Interesting Facts about physics

What kind of mug did Pythagoras invent?

The so-called Pythagorean mug is very popular in Greek souvenir shops. This is a vessel into which you can pour liquid only up to a certain level, but if you pour it higher, everything will leak out. This effect is achieved using a doubly curved channel in the center of the mug, one end of which is open at the bottom and the other goes inward. The pouring of liquid occurs in accordance with Pascal's law of communicating vessels.

What causes the faint glow of water at depths?

where the sunlight doesn't reach?

At depths of several hundred meters and beyond, there is no complete darkness, as one might assume. sunlight does not reach here, but isotopes of calcium and other elements dissolved in water emit fast electrons, which cause a faint glow due to the Vavilov-Cherenkov effect. Apparently, this circumstance is the reason why deep-sea fish did not lose their eyes during evolution.

How under the thickness sea ​​ice icicles may appear,

reaching to the bottom of the sea?

Sometimes large icicles, similar to stalactites, can appear under the sea ice. When ice forms, it crystal lattice no salt remains, and at some points downdrafts of very cold and very salty water form. Under certain conditions, a layer of ice begins to grow downward around such a flow. If the sea is shallow in a given place, the icicle reaches the bottom and continues to grow in some horizontal direction.

How can water be used as a dielectric?

Many people know that water is a good conductor of electricity - that is why, for example, you should not swim during a thunderstorm, as you can become a victim of lightning striking a pond. However, it is not the water molecules themselves that conduct the current, but the impurities contained in it, ions of various mineral salts. Distilled water, which contains almost no salts, is a dielectric.

Under what conditions can a liquid flow?

“ignoring” the forces of friction and gravity?

In a state of superfluidity, a liquid has zero viscosity and can move with the effect of ignoring the forces of friction and attraction. This phenomenon has been best studied using the example of liquid helium at temperatures close to absolute zero. If you place such a liquid in a container, providing a microscopic layer of helium on the walls, it will rise along them and flow out over the edge.

In what region of space can a person see

your back without the help of devices?

Light consists of elementary particles of photons, which have no mass or charge. Near black holes there are so-called photon spheres - areas where gravity is so strong that photons begin to rotate in orbits. If an observer falls into the photon sphere, he can theoretically see his own back.

Where are the largest reserves of water in the world? solar system?

The largest reserves of water in the Solar System are, strange as it may seem at first glance, in the Sun. Water molecules in the form of vapor are concentrated in sunspots, the temperature of which is one and a half thousand degrees lower than in the surrounding areas, as well as in the region of temperature minimum - a narrow layer under the surface of the star.

Under what conditions does a roll of tape unwind?

creates x-rays?

When a roll of tape is unwound in a vacuum, both visible light and x-rays are produced. Scientists believe that the reason for this is an effect similar to triboluminescence - the appearance of electromagnetic radiation when asymmetric bonds in a crystal are destroyed. However, the adhesive mass does not have a crystalline structure, so another theoretical model is required to explain the glow created by the tape. Emerging Power x-ray radiation sufficient to take pictures of body parts, but this is only in a vacuum, and unwinding the tape in the air is absolutely safe.

Interesting facts about physicists

Which scientists asked Kustodiev to paint their portrait?

just about to become famous?

In 1921, two young scientists approached the artist Boris Kustodiev with a request to paint their portrait. Their argument was that Kustodiev only paints celebrities, and they are sure that they will also become famous, even if they are not particularly known to anyone now. These scientists were Pyotr Kapitsa and Nikolai Semenov, future Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry respectively. As a fee, they gave the artist a bag of millet and a rooster received for repairing the mill.

Is Newton's discovery of the theory of gravity related to the falling of an apple?

Popular legend attributes Newton's discovery of the theory of gravity to an incident where an apple fell on his head. However, if a blow to the head can really be considered only a caricatured myth, the very fact of seeing an apple falling is described by at least two different authors. William Stukeley's biography of Newton tells of their conversation in an apple orchard in 1726 over a cup of tea - when the famous scientist recalled his thoughts about gravity, which arose in a similar setting. Newton's assistant John Conduit clarifies in his book that the incident with the falling apple took place in 1666, when the scientist was vacationing on his mother's estate. It is worth noting that the book “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,” in which the law of universal gravitation is proved, was published not immediately after this, but twenty years later.

