Physics 55: Welcome Professor Henry Greenside

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Physics 55 WelcomeProfessor Henry Greenside

• Please get a copy of the two-page handout.
• Write down the URL of the course web page
• http//www.phy.duke.edu/hsg/55

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The Players

• Mr. Nigel Barrella, observation assistant. He
  will email you about telescope assembly this
  week.
• Mr. Botao Bo Jia, teaching assistant. Will be
  grading your assignments.
• Myself as the orchestral conductor.

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Administrative Details of the Course

• Announcement webpage.
• Syllabus
• First homework introduce yourself.
• Night observation sessions
• Class recitation when?
• First quiz a week from Friday, Sep 9.
• Come to class on time!

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A Modest Amount of Math
Really.
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Advice

• Freshmen balance your workload, dont fall
  behind in the readings.
• Engineers, scientists, and mathematicians this
  course is harder than it looks, much conceptual
  thinking even if math is not advanced.
• Poets, musicians, artists, philosophers,
  linguists, politicians many of your ilk excel in
  this course.
• Dont be shy of asking for help at any time.

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Bring PRS Transmitter, CalculatorTo Each Class!
Email your transmitter number to the TA, Botao
Jia, by this Friday!
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Example PRS Question(From Texas standardized
test for 5th graders)

• Which two planets are closest to Earth?
• Mercury and Jupiter.
• Mars and Jupiter.
• Venus and Mars.
• Mercury and Mars.
• I have no idea.

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Example In-class Group Question

• Given our current rocket technology that can
  achieve speeds of about 50,000 km/hr, estimate
  how about how long it would take the human race
  to colonize the entire Milky Way.

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Questions?
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The Pep Talk Why Take 55?
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The Course In A Nutshell

• The universe is ancient.
• The universe is huge.
• The universe is evolving.
• The universe is violent.
• The universe is mysterious.
• The universe is fascinating.
• The universe is comprehensible.

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The Night Sky
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Interesting People
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Tools and Concepts How Do We Know What We Know?
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
47 Ursae Majoris
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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1994d White Dwarf Supernova in Galaxy NGC 4526
Distance 15 Mpc
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Crazy Wonderful Discoveries
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Crazy Neat Ideas

• Einsteins ideas of time dilation, length
  contraction, mass enhancement.
• Black holes what is inside?
• The Big Bang.
• Gutts idea of inflation.
• String theory.

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Mysteries

• Where did the universe come from?
• Matter-antimatter asymmetry.
• What is the dark matter and dark energy that
  makes up 95 of the mass?
• Does life exist elsewhere? Why have we not seen
  any evidence?
• What is reality made of, strings?
• Numerical mysteries and the anthropological
  hypothesis.

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Most Important Lesson From 55
The Universe is Comprehensible!