Learning Physics and Astronomy with Songs.

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Learning Physics and Astronomy with Songs.
PTLG Physics Teachers Lunch Group Presentation
(Or Physics to listen to while doing your
homework.)
Dr. Steven Sahyun UWW Physics
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Workshop Physics Physics Pholk Songs
1. The Bricklayer's Song 2. Applesauce 3. Pool
Table Physics Lab Rap 4. Galaxy Song 5. Motion
Detector Rag 6. Newton's Laws 7. I'm My Own
Grandpaw 8. Particles...Quant'em 9. Electricity
and History 10. How Colors Delight 11. Simple
Harmonic Oscillator Rap 12. To Sir Isaac 13.
The Elements 14. First and Second Law
http//physics.dickinson.edu/wp_web/wp_songs.html
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M A S S I V E?Math And Science Songs
The MASSIVE database contains information on
over 2000 science and math songs. Some of these
songs are suitable for 2nd graders others might
only appeal to professors. Some are quite
silly others are downright serious.
http//www.science-groove.org/MASSIVE/ Massive
Radio channel on Live365.com
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Outline

• Particle Physics Songs
• EM and Light Songs
• Astronomy Songs.

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Part 1 Particle Physics Songs
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Matter and substructure
10-10 m
10-14 m
10-15 m
10-18 m
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Birth of the Bubble Chamber
In 1952 Donald Glaser invented the bubble
chamber, a device that shows the path of
particles and high-energy interactions as a line
of bubble trails. It was a basic component of
almost all high-energy physics experiments in the
mid 20th century, and was the instrument of
detection of many strange new particles and
phenomena. For this invention, Glaser received
the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics.
http//www.case.edu/menu/sciencecenter/nobel_laure
ates.htm
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Birth of the Bubble Chamber
by Arthur Roberts of the University of Chicago
http//www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/rober
ts/1985/roberts1985.htm
http//socrates.berkeley.edu/phylabs/pictures/bbc
_3.jpg
http//esmane.physics.lsa.umich.edu/wl/cern/hst/20
06/20060705-umwlcd0004-04-jones/real/f001.htm
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Some People Dont Know Where to Stop!
Arthur Roberts
Mesons
Baryons
The Particle Zoo
http//www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/rober
ts/1985/roberts1985.htm
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The Standard Model
http//particleadventure.org/particleadventure/fra
meless/generations.html
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Things made out of quarks
Hadrons
Mesons (2 quarks normal anti) ?, ?, K
Baryons (3 quarks) Heavy particles. p, n, ?, ?,
?, ?
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Baryons
Charge
Proton p uud Neutron n udd
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Quark Sing-a-Long
Written and sung by Lynda Williams, The Physics
Chanteuse, Cosmic Cabaret
http//www.scientainment.com/songs.html
(refrain) Up, Down, Charm, Strange, Top and
Bottom! The World is made up of Quarks and
Leptons! Up, Down, Charm, Strange,Top and
Bottom! Yum! Yum! Quarks come in six
flavors They live in families of two. Up Down,
Charm Strange, Top and Bottom! They come in
anti-flavors too! Each family makes a
generation between which is a mass gap. The up
quark is the lightest and the top quark is the
most fat! The second and third generations do
not live for very long. That's why everything in
the Universe is made up of Ups and
Downs! (refrain)
Quarks carry a color charge. They come in red,
green and blue. You'll never see a quark all by
itself cuz they stick together with a strong
force glue. Quarks carry electric charge. A
fraction of electricity. Quarks combine together
so the total charge is a multiple of unity! An
up, up down makes a proton for a total charge of
plus one. A down, up, down makes a DUD
neutron! Physics is so much YUM YUM
PHUN! (refrain)
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Part 2 EM and Light Songs
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The Freaky Wave
?
http//www.scientainment.com/shopcd.htm
Written and Performed by Lynda Williams Ocean
Wave, Sound Wave, Light Wave, Shock Wave, Radio
Wave, Microwave, Heat Wave, Brain Wave.... A
wave is a wiggle in space and time like an ocean
wave it moves up and down. Repeating in cycles of
up and down. The up is called the CREST and the
TROUGH is the down. The wavelength is the
distance from crest to crest or trough to
trough. (Into a puddle rain drops drop and
water waves roll off....) A wave carries energy
as it goes. Sound waves make air molecules rock
and roll. To and fro and to and fro, from speaker
to ear that's how they go! Sound waves make air
molecules rock and roll!
