Learning Physics and Astronomy with Songs.

(Or Physics to listen to while doing your homework.)

Dr. Steven Sahyun

UWW Physics

PTLGPhysics Teachers Lunch Group

Presentation

Workshop Physics: Physics Pholk Songs

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http://physics.dickinson.edu/~wp_web/wp_songs.html

1. The Bricklayer's Song 2. Applesauce 3. Pool Table Physics Lab Rap 4. Galaxy Song 5. Motion Detector Rag 6. Newton's Laws 7. I'm My Own Grandpaw 8. Particles...Quant'em 9. Electricity and History 10. How Colors Delight 11. Simple Harmonic Oscillator Rap 12. To Sir Isaac 13. The Elements 14. First and Second Law

M A S S I V EMath And Science Songs

“The MASSIVE database contains information on over 2000 science and math songs. Some of these songs are suitable for 2nd graders; others might only appeal to professors. … Some are quite silly; others are downright serious.”

http://www.science-groove.org/MASSIVE/

Massive Radio channel on Live365.com

Outline:

1. Particle Physics Songs

2. E&M and Light Songs

3. Astronomy Songs.

Part 1: Particle Physics Songs

Matter and substructure10-10 m

10-14 m 10-15 m

10-18 m

Birth of the Bubble ChamberIn 1952 Donald Glaser invented the bubble chamber, a device that shows the path of particles and high-energy interactions as a line of bubble trails.

It was a basic component of almost all high-energy physics experiments in the mid 20th century, and was the instrument of detection of many strange new particles and phenomena.

For this invention, Glaser received the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics.

http://www.case.edu/menu/sciencecenter/nobel_laureates.htm

Birth of the Bubble Chamber

http://esmane.physics.lsa.umich.edu/wl/cern/hst/2006/20060705-umwlcd0004-04-jones/real/f001.htm

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http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~phylabs/pictures/bbc_3.jpg

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by Arthur Roberts of the University of Chicagohttp://www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/roberts/1985/roberts1985.htm

Some People Don’t Know Where to Stop! Arthur Roberts

http://www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/roberts/1985/roberts1985.htm

The Particle Zoo

MesonsMesonsBaryonsBaryons

The Standard Model

http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/frameless/generations.html

Things made out of quarks

Hadrons

Baryons

(3 quarks)Heavy particles.p, n, , , ,

Mesons

(2 quarks: normal + anti)

, , K

Proton p = uud Neutron n = udd

ChargeBaryons

(refrain)Up, Down, Charm, Strange, Top and Bottom!The World is made up of Quarks and Leptons!Up, Down, Charm, Strange,Top and Bottom!Yum! Yum!

Quarks come in six flavorsThey live in families of two.Up Down, Charm Strange, Top and Bottom!They come in anti-flavors too!

Each family makes a generationbetween which is a mass gap.The up quark is the lightest and the top quarkis the most fat!

The second and third generationsdo not live for very long.That's why everything in the Universeis made up of Ups and Downs!

(refrain)

Quarks carry a color charge.They come in red, green and blue.You'll never see a quark all by itselfcuz they stick together with a strong force glue.

Quarks carry electric charge.A fraction of electricity.Quarks combine together so the total chargeis a multiple of unity!

An up, up down makes a proton for a total charge of plus one.A down, up, down makes a DUD neutron!

Physics is so much YUM YUM PHUN!

(refrain)

Quark Sing-a-Longhttp://www.scientainment.com/songs.html

Written and sung by Lynda Williams, The Physics Chanteuse, Cosmic Cabaret

Part 2: E&M and Light Songs

The Freaky WaveWritten and Performed by Lynda Williams

Ocean Wave, Sound Wave, Light Wave,Shock Wave, Radio Wave, Microwave,Heat Wave, Brain Wave....

A wave is a wiggle in space and timelike an ocean wave it moves up and down.Repeating in cycles of up and down.The up is called the CREST and the TROUGH is the down.

The wavelength is the distancefrom crest to crest or trough to trough.(Into a puddle rain drops drop and waterwaves roll off....)

