MONDAY
We arrived at 9:30 on Monday morning, not really knowing what to expect, hoping we wouldn't be bored with maths and lectures all week.
We were greeted by the two organisers, Loraine and Padraig, who immediately calmed our fears with their welcome and summary of the week to come. After registration and introduction we had a lecture on what physics actually is. I thought this really interesting and learned a lot which helped us in the later lectures throughout the week. But it never seemed like school, where the information is just drilled into you. It was always interesting and Padraig explained it all really well so that it was easy to understand. This was a good way to start the week and I know that it helped me a lot during the week.
The lecture lasted for about 45 minutes. After which we had a lecture on lasers. Although this was also very interesting, and it opened up the whole new world of "Pico" and "Nano" for us, it did go a little over our heads and I think the phrase " The more you know, the more you don't know" which one of the lectures used, seems appropriate to us as we came out of that lecture!
We then had a well deserved break, where we got free biscuits and drinks, which was very welcome as some of us were quite peckish after all that thinking!
The highlight of the day, and one of the many of the week was to follow our break. We went into the lab and did an "experiment on superconductivity"- which was really an excuse to play with liquid nitrogen! It was so cool! And the liquid nitrogen did not disappoint, it was also a little scary, we only had a pair of safety goggle, if that was in school, we would be in full body armour!
After thoroughly enjoying our time with the liquid nitrogen we had lunch. There are so many places to eat and I found a nice chipper, the ½ pounders are something special!
Following lunch we were split up into groups and got a tour around the whole physics building. I was surprised to learn that there is so much research going on that is at the very forefront of international physics. Didn't really understand exactly what that research was but it was still really interesting.
The whole day was really well planned, we were never bored, and although pretty tired at the end I really enjoyed the day, and I looked forward to the rest of the week, which didn't disappoint. I'm so glad I have done this course, which if nothing else has been an amazing expierence.
We arrived at 9:30 on Monday morning, not really knowing what to expect, hoping we wouldn't be bored with maths and lectures all week.
We were greeted by the two organisers, Loraine and Padraig, who immediately calmed our fears with their welcome and summary of the week to come. After registration and introduction we had a lecture on what physics actually is. I thought this really interesting and learned a lot which helped us in the later lectures throughout the week. But it never seemed like school, where the information is just drilled into you. It was always interesting and Padraig explained it all really well so that it was easy to understand. This was a good way to start the week and I know that it helped me a lot during the week.
The lecture lasted for about 45 minutes. After which we had a lecture on lasers. Although this was also very interesting, and it opened up the whole new world of "Pico" and "Nano" for us, it did go a little over our heads and I think the phrase " The more you know, the more you don't know" which one of the lectures used, seems appropriate to us as we came out of that lecture!We then had a well deserved break, where we got free biscuits and drinks, which was very welcome as some of us were quite peckish after all that thinking!
The highlight of the day, and one of the many of the week was to follow our break. We went into the lab and did an "experiment on superconductivity"- which was really an excuse to play with liquid nitrogen! It was so cool! And the liquid nitrogen did not disappoint, it was also a little scary, we only had a pair of safety goggle, if that was in school, we would be in full body armour!
After thoroughly enjoying our time with the liquid nitrogen we had lunch. There are so many places to eat and I found a nice chipper, the ½ pounders are something special!
Following lunch we were split up into groups and got a tour around the whole physics building. I was surprised to learn that there is so much research going on that is at the very forefront of international physics. Didn't really understand exactly what that research was but it was still really interesting.
The whole day was really well planned, we were never bored, and although pretty tired at the end I really enjoyed the day, and I looked forward to the rest of the week, which didn't disappoint. I'm so glad I have done this course, which if nothing else has been an amazing expierence.
Tuesday, 4th December 2007
Today we had a lecture on particle physics, a lecture explaining how physics could lead to many different careers; we tracked the trajectory of a projectile using the computer, were shown how a radar gun works and had a lecture on computational physics.
In the lecture on particle physics, Dr. Ronan McNulty told us about the strong force and the weak force. Neither forces are understood fully but the strong force prevents the protons in atoms from repelling each other and the atom from exploding. The weak force causes radioactive decay to occur.
