Physics Photo Contest 2010

Reflection Liu Volpe

This photo illustrates the law of reflection. The baseball field is reflected at an angle onto the lenses of the sunglasses; therefore we see the field at an angle off of the sunglasses. This image was taken at the Citizen’s Bank park stadium.

*FIRST PLACE*

A Drop of Color Meredith Spann

The physics that is applied here is Newton’s 3rd law. This law states that with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is shown when the food‐coloring droplet is dropped into the water. The force of the droplet hitting the water causes a reaction, which is shown in the picture. This reaction makes the droplet bounce off the water and back into the air. The physics of waves is also presented as some of the energy from the droplet is beginning to create ringlets around the place of impact.

*SECOND PLACE*

Gravitational Potential Energy Tyler Sandiford

Here, my lip, nose, and ears provide the support froce for the pencils to balance. They all have a gravitational potential energy that is defined as the mass of an object times gravity and the height from the ground. The gravitational potential energy is greater for some of the pencils than other pencils. For instance, the pencil on my nose has more gravitational potential energy than the one on my lip because it is higher. The ones on my ears have the most because they are higher than both the nose and lip pencils. When the pencils fall, the gravitational potential energy will be converted to kinetic energy because of the law of conservation of energy.

*THIRD PLACE*

Reflection Mackenzie Ballentyne

This picture was taken outside looking in through a glass door. Normally a camera would take a picture of the inside alone, but the glass acted as a mirror and reflected back the image of myself taking the picture and my backyard. Some of the light went through the glass while some of the light was reflected off of it. Glass doesn’t have the exact same properties as a mirror so that explains why the reflection is faint and slightly see‐through.

*Honorable Mention*

Falling Water Hannah Baxter

In this image, the water appears stopped in mid‐air, and each stream stays in the tight formation of a cylinder. This happens because water molecules contain a tight covalent bond which means that the hydrogen atoms share an electron with an oxygen atom. If the water runs through a thick short pipe it will have the least amount of resistance, so the water will flow at a high velocity, and push the water to stay in the cylindrical formation.

*Honorable Mention*

Refraction Kelsea Brewer The property of light displayed in this photo is refraction. When light enters the water, it can't move as fast and it has to slow down slightly. Because the light enters the water at an angle, the change in speed between the open air and water causes the light beam to bend away from its original path. Since the pencil is at an angle, the image is at a bigger angle in the water than in the air, thus the pencil appears as if it was bent.

*Honorable Mention*

Surface Tension Mia Gold

Water droplets on plants are formed because of the surface tension between the water molecules and the plant surfaces. Water molecules are naturally polarized, which means that one side of the atom is more negatively charged than the other. This means that the molecules attract each other. The molecules want to have the smallest volume possible so they form spherical droplets. Around the surface of these droplets the cohesive forces are the strongest, which is what makes them keep their form on top of plant surfaces. This element that keeps the water droplets intact on top of surfaces is called surface tension. Morning dew is also created the same way. Surface tension is also the reason that you can fill up a glass with water all the way and the glass will not overflow. The surface tension of the water holds the water together so that it crests above the rim of the glass.

*Honorable Mention*

Physics Flips Rachel Zuckerman

In this picture, my sister is doing a flip on a trampoline. She is able to rotate through the air because of centripetal force. Centripetal force is aimed inward towards the center of the rotation. This “center‐seeking” force directs a body in a circular rotation.

*Honorable Mention*