iTUNES!

Ahh what a sunday it has been. After spending most of the weekend out and about, I finally found some time to relax, put on my headphones, and listen to some of my favorite tunes. GAH! But this times iTunes wasn't working, I had to resort to the use of good old CDs. How in the world do these things work, they're not digitalized like my iPod. Suddenly out of no where, Diffraction DOC! appeared and poof!. Using his diffraction magic, he explained to me the simple physics of how such old school CD's work. Each CD contains man lands and pits. The CD player uses a laser to read the different land and pits. When the laser beams are all on the pits or the lands, constructive interference occurs, however when some of the beam is on a pit and other part is on a land, then the constructive interference occurs. The laser then reads these 1s and 0s and reads it as the music that you hear. WOW. Diffraction DOC! really does know his tunes. DVDs work the same way, except the lands and pits are closer together and more tightly fit, allowing it to store much more information. THIS IS AMAZING. It's a shame all of this outdated now that APPLE as revolutionized music listening. Lesson of the week: CDs are rocking, but a little outdated.

The Mystic Mirage by Opti-Gone

Ah! Another joyous Sunday has gone by very quickly. After that surpise sudo-quiz on Friday, I decided to explore the true physics of how Doc!'s magical product was able to produce a hologram. It was truly breath taking and jaw dropping. Using the o so useful google search, I discovered many things. However it was not until Opti-Gone DOC! appeared out of nowhere to explain to me how the object really worked. The product works by utilizing the optics of two opposing parabolic mirrors with a small circular opening at the top. The opening allows in light rays. The light rays from the object placed in the Mirage are at the focal point of the top mirror. Because it its located exactly at the focal point, all the rays emanating from the object are reflected in the mirror parallel. These reflected parallel rays from the top mirror then hit the bottom mirror and because they are all parallel, the light rays are all reflected to the focal point of the bottom mirror. This allows a virtual image to appear at the focal point, which is conveniently located where the circular opening is. WOW! How awesome is that. The physics of mirros created such a cool and neat thing. Best of all, the product was discovered when some guy was cleaning out stuff and discovered that two mirrors produced an object that wasn't there! AMAZING! Lesson of the week: Physics can make you famous and rich by accident!

The Wiz: A Spec(trum)-tacular Show

Boy oh boy was I in for a treat this weekend when I bought a voucher for 'Iolani's Spring Musical, The Wiz. Initially, I went for extra credit, but after the show was over, I was quite amused and happy that I went. Not only was I in awe at the talent of my peers in acting as well as playing in the pit, I was amazed at the lights, sounds, and effects of the entire show. In one part of the play, the tornado is portrayed by utilizing a strobe light which created a wild effect of chaos. What was most interesting was the use of green lights and green glasses during parts where the play took place in Emerald City. During intermission (while I was patiently waiting in line to use the bathroom), I sudden realized how much these light effects utilized physics and the Electromagnetic Spectrum! But how did they make those lights so green!? That's when in the middle of the bathroom floor appeared The DOC! of Oz!! One cannot imagine how much that appearance scared me. Anyways, The Doc! of Oz! came down before me and explained that the green lights utilized light filters. Because white visible light is made up of a spectrum of colors that are each electromagnetic waves with different frequencies and wave lengths, filters can break down the light and only allow the green portion through. WOW! Thanks to physics, the production was able to utilize great effects to make the Emerald City that much more spectacular. I guess they should've added DOC! and the physics department to the list of acknowledgments. Lesson of the week: Bathrooms are great places for epiphanies. Congratulations to all those who took part in the production of The Wiz. It was fantastic.