Mad about Physics

Why is there eight times more ice in Antarctica than in the Arctic? Why can you warm your hands by blowing gently, and cool your hands by blowing hard? Why would a pitcher scuff a baseball?Which weighs more-a pound of feathers or a pound of iron? Let science experts Christopher Jargodzki and Franklin Potter guide you through the curiosities of physics and you'll find the answers to these and hundreds of other quirky conundrums. You'll discover why sounds carry well over water (especially in the summer), how a mouse can be levitated in a magnetic field, why backspin is so important when shooting a basketball, and whether women are indeed as strong as men. With nearly 400 questions and answers on everything from race cars to jumping fleas to vanishing elephants, Mad about Physics presents a comprehensive collection of braintwisters and paradoxes that will challenge and entertain even the brainiest of science lovers. Whether you're a physicist by trade or just want to give your brain a power workout, this collection of intriguing and unusual physics challenges will send you on a highly entertaining ride that reveals the relevance of physics in our everyday lives.

Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii To the Reader xv Chapter 1 Temperature Risin’ 1 Chapter 2 Color My World 1 3 Chapter 3 Splish! Splash! 25 Chapter 4 Fly like an Eagle 4 1 Chapter 5 Good Vibrations 53 Chapter 6 Opposites Attract 65 Chapter 7 Bodies in Motion 79 Chapter 8 Stairway to Heaven 101 Chapter 9 Life in the Fast Lane 1 1 1 Chapter 10 Born to Run 121 Chapter 1 1 Third Stone from the Sun 131 Chapter 12 Across the Universe 143 Answers Temperature Risin’ 155 Color My World 166 Splish! Splash! 1 7 5 Fly like an Eagle 185 Good Vibrations 194 Opposites Attract 209 Bodies in Motion 219 Stairway to Heaven 239 Life in the Fast Lane 247 Born to Run 255 Third Stone from the Sun 269 Across the Universe 283 Index 298