What is being studied in the longest continuous laboratory experiment in history?

In 1927, Thomas Parnell, a professor at the Australian University of Queensland, conducted an experiment to demonstrate to students the liquid properties of bitumen tar, a substance that is solid in its normal state. After heating the resin, he poured it into a sealed glass funnel and closed the top, and three years later he cut off the bottom of the funnel, allowing droplets to form. The first drop fell in 1938, the next ones fell at approximately the same interval - a total of 9 drops have been recorded to date. This experiment is considered the longest continuous laboratory experiment in history.

If you think physics is boring, then this article is for you. We will tell you fun facts that will help you take a fresh look at your least favorite subject.

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No. 1: why is the Sun red in the evenings?

Actually, the sun's light is white. White light, in its spectral decomposition, is the sum of all the colors of the rainbow. In the evening and morning, the rays pass through the low surface and dense layers of the atmosphere. Dust particles and air molecules thus act as a red filter, best transmitting the red component of the spectrum.

#2: Where do atoms come from?

When the Universe formed, there were no atoms. There were only elementary particles, and even then not all. The atoms of the elements of almost the entire periodic table were formed during nuclear reactions in the interior of stars, when lighter nuclei turn into heavier ones. We ourselves are made up of atoms formed in deep space.

No. 3: How much “dark” matter is there in the world?

We live in material world and everything that is around is matter. You can touch it, sell it, buy it, you can build something. But in the world there is not only matter, but also dark matter. It does not emit electromagnetic radiation and does not interact with it.

Dark matter, for obvious reasons, has not been touched or seen by anyone. Scientists decided that it exists by observing some indirect signs. It is believed that dark matter makes up about 22% of the Universe. For comparison: the good old matter we are used to takes up only 5%.

No. 4: what is the temperature of lightning?

And it’s clear that it’s very high. According to science, it can reach 25,000 degrees Celsius. This is many times more than on the surface of the Sun (there are only about 5000). We strongly do not recommend trying to check what the temperature of the lightning is. There are specially trained people in the world for this.

Eat! Considering the scale of the Universe, the probability of this had previously been assessed quite high. But it was only relatively recently that people began to discover exoplanets.

Exoplanets orbit their stars in what is called the “life zone.” More than 3,500 exoplanets are now known, and they are being discovered more and more often.

#6: How old is the Earth?

The earth is about four billion years old. In the context of this, one fact is interesting: the largest unit of time is the kalpa. Kalpa (otherwise the day of Brahma) is a concept from Hinduism. According to him, day gives way to night, equal in duration. At the same time, the length of Brahma’s day coincides with the age of the Earth to within 5%.

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#7: Where do the aurora come from?

The polar or northern lights are the result of the interaction of the solar wind (cosmic radiation) with the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Charged particles coming from space collide with atoms in the atmosphere, causing them to become excited and emit light. This phenomenon is observed at the poles, as the Earth's magnetic field "captures" particles, protecting the planet from "bombardment" by cosmic rays.

#8: Is it true that the water in the sink swirls in different directions in the northern and southern hemispheres?

Actually this is not true. Indeed, there is a Coriolis force acting on the flow of fluid in a rotating reference frame. On the scale of the Earth, the effect of this force is so small that it is possible to observe the swirling of water as it flows in different directions only under very carefully selected conditions.

No. 9: how is water different from other substances?

One of the fundamental properties of water is its density in solid and liquid states. Thus, ice is always lighter than liquid water, so it is always on the surface and does not sink. Also, hot water freezes faster than cold water. This paradox, called the Mpemba effect, has not yet been fully explained.

#10: How does speed affect time?

The faster an object moves, the slower time will pass for it. Here we can recall the paradox of twins, one of whom traveled on a superfast spaceship, and the second remained on the ground. When the space traveler returned home, he found his brother an old man. The answer to the question of why this happens is given by the theory of relativity and relativistic mechanics.


