Fun With Physics draws crowd of all ages at Northern Virginia Center

Nearly 200 enthusiastic visitors, ranging from primary school age students to retired Virginia Tech alumni, gathered at the Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church recently for Fun with Physics, a family-friendly afternoon event designed to prove that science can be fun, fascinating, and exciting. The event was sponsored by Virginia Tech’s Department of Physics and the College of Science.

Students from the Physics Outreach Team, equipped with dozens of hands-on demonstrations and physics-related toys, introduced some intriguing phenomena. Optical illusions showed coins in the wrong place, and metal rings were tossed high in the air by the effects of electromagnetic induction. There were also opportunities for interactive participation. For example, a visitor could put a hand on the metal sphere of the Van de Graaff generator and feel his/her hair stand on end from static electricity.

Beate Schmittmann, Physics Department chair, and Karen Akers, director of the Northern Virginia Center, welcomed the group, followed by astronomer John Simonetti who spoke about “Life in the Universe.” Simonetti told the audience that so far, efforts to communicate with other intelligent life forms in distant galaxies had failed; yet, bacteria can be found in some of earth’s most inhospitable spots, and may therefore also be able to survive on other planets. His presentation ended with a lively question and answer session. One of the youngest participants was so enthused by the discussion that he declared Simonetti “a genius.”

Fun With Physics concluded with an informal reception where alumni reconnected with one another, prospective students and physics teachers obtained information about Virginia Tech’s Physics Department, and parents of current students enjoyed meeting their sons’ and daughters’ class mates.

Posted March 17, 2008