A wave carries energy as it goes.Sound waves make air molecules rock and roll.To and fro and to and fro, from speaker toear that's how they go! Sound waves make air molecules rock and roll!

The frequency is the rate that sound wavesmake air molecules shake! The higher the freqthe higher the pitch and the faster the molecules twitch!

The bigger the bell the longer the wavelengthand the slower the air shakes!The smaller the bell the shorter the wavelengthand the faster the air shakes!

Tune into my frequency and do the freaky wave with me!Sound waves make me rock and roll! Up and down and to and fro!Microwaves cook your casserolemaking water molecules rock and roll!Wave it up! Heat it up! Eat it up!

Physics! Mmmmmmmmmm.... Yum! Yum!

http://www.scientainment.com/shopcd.htm

What medium does light travel through?The Ether Song, Walter Smith and Marian McKenzie

http://www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/ether.htm

My name is Michelson, Albert Michelson. Long ago I was full of pride -- I thought I knew just what I wanted -- Thought I could find it and more beside. Refrain: Ether, ether, luminiferous ether, Ether, ether, where’d you go?

I found a partner, a physics partner. Edward Morley was his name. We set out to measure the ether. We set out to find our fame. (Refrain)

The harder we measured, the less we found it. It was supposed to be all around. We finally published, though we didn’t want to -- We finally said it could not be found. (Refrain)

So gather ye students, ye physics students, Now that you’ve heard my tale of how I spent a lifetime searching for the ether-- I couldn’t find it, it’s your turn now. (Refrain)

“Disclaimer: While it took decades for Michelson to accept the results of his famous experiment, it would be wrong to think that he languished in obscurity. He is widely regarded as one of the most skillful experimental physicists ever, and received the Nobel prize in 1907.”

Maxwell to the rescue!Maxwell’s Equations in a Vacuumhttp://www.scientainment.com/songs.htmlLinda Williams

Doppler Shiftinghttp://www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtmlAstroCappella

Susan cruisin' down the freeway doing seventy-eight (go speed racing, go speed racing)She just likes to drive fast, it's not that she's late (no tail-gating, no tail gating)Goes over a hilltop and what a surprise (too late sister, you're in for it now)Blue and red flashing lights right in front of her eyes Nee nee nee nee nee nee nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah Now Susan's standing by the side of her car (show me your licence, you're in big trouble)Trucks blowing right by her but she's not going far (they're still cruisin', Susan's losin')She's been caught by a speed trap, and now she can hear (here comes the physics, you're in for it now)Sound of the Doppler Shift right in her ear

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee-owwwwwwwwww

Doppler Shiftinghttp://www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtmlThat's the Doppler Shift - you've heard it I knowDoppler Shift - first it's high then it's lowThe good cop's gun shoots out only radarAnd the beam bounces back off bad Susan's carAnd assuming the policeman is standing in rangeHis gun tells him all about the frequency changeThen Susan's walking, walkingHer speed racing days are done

They're light years away, man, and that's pretty far (lightspeed's the limit, the big speed limit)But there's plenty we can learn from the light of a star (split it with a prism, there's little lines in it)By looking at the spectrum at the light that's glowing (wavelengths of emission, measured with precision)Its Doppler Shift will tell us if it's coming or going Doo doo doo doo doo-ooo

That's the Doppler Shift - you see it, it's trueDoppler Shift - to the red or the blue

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/doppler.htm

Doppler Shiftinghttp://www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtml

When a star is approaching and it's coming our wayIts spectrum seems bluer, won't you hear what I sayAnd when a star's retreating way out of rangeAnd the scientist measures its frequency changeWell that's a redshift, redshiftIf the star is moving away

By reading Doppler Shifts of all we see in the skies (clusters of galaxies, near and far)We get the big picture and a big surprise (redshifts going, redshifts going)The Universe is growing and expanding away (galaxies are speeding, speeding away)But maybe gravity will shrink it back some day Owwwwwwwwwwwww-eeeeeeeeeee

