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MOMENTUMAn NUS Physics Society Publication

This place is huge!!

Wonder what we built it

(LHC) for?

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President’s Foreword

We have indeed, been fortunate to enjoy an increase in

participation at these events, especially from the student

body. Certainly, this success could not have been achieved

without the support and collective contribution of my dearest

committee members. They have truly been a joy to work with

over the period of my presidency, and I cannot but thank them

for all that they have been both to me as well as to Physoc.

Our mission is twofold: to cater to the needs of the Physics Majors, and also,

to act as a bridge between staff and students, such that relationships will

festival celebrations like the Mid-Autumn and Chinese New Year Festival,

sports activities, like the Staff and Students’ Games, as well as multiple

other events such as, among others, the Freshmen Orientation, lab tours,

career talks, and also the preparation of Past Year Paper solutions.

It is indeed an honor to be given the opportunity to lead the 22nd committee

of the NUS Physics Society (Physoc) in the Academic Year 2008/09. In

my term as president, I have gained invaluable experience in leadership,

Physoc has also been regularly participating in the Physics Department’s outreach programs,

with hopes that these would cultivate interest in Physics. During the Science 80th Anniversary

celebration, Physoc demonstrated really cool and intriguing experiments as well as fascinating

JC students. Through these, we hoped to share the wonders of Physics with the participants and

to encourage them to apply their knowledge creatively in solving problems in contexts outside

the classroom.

in choosing Physics as your major. There’s a lot to learn here in university, and it’s virtually

impossible for us to master everything that we’re taught from matriculation to graduation.

learn, and that, is a lifelong skill which will stay with you forever…given that you have the

correct learning attitude, of course =).

I shall end my address with a quote from Richard Feynman:

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple

with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do

what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

Haw Jing Yan

President

Physics Society

Physics Department

National University of Singapore

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Greetings, fellow friends and readers of the Momentum magazine!

First of all, we would like to extend a warm welcome to our all our “newbies” into the world of Physics. And to the seniors, welcome back! To the fellow staff, gradu-ate students, post-docs, and professors, I’m sure there is something in this magazine that will engage your inter-est too, as we have strived to make it enjoyable and use-ful to everyone in the Physics Community.

This magazine is prepared by the collective efforts of the 22nd Committee of NUS Physics Society (2008/09), and here we are in the back-ground!

Editors’ Foreword

Contents

Physics Modules 4

Physics @ NUS :Survival Guide 6

Large Hadron Collid-er (LHC) 9

Of Photons and Falling Elevators 13

For those Who Are Bored... 15

3D Stereogram 19

The Importance of Buzzwords... 21

Witnessing the Bang - The Renaissanceof Sitcoms 22

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Editor’s note: Below are good advices that came

from 4 years of experiences of our senior Chang.

Follow them, and you’ll be one step closer to be

a good physicist!

Coping Strategies

It’s true that sometimes, the going can get really tough. That’s why we’ve put together some tips on how to make your NUS Physics experience as enjoyable and as illuminating as possible =)

(a) Talk to your seniors

A great place to get information is from this fantastic group of people; they will be quite happy to give you module reviews, bidding tips, help with assignments, recommendations, entertainment… you name it! And where and how would you meet them? At S13-02-08 (Our headquarters =P ), or attending the Physics Society’s events!!! You could also talk to the lab demonstrators (who are honors-year students) and ask them anything you like. (They don’t bite… much. =) )

(b) Consult your professors

Most of the physics professors (and teaching

assistants) are very friendly, and quite willing to help you (provided you can understand their accents =P ). Just drop them a line if you have any doubts or queries. Alternatively, pay them a

(unless they aren’t in, or have other visitors.)

(c) Crash physics lectures (no, we don’t mean your own…)

you aren’t sure what to do, this is an interesting way to spend it. While you may not understand much, you will still get a general feel of higher level physics modules. This might help you decide later on what to take for your electives.