At 12ish we were taken outside and were shown how a radar gun is used to find out the speed of something. It uses what is called the Doppler effect. This is when sound waves emitting from the radar gun are compressed by the oncoming object, and expand as the object gets further away. By measuring the speed ate which these waves contract and expand, the machine can tell how fast the object is moving.
During lunch, Ashleigh and I went to feed the seagulls and swans (which eat out of your hand!) down at the lake.
In computational physics, we learned that there is a number called the Golden Ratio. This number's decimal digits go on forever and never repeat their order. This number rounded down is 1.6 and is the ratio of the length of your hand to the length of your arm, the perfect distance for leaves and petals to be spaced on a plant for them to receive maximum sunlight and the ratio of the width of your face to the length of your face. This number appears all over the place. Today was very fun and interesting and I have enjoyed it immensely
Wednesday
Today we had a lecture on Medical Physics and Radiation Safety with Prof. Peter Mitchell. I learned allot about how radiation effects our living tissue and how we use it and/or avoid it. I 
found it extremely interesting how this very dangerous material is used to preserver life. When we went to St. Luke's we were shown what type of containers they needed, just to keep those working around them save. It was truly a great experience, learning about what type of work is involved in the medical physics from working with Nuclear medicine to operation the gamma camera. After what I have learned today, I am really interest in learning more about this area of physics!
found it extremely interesting how this very dangerous material is used to preserver life. When we went to St. Luke's we were shown what type of containers they needed, just to keep those working around them save. It was truly a great experience, learning about what type of work is involved in the medical physics from working with Nuclear medicine to operation the gamma camera. After what I have learned today, I am really interest in learning more about this area of physics! THURSDAY
BY: Eoin McAuley
Today we reached for the skies, in more ways than one. We began the day with a lecture in Astrophysics by Dr. Lorraine Hanlon. Astrophysics is connected to Astronomy. Astronomy is an observational study of the universe i.e. the totality of all space, time, matter and energy. This lecture gave us, what I thought to be an intriguing insight into space science and the universe. We accumulated interesting facts about space during this lecture, such as that the speed of light is 300, 00,000 m/s, and that 1 light year is 10 trillion km. This lecture was followed by another one by Dr. Hanlon about The Physics of Rockets. Following this lecture we had to put into practise what we learned, and build a miniature rocket out of old drink bottles. These were then filled with water and pumped full of air with a pump in order to launch them outside. We theorised that if we used fizzy drinks instead of water the extra carbon would send them further into the sky. In consideration to the heavy winds that day I believe that the Launch was a success.
Before lunch we tried to see how far we could reach the sky ourselves with help from U.C.D.'s Trampolining Society. Unfortunately my lack of skill led me to experience the full impact of gravity. But this was pleasant experience none the less.
The day ended with us all becoming stars as we were filmed being asked questions about our experience at U.C.D. You can see these videos on this Blog.
BY: Eoin McAuley
Today we reached for the skies, in more ways than one. We began the day with a lecture in Astrophysics by Dr. Lorraine Hanlon. Astrophysics is connected to Astronomy. Astronomy is an observational study of the universe i.e. the totality of all space, time, matter and energy. This lecture gave us, what I thought to be an intriguing insight into space science and the universe. We accumulated interesting facts about space during this lecture, such as that the speed of light is 300, 00,000 m/s, and that 1 light year is 10 trillion km. This lecture was followed by another one by Dr. Hanlon about The Physics of Rockets. Following this lecture we had to put into practise what we learned, and build a miniature rocket out of old drink bottles. These were then filled with water and pumped full of air with a pump in order to launch them outside. We theorised that if we used fizzy drinks instead of water the extra carbon would send them further into the sky. In consideration to the heavy winds that day I believe that the Launch was a success.
Before lunch we tried to see how far we could reach the sky ourselves with help from U.C.D.'s Trampolining Society. Unfortunately my lack of skill led me to experience the full impact of gravity. But this was pleasant experience none the less.The day ended with us all becoming stars as we were filmed being asked questions about our experience at U.C.D. You can see these videos on this Blog.
1 comment:
Wow this is the best blog i have ever seen, also
FIRST!
Post a Comment