The frequency is the rate that sound waves make
air molecules shake! The higher the freq the
higher the pitch and the faster the molecules
twitch! The bigger the bell the longer the
wavelength and the slower the air shakes! The
smaller the bell the shorter the wavelength and
the faster the air shakes! Tune into my
frequency and do the freaky wave with me! Sound
waves make me rock and roll! Up and down and to
and fro! Microwaves cook your casserole making
water molecules rock and roll! Wave it up! Heat
it up! Eat it up! Physics! Mmmmmmmmmm.... Yum!
Yum!
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What medium does light travel through?
The Ether Song, Walter Smith and Marian McKenzie
http//www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/ether
.htm
My name is Michelson, Albert Michelson. Long ago
I was full of pride -- I thought I knew just
what I wanted -- Thought I could find it and
more beside. Refrain Ether, ether,
luminiferous ether, Ether, ether, whered you
go? I found a partner, a physics partner.
Edward Morley was his name. We set out to
measure the ether. We set out to find our fame.
(Refrain)
The harder we measured, the less we found it. It
was supposed to be all around. We finally
published, though we didnt want to -- We
finally said it could not be found.
(Refrain) So gather ye students, ye physics
students, Now that youve heard my tale of how
I spent a lifetime searching for the ether-- I
couldnt find it, its your turn now. (Refrain)
Disclaimer While it took decades for Michelson
to accept the results of his famous experiment,
it would be wrong to think that he languished in
obscurity. He is widely regarded as one of the
most skillful experimental physicists ever, and
received the Nobel prize in 1907.
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Maxwell to the rescue!
Maxwells Equations in a Vacuum http//www.scienta
inment.com/songs.html Linda Williams
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Doppler Shifting
http//www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtml
AstroCappella Susan cruisin' down the freeway
doing seventy-eight (go speed racing, go
speed racing) She just likes to drive fast, it's
not that she's late (no tail-gating, no
tail gating) Goes over a hilltop and what a
surprise (too late sister, you're in for
it now) Blue and red flashing lights right in
front of her eyes Nee
nee nee nee nee nee nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
nah Now Susan's standing
by the side of her car (show me your
licence, you're in big trouble) Trucks blowing
right by her but she's not going far
(they're still cruisin', Susan's losin') She's
been caught by a speed trap, and now she can
hear (here comes the physics, you're in
for it now) Sound of the Doppler Shift right in
her ear Eeeeeeeeeeeeee-owwwwwwwwww
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Doppler Shifting
http//www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtml
That's the Doppler Shift - you've heard it I
know Doppler Shift - first it's high then it's
low The good cop's gun shoots out only radar And
the beam bounces back off bad Susan's car And
assuming the policeman is standing in range His
gun tells him all about the frequency change Then
Susan's walking, walking Her speed racing days
are done They're light years away, man, and
that's pretty far (lightspeed's the
limit, the big speed limit) But there's plenty we
can learn from the light of a star (split
it with a prism, there's little lines in it) By
looking at the spectrum at the light that's
glowing (wavelengths of emission,
measured with precision) Its Doppler Shift will
tell us if it's coming or going
Doo doo doo doo doo-ooo That's the
Doppler Shift - you see it, it's true Doppler
Shift - to the red or the blue
http//www.astro.ucla.edu/wright/doppler.htm
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Doppler Shifting
http//www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtml
When a star is approaching and it's coming our
way Its spectrum seems bluer, won't you hear what
I say And when a star's retreating way out of
range And the scientist measures its frequency
change Well that's a redshift, redshift If the
star is moving away By reading Doppler Shifts of
all we see in the skies (clusters of
galaxies, near and far) We get the big picture
and a big surprise (redshifts going,
redshifts going) The Universe is growing and
expanding away (galaxies are speeding,
speeding away) But maybe gravity will shrink it
back some day
Owwwwwwwwwwwww-eeeeeeeeeee

Doppler Shift - to the red or the blue Doppler
Shift - and our shift's overdue Now blueshifts
come and redshifts go And that's pretty much
everything you need to know Now we're gonna pick
up Susan and give her a ride So you guys remember