(d) Get yourself a study group

As your grandma would have told you a long time ago, more heads are better than one. Studying together would not only help you understand your subject matter better, but also, it’d be fun! The usual spots for studying are, of course, the libraries, but in Physics, the teaching labs and its general vicinity are also at your

don’t want a study group, come to the Physics Society room, at S13-02-08. You’re certainly most welcome!

(e) Learn your mathematics well and remember them

Remembering your math is really crucial… You’ll

for in-depth math, the department offers 2 more mathematical physics modules. If you think these aren’t enough either, the Math department offers a smorgasbord of modules to choose from. Enjoy!

Physics @ NUS : Survival GuideWritten by Chang Sheh Lit,

Edited by Vinodhini M. Selveindran,Given by Haw Jing Yan

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(f) Problem solving strategies

Problem solving strategies are quite important to have… so, to help you along, we’ve highlighted two good places to get ideas from:

(i) http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/SolvingProblems.html

(ii) http://www.physics.uci.edu/undgrad/Survival.pdf

(g) Practice past year papers

You can always access any past year papers for your modules from the NUS Library (http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/) website by just logging

exams. However, if the professor for the class

end may look different from the past years. Nevertheless, it gives you a good opportunity to practice.

The Physics Society does keep an archive of the solutions for past year papers, prepared by the kind and helpful seniors in the committee. The solutions for the core modules will usually be uploaded onto the Physics Society website just a few weeks before the exams (you all can download it for free). However, solutions to the elective modules may not be complete and we welcome answer-contributions from anybody who have taken the elective modules. In any case, we welcome your feedback at nusphysoc@yahoo.com

Research at NUS

One good way to try it out would be the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in Science (UROPS). You’ll get to work under a physics professor on a real research project, allowing you to decide if you really love the rush

on this program, you’ll have to approach a professor, who will give you a project to work on. If you produce phenomenal new results, you may even have a chance to have your article published in a journal!

Before you really start your research, the professor will let you know about the research that you are going for, so that you know what you are expecting.

The idea of research in your area of interest can be really cool! But how do you know if you’re cut out for it?

Good things to know beforehand

Computers have become part of our lives, including us physicists. Theoretical physicists use them for modeling and simulations, while experimentalists perform data analysis to generate meaningful results. Programming is

you an edge in research. You could always take modules from the School of Computing (e.g., C language, C++, Java etc)

Familiarity with mathematical software such

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as MatLab, and Mathematica could also prove useful. Never heard of them? Just ask your teaching assistants for a copy to play around with.

The knowledge of electronics can be a plus if you have it, as this will prevent you from short circuiting the components, resulting in the temporary shutdown of the instruments in the whole block. (True story o.O )

Another thing to note is that professors are often willing to take in undergraduates with the correct attitude, and who are knowledgeable in lab safety as well as the expensive machinery we use in our labs. So, there’s no need to worry about lack of experience, because most of it can be taught. =)

Where do I begin?

Again, UROPS is a good starting point. If you’re interested, check your NUS email for circulars that inform of registration deadlines. Another option would be to take up a temporary job during the summer holidays (May-July) with a research group. It is quite important to be willing to approach professors, though, so these are a few pointers you might want to consider.

However, you must know that opportunities to do research are always there, you need to take your own initiative to get involved. One thing you can be sure is that there are professors who are willing to hire students, and they are waiting for you to approach them, so just make your presence known to them.

Here are some tips we would like to offer:

(i) Talk to professors

If you want to work with your lecturer, just drop them an email to introduce yourself, make an

doors to let them know you are interested. Don’t be shy to ask them whether they have temporary positions for you or not. If you want to know

physics departmental website.

ii) Be inquisitive

Ask your tutors, who are mostly physics department alumni, what they might be doing in their particular lines of research. Similarly, you could always quiz the friendly lab demonstrators about their research projects or their ongoing honors year projects.

(iii) Attend departmental seminars

Look out for upcoming seminars that might feature an area of interest. There are usually posters and things at the notice board outside the S13 lift. This is also the site of the Physics Society notice board!!

