161
–62,
164

of making a battery,
170

of measurement,
23
–24

of pendulums,
52
–55

of shattered wineglass,
118

of sounding board,
114

of sparks,
139
–40

of static electricity,
127
–28,
132
–36

of weightlessness,
47
–48

cobalt,
151

color (timbre),
112

comets,
10

Cominsky, Lynn,
255

commutator,
159

co-moving distance,
35

compact fluorescent lights (CFL),
186

Compact Stellar X-Ray Sources
(Lewin, et al., eds.),
259

complete field theory,
165

conductors, conduction,
128
–29,
131
–32,
136

skin effect and,
145
–46

Conner, J. P.,
248

conservation of electric charge, law of,
128

constructive interference,
95

Copernicus, Nicolaus,
189

copper,
151
,
156
–57

Córdova, France,
259

core-collapse supernova,
217
–20,
226

black hole formed in,
223

burning cycles of,
218
–19

Chandra limit in,
219

elements created in,
223

energy emitted by,
221

iron core in,
219

neutrinos in,
221
–22

neutron star in,
217
,
219
–21

protons in,
220
–21

remnant of,
221

corona discharge,
145

in X-ray ballooning,
206
–7

cosmic distance ladder,
34

cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation,
9
,
199

cosmic rays,
230

cosmology,
19
,
187
–88,
270

Coulomb, Charles-Augustin de,
133

coulomb (unit of charge),
133

Coulomb’s law,
133
–34

Crab Nebula (M-1),
192
,
196
–97,
221
,
242

changing shape of,
222

Moon in occultation of,
197
–98

pulsar in,
224
–25

crux (constellation),
213

Crux X-1 (X-ray source),
213

Curie, Marie,
268

Curie temperature,
152

cyclotron,
7

Cyg X-1 (X-ray source),
196
,
212
–13,
234
,
240
–42,
245

Cyg X-2 (X-ray source),
196

Cyngus (constellation),
196

Dalibard, Thomas-François,
146

Dalton, John,
174

dark energy,
6
,
36

dark matter,
6
,
36
,
51

Darwin, Charles,
34

decibels,
105

deCordova Museum,
99
,
101

defibrillators,
142

Degas, Edgar,
267

degenerate neutron matter,
220

Dekkers, Daniel,
265

Delft University of Technology,
1
,
10
–11

Democritus,
189

Derain, André,
268

Descartes, René,
79
,
126

destructive interference,
95

deuterium,
6
,
187

diamagnetic materials,
151

didgeredoo (musical instrument),
120

diffraction (interference),
95
–96

dipoles,
165
–66

Dirac, Paul,
269

direct current (DC),
158

Doppler effect,
232
–33

in binary systems,
237
,
238
–39

black holes and,
232
–33

stellar distances and,
34
–35

X-ray binaries and,
237
–39,
241
,
243

double-dutch (game),
110

Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment
(Schiffer),
146

driven oscillator,
110

Duchamp, Marcel,
268

dynamo effect,
153

Earth,
28
,
49
,
50
–51,
55
,
187
,
227
,
236
,
244
,
279

age of,
36

average radius of,
283

calculating distances to Moon from,
282
–83

calculating mass of,
282
–83,
284

core of,
152
–53,
183

density of,
284

gravitational acceleration and,
41
–42

magnetic field of,
9
,
152
–53,
154

mass of,
45

neutrino strikes on,
222

Sun’s distance from,
181
,
281
–82

surface air pressure of,
63
–64,
66
–67

thunderstorms on,
143

tidal forces on,
233

voltage of,
137

e-Astronomer (blog),
195

ecliptic plane,
29

Eco, Umberto,
266

eddy currents,
161

Einstein, Albert,
9
,
19
,
21
,
38
,
165
,
166
,
167
,
226
–27,
228
,
268
,
269
–70

electricity,
125
–48,
261

in ancient Greece,
126

in atoms,
130

attraction and repulsion and,
128
,
132
–36

chemical reactions and,
129
–30

conductors and conduction in,
128
–29,
132
,
136

corona discharge and,
145
,
206
–7

Coulomb’s law and,
133
–34

early scientific study of,
126

as fluid,
128

Franklin’s experiments in,
128
–29,
146
–47

Gauss’s law for,
165

healing stimulation and,
142

in human body,
129

induction process and,
133
–35