…Gordon Ramsey welcomed us to Loyola University with a nice table of fruit and goodies and a nice demonstration.  He had a piece of wood on one of those ramps where you can vary the angle.  He had another block that would slide down the ramp.  The coefficient of friction is the tangent of the angle of the ramp at which the block slides.  We all knew that. Gordon asked if it made any difference how high the block started on the ramp.  We said no if the ramp was of uniform material.  Gordon then slid the block down the ramp at various starting points and it did seem to make a difference! It seems Gordon had cut a long “v” in the ramp changing the area of contact.  He gave us of us a ramp with a “v” cut out as the “giveaway” so we could try it ourselves.  Very nicely done Gordon!

…November 10 the Chicago Section of the AAPT is meeting at Naperville Central High School (Jan Dudzik). Carl Wenning will speak on the new teacher certification requirements for science teachers due to NCLB.  Should be interesting.  Could a teacher be “highly qualified” to teach Physics and know little to nothing about the subject? New teacher bags were presented to Phil Steptoe (National Lewis University), Mark Adamscyk (Rich East High School), and Cathy Keehn (St. Athanasius School).  We hope they try them out and come back and tell us how it worked. Paul Dolan reported on Chicago Science in the City 2007.  He passed out an 11 page booklet describing events from Oct. 2 through Oct. 13.  He said the ISPP booth at Daley Plaza was well stocked and attended.  Thanks to all who were there helping; Roy Coleman, Paul Dolan, Bob Hetzel, and Art Schmidt.  Paul showed a video of them working.

Paul Dolan (Northeastern Illinois University) didn’t bring his demo, but he did talk about it.  He got an old turntable and put a tray on it.  He filled the tray with dirt and sprinkled fast growing grass seeds.  He started the tray spinning and a few days later he could see the grass growing.  Would it point straight up, point inward, or point outward?  What do you think?  Are you sure? Paul did bring a bowl, a whisk, and some pancake batter.  He added water to the batter and “whisked” it without touching the bowl with the whisk.  He placed the bowl on the table a we watched it spin.  As he continued to “whisk” the bowl spun faster being propelled by the rotating batter.  Paul noted that the batter climbs the wall of the bowl.

Tom Senior (New Trier High School) brought a 3x5 index card and two coins.  He creased a 1 cm fold along one edge and placed the card on the table with two coins on the card and one side of the card off the edge of the table.  If you hold the card in the center and then flick the fold, the card will rotate dropping one coin over the edge of the table and shooting the other coin horizontally from the table.  It’s easier to explain if you see it.  Anyway, we listened for the sound of the coins hitting the floor.  Tom passes out cards (but not coins) and tells students to show their parents and explain to the parents what is happening. Then the parents write on the card if they understand and sign the card.

Peter Insley (Columbia College Chicago) brought back the 8x8 square that turns into a 5x13 rectangle that he brought to the June meeting.  People noted that the hypotenuses of the two triangles forming the rectangle had slight kinks in them as they change slopes slightly.  This produced a 1 cm2 hole in the center of the rectangle.  Pete took the slopes as vectors and found the cross product to be exactly 1 cm2.  He passed out a sheet with the math. Roy Coleman (Morgan Park H.S., retired) mentioned a book called The Code Book by Simon Singh published by Anchor Books.  Chapter 8 has a discussion of quantum/photonic code keys. Gerry Lietz (DePaul University) was concerned about students collecting Hydrogen gas from electrolysis and then blowing themselves up with it.  We reassured him that if the students managed to get a “pop” they were a big success.  A Hydrogen explosion is not that easy to produce.

From the north and northwest

From the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/I-94) exit at Fullerton Avenue and turn left (east.) The Lincoln Park campus is
approximately two mile from the expressway on Fullerton Avenue at Kenmore Avenue.

From the west

From the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), turn onto the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/I-94) heading toward Wisconsin. From the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/I-94) exit at Fullerton Avenue and turn right (east.). The Lincoln Park campus is approximately two miles from the expressway on Fullerton Avenue at Kenmore Avenue.

From the south

From the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/I-94) continue as the expressway becomes the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/I-94). Exit at Fullerton Avenue and turn right (east.) The Lincoln Park campus is approximately two miles from the expressway on Fullerton Avenue at Kenmore Avenue.

From Lake Shore Drive (north or south)

Exit Lake Shore Drive at Fullerton Avenue. Head west for approximately three miles. The Lincoln Park campus is located at
Fullerton Avenue at Kenmore Avenue.

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