(iv) Consult your academic mentor

When in doubt, talk to your assigned academic mentor. They would probably be able to help you see things with a little bit more clarity and also, could recommend professors who you could work with.

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alpinekat, but with more words and explanations.

Though it might not be as fun as the song, after reading

it, you’ll be able to enjoy the song better as you would

be able to understand more of what is going on.

Nested below the ground, at the border

27-kilometer long body is capable of shooting two

the Universe and the most energetic collision since

the beginning of time will happen right in the four

eyes of the giant when the beams meet. Right now

fault, but it will wait a few more months when its

roar will be heard, and the mysteries of the Universe

Hadrons are subatomic particles that subject to

the strong force. One example of such heavy hadrons

are lead ions (with atomic number 82), stripped

smashing such large hadrons with each other, hence

the name. This baby can pack up to 14 TeV into

proton-proton collision, and 1150 TeV into lead-lead

collision. And its four “eyes” are called A Large

Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE), Large Hadron

Collider beauty (LHCb), Compact Muon Solenoid

(CMS), and A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS (ATLAS).

Probably the biggest structure humans have

build in the last thousand years, this baby cost so

much that international collaboration is needed. It

has reached over 5 million viewers. The questions in

physics that might be answered by it are so big that

over 10 thousand scientists and engineers are working

on it. Indeed the only reason that the behemoth is built

fundamental particles than quarks and leptons, if nature

Large Hadron Collider (LHC)By Ng Xin Zhao

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matter and antimatter do not exist in the same amount.

see why they are considered important, starting with

the Higgs boson. To understand the Higgs, we must

understand the Standard Model which is currently

the most accurate physics theory that has successfully

predicted all of the subatomic particles found in

previous accelerators. In particular, the story of the

W and Z bosons are of interesting consequences.

In the standard model, there are four fundamental

forces with three of them united with an accurate

quantum mechanical description. Among them, the

electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force are

In this theory, the carriers for the weak nuclear force,

two W-bosons and Z-boson, are predicted and found a

theory, physicists assumed that the carriers of the weak

force are massless bosons, and deduced from the theory

4 massless bosons, 3 for the weak force and the photon.

To account for the mass of the W and Z bosons, Peter

that is everywhere and interacts with particles to give

them rest mass. Just like alpinekat rapped,

“Some particle slows down and others race,

straight through like the photon, it has no mass, but

something heavy like the top quarks, it’s dragging its-

--”

It is kind of like adding air resistance to projectile

that a particle is associated with it. The Higgs boson

becomes central to the Standard Model for being able

to neatly explain the origin of mass. It is for this reason

that the presence of Higgs bosons is a very popular

theory. Being the only particle in the Standard Model

that has not yet been observed only adds excitment to

and heavy Higgs boson actually exists. The interesting

numerous other less popular theories would then be able

One such other theory is the preon theory, that

quarks and leptons are composed of smaller, more

fundamental particles called preons. Currently, the

that they are smaller than 10-18

enables us to see at smaller scales, down to 2*10-19

made of smaller stuffs, like preons. It is also tempting

to think that there can be a simple explanation for the

three families of quarks and leptons observed, as history

had shown that the periodic table of elements hints of

radioactivity and atoms changing from one to another

hints at a nuclear structure with protons and neutrons,

not unsimilar to the decay of heavy elementary particle

like top quarks and tau into their lighter counterparts.

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Whatever the hints and possibilities, without an

experimental observation of preons, all we can do is to

wait and see.

build for, it is time for the giant to shed light on what

we think is possible. SUperSYmmetry (SUSY) is a

principle that states for every fermion (particles with

quarks and leptons) there is a corresponding boson

(particles with integer spin and can occupy the same

space with the same energy like photons) and vice-

versa so we have electrons and selectrons, photons

and photinos. It is symmetric because when we

switch the bosons and fermions, the world is still the

same. However, since none of the supersymmetric

partners have been found yet, it is clearly not a perfect

symmetry in terms of mass like matter-antimatter.

