Objects Dropped from Tall Buildings pt.2

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From: SFPhysics@aol.com
Date: Thu Jan 23 2003 - 02:23:20 PST 

From: SFPhysics@aol.com
Message-ID: <17.34e0a302.2b611c98@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 05:23:20 EST
Subject: Objects Dropped from Tall Buildings pt.2

Greetings Roy:

And thanks Dr. Paul:

Yes, my BB gun was a single lever action Daisy and nothing fancy. The 60 m/s
was the best it would do on a good day. The multiple pump models were never
within my purview as I was just happy putting holes in paper targets set
against a clay hill at my parents summer home. I found out about penetration
the hard way, I shot myself accidentally while loading the BB shot into the
magazine. After that all my handling of projectile producing devices was
much more careful. My subsequent firearms were always treated with the
utmost respect and safety, especially my Colt Python. Any classroom
demonstrations involving projectiles was always done with the same reverence
for safety. The cheap administrators in San Francisco Unified never could
understand why I wanted a full set of safety goggles and a sterilizing
cabinet so I finally bought them myself.

But I digress, Dr. Doherty has been kind enough to share his method on
finding terminal velocities of items using a car. Tomorrow if any one sees a
green F-150 pickup truck going down 101 with the window open, one hand out
holding a spirit level glued to a protractor, and a penny on a string, you
will know I am doing that experiment. Here I was trying to figure out how to
put a penny in a Plexiglas tube hooked to a vacuum cleaner on a variac and
then on how to run bits of paper past photo gates for velocity readings!
Thank you Dr. Paul ! ! !

Forensic scientists use a gel to simulate human soft tissue. Dropping a
penny from a multistoried building into a dish of Jell-O might be one way to
study the effect of a coin's impact. Maybe our student with the somewhat
macabre interest could do that.

Best wishes to all,

Al Sefl
Who was known for shooting himself in the foot with idiot administrators...
Like correcting the spelling, punctuation, and grammar on principal's memos
and handing them back with a grade...

Retirement is beautiful...

Magna est veritas et praevalebit.

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