We hope our 10 facts about physics helped convince us that these are not just boring formulas, but the whole world around us.

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As a rule, few students like school science about the properties and structure of matter. And in fact - a tedious solution to problems, complex formulas, incomprehensible combinations of special characters, etc. In general, sheer gloom and melancholy. If you think so, then this material- definitely for you.

In this article we will tell you the most interesting facts about physics, which will make even an indifferent person look at natural science differently. Without a doubt, physics is a very useful and interesting science, and there are a lot of interesting facts about the Universe related to it.

1. Why is the sun red in the morning and evening? A wonderful example of a fact from physical phenomena in nature. Actually, the light is incandescent celestial body- white. White glow, with its spectral change, tends to acquire all the colors of the rainbow.


In the mornings and evenings, the sun's rays pass through numerous layers of the atmosphere. Air molecules and tiny dry dust particles can delay the passage of sun rays, it is best to let only red rays pass through.

2. Why does time tend to stop at the speed of light? If you believe general theory relativity proposed, absolute value the speed of propagation of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum environment is constant and equal to three hundred million meters per second. This is actually a unique phenomenon, given that nothing in our universe can exceed the speed of light, but this is still a theoretical opinion.


In one of the theories, authored by Einstein, there is an interesting section that says that the more you gain speed, the slower time begins to move in comparison with surrounding objects. For example, if you drive a car for an hour, you will age slightly less than if you just lay on your bed at home watching television. Nanoseconds are unlikely to have a noticeable impact on your life, but the proven fact remains a fact.

3. Why doesn’t a bird sitting on an electric wire die from electric shock? A bird sitting on a power line is not shocked because its body is not conductive enough. In places where the bird comes into contact with the wire, a so-called parallel connection is created, and since high-voltage wire is the best conductor of current; only a minimum current flows through the body of the bird itself, which is not able to cause significant harm to the health of the bird.


But as soon as a feathered and downy vertebrate animal standing on a wire comes into contact with a grounded object, for example, a metal part of a high-voltage power line, it instantly burns out, because the resistance in this case becomes too great, and the entire electric current pierces the body of the unfortunate bird.

4. How much dark matter is there in the Universe? We live in a material world, and all that we can see around us is matter. We have the opportunity to touch it, sell it, buy it, we can dispose of the material at our discretion. However, in the Universe there is not only objective reality in the form of matter, but also dark matter (physicists often refer to it as a “dark horse”) - this is a type of matter that does not tend to emit electromagnetic waves and interact with them.


For obvious reasons, no one was able to see or touch dark matter. Scientists have come to the conclusion that it is present in the Universe, having repeatedly observed indirect evidence of its existence. It is generally accepted that its share in the composition of the Universe occupies 22%, while matter familiar to us occupies only 5%.

5. Are there Earth-like planets in the Universe? Undoubtedly they exist! Taking into account the scale of the Universe, the probability of this is estimated by scientists to be quite high.


However, only recently scientists from NASA began to actively discover such planets located no further than 50 light years from the Sun, called exoplanets. Exoplanets are Earth-like planets that orbit the axis of other stars. To date, more than 3,500 Earth-like planets have been found, and scientists are increasingly discovering alternative places for people to live.

6. All objects fall at the same speed. It may seem to some that heavy objects fall down much faster than light objects - this is a completely logical assumption. Surely a hockey puck falls at a much higher speed than a bird feather. In fact, this is so, but not due to the fault of universal gravity - the main reason why we can observe this is that the gas shell surrounding the planet provides powerful resistance.

400 years have passed since I first realized that universal gravity treats all objects equally, regardless of their severity. If you could repeat the experiment with a hockey puck and a bird feather in space (where there is no Atmosphere pressure), they would fall down at the same speed.

7. How do the northern lights appear on Earth? Throughout their existence, people have observed one of the natural wonders of our planet - the northern lights, but at the same time they could not understand what it is and where it comes from. Ancient people, for example, had their own idea: a group of indigenous Eskimo peoples believed that this was a sacred light that was emitted by the souls of deceased people, and in the ancients European countries assumed that it was fighting, which the defenders of their state who died in wars are forever doomed to lead.