One would say that supersymmetry is absurd;

if all the electrons are replaced by selectrons that can

pass through each other, imagine what will happen to

molecules. However, there are many theories that can

make use of supersymmetry to explain various things.

electromagnetic, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear

force converge to almost the same strength at around 1015

GeV (compared to 100GeV of electroweak bonding).

However, the three forces do not exactly meet at one

point. But with supersymmetry, the three forces cut

exactly and there is a possible explanation of why the

(GUT and electroweak) happen at so

large an energy gap. More than that, if supersymmetric

there is the lightest supersymmetric p

Therefore, if supersymmetry is true, there will be

Talking about dark matter, it is not a matter that

because it is matter that does not glow, therefore

escaping the observation of telescopes. However there

is a double meaning to it, dark also means that we do

not know much of anything about it, or, that we have

bet. Why not just do away with the concept altogether

Well, the reason we need dark matter is to explain

how galaxies seem to be able to hold on to their galactic

arms of stars. The stars at the outer arms of galaxies are

moving too fast to be able to be gravitationally bounded

by the luminous matter in the galaxy. So MAssive

Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) like black holes,

burned out stars, asteroids and stray planets are possible

candidates of dark matter, but Weakly Interactive

Massive P

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Unfortunately, both MACHOs and neutrinos

encounter problems to be the dark matter needed

to explain the galaxy mystery. Using Gravitational

MACHO seems to be too little to account for the dark

matter needed. (Gravitational lensing happens when a

MACHO passes through the light path of a star, the

star appears to brighten for a while then it dimmed

back with certain characteristics.) Besides that, the

amount of baryonic particles that make up dark matter

is limited. Standard primordial nucleosynthesis pins

down the value of baryon-to-photon ratio and through

astronomical observation, the amount of dark matter

greatly exceeds the amount of baryonic particles in the

Universe. Neutrinos, on the other hand, are expected

oscillation. However they move near the speed of light

due to their small rest mass and according to computer

simulations, that is far too fast to make up dark matter.

All these tell us that we do not know a lot about dark

matter and therefore, we need more information

to test its properties to determine whether it is the

and CMS will use different designs and concepts

to look out for any supersymmetric particle, Higgs

boson, preons, or something else entirely different.

When we question what dark matter is, there

is a bigger question unresolved, why should there be

asymmetry between matter and antimatter, which is

still a mystery to physicists. In more formal terms, it

is called CP violations, or Charge-Parity violations.

coordinates, and matter is exactly the same as antimatter

except that both their charge and the direction of their

spin are opposite. That is why when CP-violation occurs,

it means that there is asymmetry between matter and

antimatter. In 1964, the decay in neutral kaons exhibits

a small CP-violation. However, physicists expected a

greater asymmetry in mesons involving bottom quarks.

More recently in 2004, Belle and BaBar, both electron-

positron colliders, discovered that the decay of neutral

B mesons, made up of bottom and down quarks, shows a

preference for matter 100000 times greater than kaons.

The antimatter bottom quarks are observed to be 20%

less than matter bottom quarks. Belle and BaBar are

for the decays involving the bottom quarks (once called

beauty quarks) to source out for more CP-violations in

order to deepen our understanding of the reason that we

are matter instead of all radiation.

spread a lot of energy over a large volume compared to

proton-proton collision. Having the collision energy of

1150 TeV, it can reach back and recreate the situations

just 10-12-10-6 seconds after the big bang (the quarks-

gluon plasma). Just like a transition phase from solid to

that cools down to bound quarks at 10-6 seconds after

study and help in the cosmological mapping of events

after the big bang.

there is nothing new

to be discovered in physics now, all that remains is more

and more precise measurement. However, more and

more precise measurements reveals newer physics that

no one can predict. And no one can predict what exactly

discredit others, it can answer some questions and/or

raise more, it might even alter the paradigm of physics.

Whatever it does, it will change the face of physics as

we know it.

if physics majors don’t know more than the average public readers

out there about the most exciting experiment in physics. This

article is written partly for that purpose in mind. The book that

The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Another book that

hope you enjoyed reading this.

