The Department of Physics at MIT pushes back the frontiers of human understanding of space and time and of matter and energy in all its forms, from the subatomic to the cosmological and from the elementary to the complex.
A block of wood is attached vertically between two strings. When the bottom string is pulled slowly, the top string breaks. When the bottom string is pulled quickly, it itself breaks.
A mass hangs from two identical springs. First, the springs are attached in series by a short string between them. The springs are also connected in parallel by two peripheral strings that are initially slack. The center string is cut, changing the system from series to parallel. The mass ...
The free fall of a coin and feather are compared, first in a tube full of air and then in a vacuum. With air resistance, the feathers fall more slowly. In a vacuum, the objects fall at the same rate independent of their respective masses.
The researchers needed to be able to change a cat's lapping speed in order to test their theory. So they developed a robotic version of a cat's tongue -- a mechanical column with a 1-inch glass disk at the tip. This device allowed the researchers to study the liquid column for different ...
Cutta Cutta drinking Cat fanciers appreciate the gravity-defying grace and exquisite balance of their feline friends. But do they know that those traits extend even to the way cats lap milk? Researchers analyzed the way domestic and big cats lap and found that felines of all sizes take ...
A double jointed pendulum hangs from a rod. Swinging the pendulum with high energy results in motion that cycles chaotically between normal modes. Swinging it with low energy results in more predictable motion. When viewed under black lights, it is easy to see that the first joint of the ...
A cutout of Massachusetts is hung in several orientations and a line is drawn straight downwards. The lines intersect at the center of mass.
This demonstration illustrates the earliest form of steam engine, as described by Hero of Alexandria around 150 B.C. A small amount of water is heated to produce steam, which accelerates out of small tubes. In turn, the steam creates thrust and the engine quickly spins up.
A pendulum swings from a support post and another post is added to interrupt its swing. We desire to know the maximum height at which the pendulum will perform a full loop around the post. The pendulum requires both potential and kinetic energy in order to complete a full loop. Therefore, it ...
Dr. Henriette Elvang 2005-2008 Pappalardo Fellow
Dr. Michael Fogler 200-2003 Pappalardo Fellow
Dr. Jocelyn Monroe 2006-2009 Pappalardo Fellow
Dr. Robert Simcoe 2003-2006 Pappalardo Fellow
Dr. David Tong 2001-2004 Pappalardo Fellow
Dr. Arpita Upadhyaya 2002-2005 Pappalardo Fellow
Two wood boards are connected by a hinge. A small cup is mounted near one end of the upper board with a tee for a ball on the end. The board is lifted to a certain height, and when released the ball ends up in the plastic cup. This shows that the board has moved farther than the ball in the ...
A row of candles are placed inside a see-through dome on a rotating platform. When the platform rotates, air inside the dome gets swung to the outer part of the dome, creating higher density air at the outer rim, and lower density air in the middle. The candle flames point inwards towards the ...
Is Evolution Reversible? Dr. Jeff Gore, Assistant Professor of Physics, MIT; 2007-10 Fellow (Biophysics) The degree to which evolutionary changes are reversible has long intrigued biologists. A famous example of reversibility in evolution is the emergence and ...