The first scientists came a little closer to solving the mysterious phenomenon - they put forward for worldwide discussion the theory that the glow occurs as a result of the reflection of light rays from ice blocks. Modern researchers believe that the multi-colored light is caused by the collision of millions of atoms and dust particles from our atmospheric shell. The fact that the phenomenon is widespread mainly at the poles is explained by the fact that in these areas the power magnetic field Earth is especially strong.

8. Quicksand sucking deep. The force of pulling a stuck foot out of the sand, supersaturated with air and moisture from rising sources, at a speed of 0.1 m/s is equal to the force of lifting an average passenger car. A remarkable fact: quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid that is not able to completely absorb the human body.


Therefore, people mired in quicksand die from exhaustion or dehydration, excessive ultraviolet radiation or other reasons. God forbid, you find yourself in such a situation; it is worth remembering that it is strictly forbidden to make sudden movements. Try to tilt your body back as high as possible, spread your arms wide and wait for the rescue team to help.

9. Why is the unit of measurement for the strength of alcoholic drinks and temperature called the same - degree? In the XVII-XVIII centuries there was a generally accepted scientific principle about caloric - the so-called weightless matter that was in physical bodies and was the cause of thermal phenomena.


According to this principle, more heated physical bodies contain many times more concentrated caloric than less heated ones, therefore the strength of alcoholic beverages was determined as the temperature of the mixture of substance and caloric.

10. Why doesn't a drop of rain kill a mosquito? Physicists have managed to figure out how mosquitoes manage to fly in rainy weather and why raindrops do not kill bloodsuckers. The insects are the same size as a raindrop, but one droplet weighs 50 times more than a mosquito. The impact of a drop can be compared to a car or even a bus crashing into a person’s body.


Despite this, the rain does not disturb the insects. The question arises - why? The flight speed of a raindrop is about 9 meters per second. When an insect gets inside the shell of a drop, enormous pressure is exerted on it. For example, if a person were subjected to such pressure, his body would not be able to withstand it, but a mosquito is able to safely withstand such stress due to the specific structure of the skeleton. And in order to continue flying in a given direction, the mosquito simply needs to shake off its hairs from a drop of rain.


Scientists say that the volume of the drop is quite enough to kill a mosquito if it is on the ground. And the lack of consequences after a raindrop hits a mosquito is attributed to the fact that the movement associated with the drop allows one to minimize the transfer of energy to the insect.

There is still an unlimited number of facts in this science. And if today’s famous scientists were not interested in physics, we would not know all the interesting things that are happening around us. The achievements of famous physicists allowed us to understand the importance of substantiating laws-prohibitions, laws-statements and absolute laws for the life of mankind.

We all heard a lot about them back in school. Thanks to the brilliant minds greatest physicists world, humanity has a telephone, electric light, an understanding of the laws of the Universe. We studied their theories and principles, inventions and discoveries, their successes and achievements from dry paragraphs in textbooks. But brilliant physicists are also people, with their own characteristics and quirks.

Newton: alchemy or physics


Not all scientific discoveries Isaac Newton has stood the test of time as well as the law of gravity. For example, he devoted many hours to alchemy. In fact, he was so interested in it that alchemy is now considered his main field, and real science was nothing more than a pastime. Unlike mathematics and physics, Newton does not even try to add new knowledge to alchemy, preferring instead to engage with theories put forward before him. As an alchemist, he was mainly focused on creating the philosopher's stone, which could turn other metals into gold and grant people immortality. After his death, research showed that he suffered from chronic poisoning from mercury, arsenic and lead, which proves his love of alchemy.

Einstein: the great scientist's difficulty speaking


As a child, Albert Einstein spoke very slowly. Until the age of 5, his speech was unclear; it took the child some time to put all the words into sentences and then speak at once in one breath. Albert's parents were concerned, believing that he might be retarded.

This is not the only case where future scientists had problems with speech and diction in childhood. This disorder of speech development was later called Einstein syndrome by psychologists.