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It would not be an exaggeration to say that a lot of us

are familiar with the behavior of an object with mass m

of photons - something with no rest mass - that many

Believe it or not, many are skeptical about the effects

the case for the general public). How could something

will attempt to show that a beam of photons is not

entirely free from the effects of gravity, using some

imagination and (what we hope to be) convincing

explanations.

The concept of gravitational lensing is constantly

General Relativity, Newton had already conceived the

work, Opticks. Following that, an astronomer by the

name of Johann Georg van Soldner published a paper

regarding the topic in 1804, which unfortunately, went

largely unnoticed.

Diagram 1 The difference between the path of light as

Imagine this: there is an elevator free-falling in the

homogenously distributed in the area of the elevator.)

Inside the elevator, there is an observer by the name of

falling with it, she is not aware about the presence of

other end, hitting the mark ‘X’ on the wall. According

to her, the beam of light is travelling in a straight line.

=P

Of Photons and Falling Elevatorsby Thong May Han

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light to be travelling in a straight line, Obs will see the

beam to be bent (as shown in Diagram 1). How is that

The answer lies in the fact that they are in different

frames of references. From Obs’s perspective, in the

time it takes the light to travel from one end of the

elevator to the other end, the elevator had ‘fallen’ down

the elevator is accelerating. However, despite that

order to prevent a paradox: the beam of light hits the

mark ‘X’ on the elevator wall.

Therefore, from Obs’s point of view, for the beam of

light to hit the ‘X’ mark, the light must follow a curved

path and not a straight line. In other words, the beam

should ‘experience free fall, along with the elevator

mass.

Gravitational Redshift/Blueshift

Redshifting is the phenomenon in which the wavelength

of an electromagnetic wave is shifted towards the

lower energy, or longer wavelength of the spectrum.

The name is derived from the fact that for the visible

light spectrum, red light has a longer wavelength than

that blueshift is the phenomenon in which the opposite

occurs.

Redshift and blue shift can occur for a number of

reasons, among which, as some of us would know,

gravity can result in the redshifting or blueshifting of

electromagnetic waves.

This time, instead of shining the beam of monochromatic

towards the ceiling. She will then see that the beam

of light reaches the ceiling in time t=d/c , where d =

distance travelled, and c = speed of light.

As for Obs, things are slightly different from his

perspective. Obs again observes that the elevator had

accelerated. Taking the elevator to be stationary at

the start of the whole experiment, the velocity of the

elevator after time t, as observed by Obs, would be

where g= gravitational acceleration.

Assuming that vt<<c , the fractional shift of frequency

t/c .

Hence, the fraction of the gravitational shift of the

monochromatic light is then given by

From the results above, we can see that for a beam

of light moving against gravitational acceleration, as

This means that the frequency of the monochromatic

light had decreased, and since the speed of light is

constant, this means that the wavelength of the light

redshift; if it had occurred in the other direction (i.e.

the beam is shining in the direction of the gravitational

acceleration), it would be the case of blueshift, where

the wavelength of the light decreases.

Now, given that the frequency of the light had changed,

it is only natural that the energy possessed by the

photons had changed as well. After all, the energy of

constant. Therefore, the change in the energy of the

photons is

t

gdv gt

c= =

2

tvf gd

f c c

2

gdhfE h f

c

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lose energy in the process of doing work against the

Our discussions above show that the amount of

redshift, as well as the change in energy experienced

by the photons is proportional to the mass of the body

proportional to M, the mass of the aforesaid body. If

we apply this concept to very massive objects, then it is

possible that we would reach a point in where photons

exhausting all its energy. This is the concept that leads

us to black holes, but we shall leave that for another

time. =D

References:

1. Roos, M. Introduction to Cosmology, Third

3. Hawley, J. F. Department of Astronomy,

-

trieved on 16th July 2009 from http://www.astro.

virginia.edu/~jh8h/glossary/redshift.htm

4. Bonometto, S.; Gorini, V.; Moschella, U.

Cosmology and Gravitation). 2002. IOP Publishing

5. Diagram 1: Improvised from diagram on

page 53, Roos, M. Introduction to Cosmology, Third

For those Who Are Bored...Here are some fun physics experiments for you to do and enjoy!!

by Ronald Wee

Sound

How these singers do manage to break glass with their

voice is due to them singing at the natural frequency of

the glass, which causes resonance (in which the glass

vibrates at a much higher amplitude than it usually can

and hence explodes).