Doppler, and you drive to survive And now we're
shifting, shifting And our Doppler song is done
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Part 3 Astronomy Songs
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High Energy Groove
Chorus X Rays, Gamma Rays, high energy Hot
stars, heavy stars, high density Quasars, black
holes, supernovae Powerhouses lighting up the
Galaxy Flashing, bursting, pulsing objects we
could see If we had X-ray eyes, if we had X-ray
eyes Going up the spectrum,
repeat after me Radio, infrared, visible, UV Keep
going all the way what do you see? That's X-rays,
gamma rays, high energy An X-ray photon has a
high frequency Which means a shorter wavelength
than you could ever see X-rays come from various
processes Like a cloud of gas above about a
million degrees Or magnetic fields that send
electrons swarming like bees Or even neutron
stars emitting like black bodies And you get
X-rays from star stuff that came near to and
fell Into a black hole's gravitational potential
well
http//www.astrocappella.com/groove.shtml
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If we flew above the atmosphere and looked out at
the skies And if we could do it with X-ray
eyes We'd see more flashing and popping than you
realize Objects winking on and off like
fireflies The X-ray sky isn't calm and quiet It's
more like a rockin' high energy
riot (Chorus) X-rays can show you the roots of
your teeth Shine them through your body see the
bones underneath But don't go thinking that we
X-ray the stars 'Cause they're billions of miles
away, much too far! We collect all the X-rays
that they send to Earth Telling tales of star
death, giving hints of star birth
Here's a story of a pair of stars called
Cygnus X-1 One's a black hole many times the mass
of the Sun With a disk of gas surrounding it,
spiralling in Sucked from the companion star's
outermost skin We see the high-speed flickering
as star stuff flies in A one way trip beyond the
event horizon
http//sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?
fobjectid32700
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A cosmic lighthouse flashes in space It's an
X-ray pulsar with a regular pace A neutron star
30 miles around at best Spinning 'round its axis
once a second or less Then way beyond the Milky
Way the active galaxies Are the furthest biggest
things our X-ray eyes can see
Point your X-ray specs toward the Sun's
location You'll notice that along with its slow
rotation You'll see active loops and plasma
arcs In a solar dance producing X-ray sparks The
X-ray Sun isn't serene and smooth It's a dynamic
and changing High Energy Groove (Chorus)
http//glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/public/science/pulsars.
html
http//www.solarviews.com/raw/sun/xsun.jpg
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Grote Reber by Paul Shuch
http//www.qsl.net/n6tx/poetry/setisong/reber.htm
Grote submitted his results for peer review To
the Astrophysics Journal, though he knew That
without a Ph.D. they'd be skeptical, but he Would
be vindicated in a year or two. Every
astrophysics expert had his say. They rejected
Reber's radio Milky Way, For the signals he
depicted very clearly contradicted Every
cosmologic theory of the day. Now Grote Reber he
was never one to mope, And he always could
maintain a sense of hope. As the generations
passed, he acquired an image vast As the father
of the radio telescope.
A radio ham in Wheaton, Illinois, Grote Reber he
was quite a busy boy When he built himself a dish
'bout as big as you could wish And he showed the
world that it was not a toy. Reber's mother was
a teacher, and Miss Grote, On occasion taught a
juvenile of note. One who never gave her trouble
was the brilliant Eddie Hubble, And that surely
was an influence on Grote. Reber pointed his
antenna at the sky, And as countless
constellations drifted by He recorded in dB all
the signals he could see And became the first to
map the Milky Wye.
http//adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/mw/mmw_images.html
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Doing the Supernova Bounce
Kepler's Supernova Remnant
by Arthur Roberts
http//www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/rober
ts/1985/roberts1985.htm
http//chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/kepler/index
.html
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M A S S I V E?Math And Science Songs
The MASSIVE database contains information on
over 2000 science and math songs. Some of these
songs are suitable for 2nd graders others might
only appeal to professors. Some are quite
silly others are downright serious.
http//www.science-groove.org/MASSIVE/ Massive
Radio channel on Live365.com