Edison: a strange invention - a concrete house


Thomas Edison at one time tried to get into the cement business. For this purpose, he planned to solve the housing problem of New York. Edison conceived the idea of ​​building a house by pouring cement into one mold. Molds were also provided various shapes for windows, stairs, baths. But in practice, the idea turned out to be unrealizable, and Edison abandoned this idea, although he built one concrete house for himself. He even created a concrete piano and concrete furniture, but people were not attracted to such “know-how”.

Pauli: mysticism and science


Do you know someone who can destroy electrical equipment just by being in the same room as them? Wolfgang Pauli was one of these people. According to stories, when a theoretical physicist entered a room, laboratory equipment I just wasn't able to work. His friend Otto Stern actually banned Pauli from entering his laboratory. The scientist himself believed in this peculiarity of his. Pauli believed that mind and matter were interconnected, that human consciousness could influence the external world. Thus, the physicist considered himself a psychokineticist.

Galileo: persecution of the Church and recognition after death


The struggle against the Catholic Roman Church forced Galileo Galilei to face trials. The Church found him guilty of spreading unethical and false information in society. He was imprisoned and forced to vilify his own research and theories. All of Galileo's works were banned from publication.

Almost four hundred years after his death, the Roman Catholic Church has realized the mistake it made centuries ago. And she even apologized for her. In 2008, it was decided to erect a statue of Galileo in the Vatican.

Tesla: obsessive thoughts


Nikola Tesla submitted more 300 different patents, including designs for radio, engine alternating current and electromagnets. But according to the testimony of his contemporaries, he, like no one else, corresponded to the stereotypical image of a mad scientist. It all started with his interesting quirk of starting work at 3:00 in the morning, often staying up until 11:00. After falling ill at the age of 25, Tesla continued his strict regime for another 38 years, adding to this other oddities. For example, he came to hate jewelry of all kinds, but especially pearls, and felt a similar disgust at the presence of overweight women.

Pierre Curie: Science and the Supernatural


Pierre Curie, physicist and husband of Marie Sklodowska-Curie, had a very deep interest in mediums. In particular, he was friendly with Eusapia Palladino, an Italian female medium who claimed that she could move tables with her mind and communicate with spirits. Curie attended the seances, and was amazed that he could not find any evidence of deception.

A few days before his death in 1906, Pierre wrote to a friend about his last experience of participating in one of Palladino's sessions: "In my opinion, this is a region of completely new facts and physical states in space, about which we have not the slightest idea."

If Curie had lived a little longer, he would have learned that Palladino had been exposed as a fraud. It is discovered that she secretly used her leg to manipulate objects. The following year, she was caught using a strand of hair to move things undetected.

Bohr: a clever way to avoid difficult questions


Niels Bohr, while teaching physics at the University of Copenhagen, developed a wonderful way to avoid difficult and uncomfortable questions. When cornered by a student during a seminar or lecture, he would pick up a matchbox, apparently to light an experimental fire, and allegedly accidentally drop it on the floor. The matches scattered, and Bohr spent some time collecting them. The questioner either lost the thread of the conversation or realized that the professor did not want to answer his questions.

Hubble: an aristocrat not by birth


The brilliant astronomer Edwin Hubble was a famous scientist who played a huge role in humanity's understanding of the laws of the Universe. However, according to most, he was somewhat strange person. Even though he grew up in rural America, he decided that he would be an aristocrat. After a stint at Oxford University in England, he began to speak in a fake British accent and began walking around wearing classic capes and using a cane.

Molecular physics is often associated with a boring and difficult topic. But often we don't even realize how many physical phenomena we see and use in our daily lives.

Physics can be quite interesting. Instead of talking about complex equations we will tell you about fun, interesting and useful facts from physics.


PHYSICISTS HAVE MANAGED TO COOL MOLECULES TO ALMOST ABSOLUTE ZERO

Scientists were able to cool strontium monofluoride molecules to almost absolute zero “in one fell swoop.” Physicists described the technology they used in an article in the journal Nature. Unlike molecules and atoms at room temperature, matter cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, or 0 degrees Kelvin) begins to demonstrate quantum properties (in heated matter they are “clogged” by thermal effects ).