Though I can’t teach you how to be a powerful singer

Warning, glass will break, be careful.

You will need:

1 x Your Dad’s Favourite

1 x Microphone, connected to a

1 x Set of Good Speakers

1 x Chopstick

Mask and Thick Clothes to protect yourself, just in

case

Plastic Wrap to wrap around and protect the

microphone and speakers from the broken glass

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How to do it:

Put the wine glass in-between the nice speakers, with

the microphone inside the glass.

Turn up the volume of the speakers (try to ignore the

feedback)

Tap the glass with the chopstick.

You should know what happens if you do it right. =)

(If you don't know, the glass will shatter beautifully,

and your dad will come screaming from wherever you

did this from =D )

P.S. Warning again, glass will break, be careful.

Heat

We will be having a little fun with something called the

than the liquid's boiling point, produces an insulating

vapor layer which keeps that liquid from boiling

rapidly. This is how you can put your hand into liquid

course, too long and the insulating layer will disappear,

and so will your hand =P)

Unfortunately, since most of us regular folks don’t have

liquid nitrogen or molten lead (if you do have either

of these, feel free to look up the web and see how to

play around with those, and be careful), we shall use

common household items instead.

You will need:

1 x Your Mom’s Favourite Frying Pan

=) )

Water

How to do it:

pan.

The droplets of water do not boil away quickly but will

bunch up into small balls of water and skitter around,

are still close to room temperature. Of course, prepare

Electricity

An electric motor is a device using electrical energy

to produce mechanical energy, usually found in fans,

vacuum cleaners, computer disk drives, et cetera. Of

make those kinds of stuff, we are doing something

simpler. =)

You will need:

1 x AA Battery

1 x Nail

1 x Neodymium Magnet

1 x Wire

How to do it:

Place the nail head on the magnet and centre it.

Attach the nail tip to the bottom of the battery.

Hold one end of the wire to the top of the battery.

If you did it right, you should have something like this:

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edge of the magnet.

Light

All of you reading this probably would know that the

speed of light in a vacuum is a constant 299 792 458

Well, not really of visible light, that one's a little

electromagnetic wave, in this case microwaves. This

experiment is not only simple, fun, informative, but it

Mmmm....

You will need:

1 x Microwave Oven. This oven has to be the type that

does not rotate. If there is a rotating table or mirror

or something like that inside, try to see if you can

remove it (while making sure you can put it back, of

should be around 30 cm or more. No metal plates, for

obvious reasons. =)

1 x 30 cm ruler.

that can melt, enough to cover the dish anyway. =)

How to do it:

Cover the entire plate with marshmallows and place it

in the oven.

Turn the oven on for about 30-60 secs (The power of

the oven used won't matter), just until you can see strips

of melted marshmallows appearing.

Take out the delicious plate of half melted marshmallow

and measure the distance between the middle of each

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melted strip. (Take more measurements and average

them out if you want your experiment to be more

accurate.)

of the microwaves in the oven, is about 12 cm.

manufacturer's label on the microwave oven. Most

Now that you have both the wavelength and the

light. =)

Then put the plate back in the oven to melt the whole

Gravity, Pressure and Buoyancy

This is a very simple experiment called the Cartesian

Diver, where we shall see gravity, Archimede's principle

and Pascal's principle at work. For those of you don't

know, the Cartesian Diver is an object in a bottle of

water, and it's distance from the surface of the water

can be manipulated by pressing the bottle containing

the diver.

This particular experiment is dedicated to all the hard

You probably know this already though. If you weren't

there, look this up, it is rather interesting.

