Flying Circus of Physics

Friday, April 25, 2008

Richard said...: Mr. Walker, I first saw your PBS programming "Flying Circus of Physics" probably in the early 90's or late 80's. Of course, the Leidenfrost demonstration is my favorite as it probably is with most people, but I was intrigued most by the rotation/circular velocity thing. The physics of transferring the bicycle wheels energy to yourself by flipping the wheel mystifies me.
Anyways, thanks for the enjoyable physics demonstrations and I'm going to bookmark this page. I'm glad I stumbled on it.
Richard; 10:15 AM
Jearl Walker said...: Richard,
Thanks for the comments. Yes, the rotation stuff is magical because we just don't encounter it very much in everyday life. Its novelty is one reason why people pay a lot of money to go to amusement parks. If you like the old tv shows, you might like the FCP web site at www.flyingcircusofphysics.com and the other tv clips that have links there. Eventually I hope that a lot of the tv clips will be available on FCP MySpace site, but we are still working on that site. Thanks again. Jearl; 11:27 AM