Physicists often cool atoms using a laser - the atoms absorb photons and then emit them. When this process is repeated many times, the atoms gradually lose their kinetic energy, that is, they are cooled. This method has not yet been used for molecules - they are heavier and lose energy worse. In addition, in molecules, “excess” energy is stored in the bonds between atoms, as well as in rotational movements entire molecules.


Most of the earlier work involved cooling atoms and then “assembling” them into molecules. The authors of the new study decided to cool the molecules directly. Scientists experimented with strontium monofluoride, which has less vibrational energy than many other molecules. In addition, physicists selected the color of the laser so that its impact did not cause the molecules to rotate. Finally, the researchers pre-cooled strontium monofluoride in a special way.

As a result, the authors managed to cool the molecules to 300 microkelvins (a microkelvin is one millionth of a kelvin). Calculations show that the technology used by scientists allows them to lower their temperature to even lower values.

In early 2010, another team of researchers, working with potassium and rubidium molecules cooled to ultra-low temperatures, was able to directly observe quantum mechanical effects.

A few more facts...

  • Average Human I’m used to thinking that any liquid essentially does not have its own form, however, this is a misconception. It is noteworthy that even the school curriculum talks about this. But natural shape any liquid is spherical. The only reason she is not in this form is the force of gravity.
  • Speed The movement of molecules in water can reach 650 meters per second. Of course, when it comes to a boil.
  • Did you know that a plane that takes off from Moscow to Vladivostok can arrive at the same time as time departure? The fact is that the difference in the clock poles is 9 hours . That is , if the plane can travel the route in three hours, then you will arrive at the same time time , to which they departed.
  • It is worth noting that physics has many inaccuracies and shortcomings, but today it is the only science that can explain what is happening from the point of view of a general approach. Most of what is presented in this article is school curriculum modern Western schoolchildren, so learn more and learn to think to keep up with them.
Atom

All objects around us are made of atoms. Atoms are so small that in the time it takes us to complete this sentence, 100,00 atoms could be formed.

In fact, the Greeks were the first to talk about the existence of atoms 2400 years ago. But the idea of ​​atoms came and went and was not revisited until 1808, when John Dalton demonstrated experimentally that atoms do exist.

Atoms are part of the molecules of objects that we use every day, that we touch and see. There are so many atoms in one grain of sand that their number can be compared to the number of grains of sand themselves on the beach.


Solids and liquids

In a liquid, on the other hand, the molecules also stick together tightly, but not as tightly as in solids, so they can move around and change shape. However, liquid cannot be compressed.

Gas molecules are loosely bound to each other, so they can spread out and fill space. In addition, gas molecules can be compressed to smaller sizes.

Curiously, glass is not a solid. In reality, glass is a liquid, but it is so viscous that we cannot notice how it flows.


  • The largest reserves of water in the Solar System are, strange as it may seem at first glance, in the Sun. Water molecules in the formThe pair are concentrated in sunspots, the temperature of which is one and a half thousand degrees lower than in the surrounding areas, as well as in the region of temperature minimum - a narrow layer under the surface of the star.
  • There is a special state of matter called “disordered superhomogeneity,” in which the substance has the properties of a crystal and a liquid at the same time. It was first discovered by physicists in liquid helium and simple plasmas, but recently biologists also encountered it while studying chickens another eye. How and others have daytimex birds, chickens have five types of photoreceptors: red, blue, green, violet and responsible for the perception of light. All of them are located on the retina in one layer, at first glance randomly, but upon detailed study of the patterns it turned out that around each cone there is a so-called restricted area, in which the appearance of other cones of the same type is excluded. As a result, the system cannot take on a single ordered form, but strives to be as homogeneous as possible.
  • Sometimes large icicles, similar to stalactites, can appear under the sea ice. When ice forms, there is no salt left in its crystal lattice, and at some points, downdrafts of very cold and very salty water form. Under certain conditions, a layer of ice begins to grow downward around such a flow. If the sea is shallow in a given place, the icicle reaches the bottom and continues to grow in some horizontal direction.