You will need:

the Coca Cola company, those are quite easy to

1 x packet of sauce (Just go to McDonald's and take

some. =P )

How to do it:

the density of the packet of sauce is lighter than that of

the water surrounding it. (Try other sauce packets if it is

too dense) The force working in the opposite direction

as that of the weight of the packet of sauce is the buoyant

force, and this force is related to the volume of water

displaced by the packet of sauce. Now, close the bottle.

But how do you control the depth at which the packet

When you do so, as water is incompressible, the

is conveyed undiminished everywhere inside the bottle

and compressing the only thing that you can compress

inside the bottle. Which happens to be the air pockets in

the packet of sauce, which causes the volume of packet

of sauce to decrease and density to increase, causing it

to fall to the bottom to the bottle.

web for more interesting set-ups and exciting activities

*~*

1919

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Figure 5: http://www.theathertons.info/wpcontent/uploads/2009/06/pisa tower stereogram.jpg

Figure 6: http://aimore.org/sketch/sketches.html

More Stereograms!Tiled patterns with hidden 3D images�

Figure 7: http://michael92.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/11/

Figure 8: http://forums.multiplay.co.uk/rants raves other

nonsense/69040 stereograms magic eye pics

ConclusionHope you have manage to view the 3D Stereogram samples. There are many online guides on how

to view a stereogram. The method that we�ve mentioned is only one of the many methods that we

found online, so do look at the other methods if this method doesn�t work for you.

Most of the information and images are taken from the website:

http://www.colorstereo.com/texts_.txt/practice.htm

Bored of 3D

Stereogram pictures?Try to search on YouTube:

�stereogram� !!!

Here are some useful websites regarding stereograms:

1. http://howtoviewstereograms.googlepages.com/

2. http://www.eyetricks.com/3dstereo.htm

3. http://www.lessons4living.com/relax1.htm

4. http://www.wikihow.com/View Stereograms

5. http://www.hidden 3d.com/

Let the 3D stereogram videos

surprise you!!!

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2121

Once, during a gathering of old friends, we were

discussing about the modules we took. So I have a

friend who said that he has taken the module UIT2205

Accounting friend who knew nuts about quantum

twice removed.

“Stuff like quantum computing, quantum

cryptography, quantum teleportation...”

This exchange succinctly summarises the

impression the term “quantum teleportation” makes on

the layman, general public and starry-eyed physicist-

wannabes. However, for all those who know what

quantum teleportation really is, they will tell you that

this phenomena does not live up to the hype its name

conveys. Drop the idea of stepping into a machine at

around like Nightcrawler from X2 or David Rice from

Jumper. Indeed, during an ANU lecture (I was there on

exchange) where the lecturer showed mathematically

what is meant by this quantum teleportation, there

was a moment of silence as if there was pause in

time, followed by an incredulous ejaculation from one

This essay, however, is not about quantum

lecturers. The point I am trying to make is that quantum

teleportation is an innocent phrase that caught the

public’s imagination. And it is not a quack terminology:

quantum teleportation is, in a sense, an instantaneous

transfer of two spatially separated but entangled

quantum states . It is just that, by the fault of science

does not help that the word “quantum” evokes feelings

You get a new sensation.

But innocent as it may be, quantum teleportation

reasons. First, there is intense public interest and quite

often, from a practical point of view, it can be rather

previously, starry-eyed physicist-wannabes into the

is an excellent achievement; getting into CNN or BBC

handful, of course, but none as successful as quantum

teleportation. But of those I know of, we have:

condensate,

environmental noises,

MACHO.

And honestly speaking, I would not have known some

of them if it wasn’t for their fancy names.

chance to christen a discovery, crack your heads for

some catchy names. For all you know, you (or your

quantum teleportation) may become famous. Oh, and it

may make getting funding easier. And you can impress

your friends.

