Thank goodness it’s Wired Up day! Oh no. Isn’t it awful?  No, not the fact that fewer and fewer people are studying physics – we mean the fact that Big Brother is nearly over! What are we going to do now? Hey imagine if seven famous physicists were put in the Big Brother house. Now there’s a thought…

1. The Wire – when is a planet not a planet?
2. Up for Grabs – Family pass for Hands On
3. Web Watch – Physics phun
4. Try This! – Straw oboe
5. Winners – Packs of Flipsides, you lucky lot!

Big Brother (physics-style)

Today in the Big Brother house tempers were running high as Newton accused Einstein of travelling back in time to engineer his eviction. Einstein said it was all relative and Newton hadn’t understood the gravity of the situation. Ampere is the current favourite to win though Volta has great potential. Last week Boyle walked – he couldn’t stand the pressure.  As a punishment for discussing the outside world Hooke was forced into the extension but soon sprang back into the Big Brother house. Housemates are struggling with their task – how to define a planet.  Frankly, if Doppler doesn’t shift it they’re going to fail…

Hands-On is a new science gallery located at Science Oxford and is packed with loads of exciting interactive experiments. Would you like to distort your face on television, float a train or operate a digger arm? Well if so then Hands-On is the place for you and we’ve got a family pass to give away! In addition to the interactives, Hands-On has a changing menu of themed activities. This summer includes ‘Whodunnit’ sessions for budding detectives. 

So if you want to win a family pass then send us an email with your name, age and address to: wired-up.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘VERY HANDY’ as the subject. The winner will be picked at random at 5pm, on Thursday 24 August.

If you’d like more details or would like to book places on the ‘Whodunnit’ sessions then

Tel: 01865 728953
Email: events@oxtrust.org.uk
www.oxtrust.org.uk/handson

Good luck!

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Since we are fighting the cause for physics this week – here’s an activity from Physics Tricks courtesy of Einstein Year.

Straw Oboe

This is a noisy, amusing demonstration of the physics of music. It can take a bit of practice to get exactly right, but it's well worth the effort.

You will need:

• straws (need to be straight – cut off the bendy bits if there are any)
• scissors

What to do:

1. Flatten one end of the straw ~2cm from the end to the tip.
2. Make two cuts in the now flattened end of the straw, to form a triangular tip.
3. Insert the triangular tip of the straw into your mouth and blow hard. You should hear a loud 'buzzing' sound.
4. While blowing on the straw oboe, get a volunteer to cut the straw shorter, ~1cm at a time. With each cut you will hear the pitch of the oboe sound go up.

What's going on?

The flattened triangular tip acts like the reed found in most wind instruments. Blowing on the reed causes the straw to vibrate. A standing wave pattern is created along the length of the straw, which we hear as sound. As you shorten the straw you shorten the wavelength of the standing wave pattern and therefore increase the pitch of the note.

Note:

It can take some practice to get the right sound – if it doesn't work straight away then slowly move the straw in and out of your mouth whilst still blowing until you hear the sound. Definitely a good demonstration to practice before performing it in front of an audience!

Did You Know?

As long ago as the fifth century BC Pythagoras and his followers were experimenting with standing waves and calculating the values of their harmonics. Another way to set up a standing wave is to blow across the top of a drinks bottle. In this case the note gets deeper as you drink the drink (sorry, tune the instrument).

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