Everyday Physics Myths

Questions

1. 1
   Not answered. Drop a bowling ball and a golf ball at the same instant in a vacuum. Which hits the ground first?
2. 2
   Not answered. A feather really does drift down more slowly than a hammer in ordinary air. What is the actual reason?
3. 3
   Not answered. On Apollo 15 in 1971, astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and a falcon feather together on the Moon. What happened?
4. 4
   Not answered. Why is a clear daytime sky blue?
5. 5
   Not answered. Violet light is scattered even more strongly than blue. So why doesn't the sky look violet?
6. 6
   Not answered. What mainly turns the Sun and sky red and orange at sunset?
7. 7
   Not answered. What colour is sunlight, viewed from space with no atmosphere in the way?
8. 8
   Not answered. What is the name of the wavelength-dependent light scattering (named after a 19th-century physicist) that makes the sky blue?
9. 9
   Not answered. Which statements about astronauts floating on the International Space Station are TRUE?
10. 10
    Not answered. How strong is gravity on the Moon's surface compared with Earth's?
11. 11
    Not answered. You travel from Earth to the Moon. What happens to your mass and your weight?
12. 12
    Not answered. What causes Earth's seasons?
13. 13
    Not answered. Earth's axis is tilted from vertical (relative to its orbit) by about how many degrees? Enter a number.
14. 14
    Not answered. The Moon's 'dark side' — the hemisphere we never see from Earth — receives how much sunlight?
15. 15
    Not answered. What would actually happen to an unprotected human suddenly exposed to the vacuum of space?
16. 16
    Not answered. Which of these statements about sound are TRUE?
17. 17
    Not answered. Most coasts get two high tides a day. Why are there two tidal bulges rather than one?
18. 18
    Not answered. A metal spoon and a wooden spoon have sat in the same room for hours. Why does the metal feel colder?
19. 19
    Not answered. People say 'heat rises.' What is the precise version of that statement?
20. 20
    Not answered. You open a freezer door. What is physically happening at the doorway?
21. 21
    Not answered. At the top of a very high mountain, how does water boil compared with at sea level?
22. 22
    Not answered. Why does breathing helium make your voice sound squeaky?
23. 23
    Not answered. Is it true that hot water always freezes faster than cold water?
24. 24
    Not answered. Does water conduct electricity?
25. 25
    Not answered. Why are you relatively safe from lightning inside a hard-topped car?
26. 26
    Not answered. 'Lightning never strikes the same place twice.' Is that true?
27. 27
    Not answered. A magnetic compass needle points toward...
28. 28
    Not answered. On a spinning carnival ride you feel flung outward. What is really happening?
29. 29
    Not answered. A puck slides across ice and slowly stops. With no friction at all, what would it do?
30. 30
    Not answered. Which popular explanation of how a wing makes lift is actually a myth?
31. 31
    Not answered. Is it true that 'according to the laws of physics, bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly'?
32. 32
    Not answered. Could a penny dropped from the top of a skyscraper kill a person on the pavement below?
33. 33
    Not answered. Old cathedral windows are often thicker at the bottom. Is that because glass slowly flows downward like a liquid?
34. 34
    Not answered. Are natural diamonds formed from coal?
35. 35
    Not answered. Does the Coriolis effect decide which way water spins down your sink or toilet?
36. 36
    Not answered. Do microwave ovens cook food 'from the inside out'?