How I introduced the Law of Universal Gravitation today
My introductory physics class tackled Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation today. Not a terribly difficult subject in a non-calculus-based course, but also one that most of us don't have the equipment to demonstrate. As a result, the topic needed a bit of jazzing up. For those of you who don't have kids obsessed with the musical stylings of Weird Al Yankovic, you may not have heard the song "Pancreas." However, Weird Al, a consummate geek and remarkably funny guy, actually talks about the law in this particular song, extolling the virtues of his pancreas. While all of the lyrics can be found here, and a video can be found here, I directed my class's attention to a couple of stanzas:
...My spleen just doesn't matter Don't really care about my bladder But I don't leave home without My pancreas...
Secreting those enzymes (bap bap bap) Secreting those hormones too Metabolizing carbohydrates Just for me...
My pancreas attracts every other Pancreas in the universe With a force proportional To the product of their masses And inversely proportional To the distance between them
Now that's music. When was Brittany Spears ever that educational?
For those of you who don't share my love of Weird Al, here are a few cool simulation websites. My students earned leftover holiday candy for generating orbits in the last two.
http://www.geody.com/SpaceLander/SpaceLander.php