Doppler Shift - to the red or the blueDoppler Shift - and our shift's overdue

Now blueshifts come and redshifts goAnd that's pretty much everything you need to knowNow we're gonna pick up Susan and give her a rideSo you guys remember Doppler, and you drive to surviveAnd now we're shifting, shiftingAnd our Doppler song is done

Part 3: Astronomy Songs

High Energy Groovehttp://www.astrocappella.com/groove.shtml

Chorus:X Rays, Gamma Rays, high energyHot stars, heavy stars, high densityQuasars, black holes, supernovaePowerhouses lighting up the GalaxyFlashing, bursting, pulsing objects we could seeIf we had X-ray eyes, if we had X-ray eyes Going up the spectrum, repeat after meRadio, infrared, visible, UVKeep going all the way what do you see?That's X-rays, gamma rays, high energyAn X-ray photon has a high frequencyWhich means a shorter wavelength than you could ever see

X-rays come from various processesLike a cloud of gas above about a million degreesOr magnetic fields that send electrons swarming like beesOr even neutron stars emitting like black bodiesAnd you get X-rays from star stuff that came near to and fellInto a black hole's gravitational potential well

If we flew above the atmosphere and looked out at the skiesAnd if we could do it with X-ray eyesWe'd see more flashing and popping than you realizeObjects winking on and off like firefliesThe X-ray sky isn't calm and quietIt's more like a rockin' high energy riot

(Chorus)

X-rays can show you the roots of your teethShine them through your body see the bones underneathBut don't go thinking that we X-ray the stars'Cause they're billions of miles away, much too far!We collect all the X-rays that they send to EarthTelling tales of star death, giving hints of star birth Here's a story of a pair of stars called Cygnus X-1One's a black hole many times the mass of the SunWith a disk of gas surrounding it, spiralling inSucked from the companion star's outermost skinWe see the high-speed flickering as star stuff flies inA one way trip beyond the event horizon

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http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=32700

A cosmic lighthouse flashes in spaceIt's an X-ray pulsar with a regular paceA neutron star 30 miles around at bestSpinning 'round its axis once a second or lessThen way beyond the Milky Way the active galaxiesAre the furthest biggest things our X-ray eyes can see Point your X-ray specs toward the Sun's locationYou'll notice that along with its slow rotationYou'll see active loops and plasma arcsIn a solar dance producing X-ray sparksThe X-ray Sun isn't serene and smoothIt's a dynamic and changing High Energy Groove

(Chorus)

http://www.solarviews.com/raw/sun/xsun.jpg

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http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/public/science/pulsars.html

Grote Reber by Paul Shuchhttp://www.qsl.net/n6tx/poetry/setisong/reber.htm

A radio ham in Wheaton, Illinois,Grote Reber he was quite a busy boyWhen he built himself a dish 'bout as big as you could wishAnd he showed the world that it was not a toy.

Reber's mother was a teacher, and Miss Grote,On occasion taught a juvenile of note.One who never gave her trouble was the brilliant Eddie Hubble,And that surely was an influence on Grote.

Reber pointed his antenna at the sky,And as countless constellations drifted byHe recorded in dB all the signals he could seeAnd became the first to map the Milky Wye.

Grote submitted his results for peer reviewTo the Astrophysics Journal, though he knewThat without a Ph.D. they'd be skeptical, but heWould be vindicated in a year or two.

Every astrophysics expert had his say.They rejected Reber's radio Milky Way,For the signals he depicted very clearly contradictedEvery cosmologic theory of the day.

Now Grote Reber he was never one to mope,And he always could maintain a sense of hope.As the generations passed, he acquired an image vastAs the father of the radio telescope.

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http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/mw/mmw_images.html

Doing the Supernova Bounce

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http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/kepler/index.html

by Arthur Roberts

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http://www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/roberts/1985/roberts1985.htm

Kepler's Supernova Remnant

M A S S I V EMath And Science Songs

“The MASSIVE database contains information on over 2000 science and math songs. Some of these songs are suitable for 2nd graders; others might only appeal to professors. … Some are quite silly; others are downright serious.”

http://www.science-groove.org/MASSIVE/

Massive Radio channel on Live365.com