The Importance of Buzzwords...by Jackson Tan

2222

Appendix

1. The usual disclaimer: this does not imply that there is faster-than-light communication. Again, abuse your

2. That is to say, ahem, funding, grants, etc..

4. And if you must know, they are, respectively, Weakly Interacting Massive Particle and Massive Astro-

physical Compact Halo Object.

Warning: If you are allergic, or simply fear the

reading this review. This article contains contents that

may be harmful to those who run away from a little

nerdy laugh. Otherwise, this article is full of geeky

goodness that all can enjoy. Well, almost all.

Being a long-time fan of The Simpsons, I have

witnessed many sitcoms try their best to overcome the

great expectations the yellow fellows have cast in the

world of comedy. None succeeded. At least until the

arrival of this one show that might just save American

The Big Bang Theory.

Firstly, this is not a show about cosmology. Neither is

it about astronomy. One might ask: why in the world

Well for one, there are physicists in it. (Four, in fact.

and tongue sticking out, but young promising ones who

share the common fun of Facebook or Twitter. They

have their jam sessions too with Rock Band and play

Halo 3 every Wednesday night (Halo Night), not to

mention having other more quirky hobbies like 3-D

Chess or Klingon Boggle.

brilliant man, whose story in this universe surrounds

mainly on his (failed) attempts to convince others he’s

not a nerd (something which is entirely untrue) and

his Jovian crush (be it secret or open, reciprocated

or not) on his blonde neighbour Penny. His efforts to

Vader ‘No More Tears’ Shampoo) and his sarcasms

towards Sheldon has earned many laughs even as his

Witnessing the Bang - The Renaissance of Sitcomsby Han Weiding

http://xkcd.com/465/

2323

fantasy of having babies with Penny, that are “smart

and beautiful” are mocked by Sheldon as “imaginary”.

The most ‘normal’ character of the show perhaps,

Penny completely does not understand what the four

physicists are talking about, nor does she know about

Schrödinger’s Cat. Yet she still could hang out with

these geeks occasionally and talk to them, showing

remarkable level of tolerance (yes I know we geeks

are intolerable at times) on her part. There were signs

of her sprouting geekiness when she was addicted to

an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-

Playing Game) called Age of Conan, but otherwise

she is often repelled or confused with the nerdy things

and complex terms that the others do or say, especially

Sheldon.

Sheldon, the laughter magnet of the show, is perhaps the

epitome of the word ‘genius’. His level of intelligence

is practically off the scale, having entered college at

eleven, became a visiting professor in Germany at

results in the many jokes that still run in the minds

of Science” to his “Ah gravity, thou art a heartless

bitch”, Sheldon’s lines are as memorable as his unique

reactions to everyday life.

oothrappali, the Indian physicist who

despises Indian food. Being so shy towards women

that he cannot talk to them directly, he overcomes

it occasionally through alcohol (like how many of

creating a drunk man full of himself.

with women, constantly hits on any member of the

female gender he is near to. He knows at least six

languages, which he used to hit on Penny early on

in Season 1. However, to the waiter in a Chinese

restaurant, he’s the ‘annoying little friend who thinks

he speaks Mandarin’. His desperate attempts at wooing

ladies are a recurring joke throughout the season, as

does the fact that he still lives with his mum.

comical interactions, churn out tons of laughter and

comedy, even if one doesn’t understand the complicated

theories or formulae occasionally heard or seen. They

aren’t making a joke out of nerds, as these nerds do

get their share of ladies (thus explaining the alternate

theory for the name of the show). They aren’t making

a joke out of blondes either, as we do see Penny apt

on ourselves, for almost all of us would have to admit

we’re guilty of being a geek in one way or another.

the clever words Sheldon and the rest can offer us in

this wonderful comedy.

Sheldon, Penny and Leonard, 2 really weird geeks and a hot girl

24222222244444444444

Directors

Writers

Haw Jing Yan

Vinodhini M. Selveindran

Ronald Wee

Ng Xin Zhao

Haw Jing Yan

Vinodhini M. Selveindran

Ronald Wee

Ng Xin Zhao

Jackson Tan

Han Weiding

Thong May Han

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