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Physics Circus brings large-scale stunts -- and physics lessons -- to U of M's Northrop Auditorium Thursday
If you've never seen a physicist drop 20 feet through the air while his friend shoots a ball at him from a cannon, or grown men shooting streams of toilet paper over an audience with a leaf blower, the University of Minnesota has a show for you. The university's Physics Force presents their largest public show of the year at the annual "Physics Circus" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis. The show is a unique mix of large-scale physics demonstrations and humor that is fun for adults and children of all ages. It is free and open to the public. "We want to show that physics is fun and interesting and something that people can understand," said Dan Dahlberg, University of Minnesota physics professor. "People will be entertained and have a good time, and they'll be surprised at how much they learn." Demonstrations include dropping one of the team members from a 20-foot tower while shooting a ball at him to demonstrate the effect of gravity on projectiles, collapsing a 55-gallon drum to show the force of air pressure and a team member propelling himself across the stage on a cart by emptying a fire extinguisher to demonstrate how forces come in pairs (for every force, there's an equal and opposite force). In addition to Dahlberg, the Physics Force consists of current and retired high school physics teachers -- Hank Ryan (Mounds View), Jack Netland (retired), Fred Orsted (Maple Grove) Aaron Pinski (Bloomington Kennedy) and Jay Dornfeld (Armstrong). They have performed variations of their show at Disney's Epcot Center, on public television's Newton's Apple show and on the Knoff-Hoff Show, a German television science program. The Physics Force has been performing since 1985. The Physics Circus is funded by the University of Minnesota. For more information, visit http://www.physics.umn.edu/outreach/pforce/. ---------- |
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