Another
school year has passed, and another SYP season has concluded as well.
This year, turnout was at its highest level, with an average of 176
students (!) taking part in each session.
The
topics covered in the nine sessions throughout the season were:
-
Deconstruction of popular urban myths with physics
-
The physics of sound
-
Radioelectronics
-
Astronomy and cosmology
-
Simple mechanisms
-
Electromagnetism
-
The role of numerical solutions in physics
-
Geophysics
-
General and special theory of relativity
A
look back to the first four sessions is already online,
so let’s delve more into the second half of the season.
SYP
7-5 (simple mechanisms)
In
this session, students were given a comprehensive (and modern) look
at simple mechanisms and their role in our everyday lives. The
message that work cannot be conserved was hammered down multiple
times – especially in the experimental part, where students
experimented on various ways how to drive a screw and found that the
work done is always the same.
SYP
7-6 (electromagnetism)
This
time, a strong emphasis was put on the phenomenon of electromagnetic
induction – students were thoroughly introduced to it in the
popular lectures, then built an induction motor with their own hands
in the practical section. This gave a good, intuitive understanding
on how alternating current can be obtained. Afterwards, a UL
professor told everyone the basic idea of why Earth has a magnetic
field, explaining the underlying concepts of magnetohydrodynamics.
SYP
7-7 (numerical physics)
In
an untraditional session, we let students see that not all problems
in physics can be solved analytically. Students were introduced to
Euler’s method, which is never touched upon in any high-school
curricula. Armed with this knowledge, they did an experiment with a
ball bearing falling in oil and compared actual terminal velocity
results with those obtained numerically. To conclude, a specialist
who does numerical calculations for engineering companies
professionally explained his line of work to students, giving a new
look at what a physicist can do in his career.
Terminal
velocity experiment prepared for students to compare numerical
solutions to actual results
SYP
7-8 (geophysics)
This
session was an interdisciplinary one – geology and physics were
combined to demonstrate how and why Earth looks and acts like it
does, and how humans engineer bridges to withstand heavy loads. This
was also tested in the practical part, with students building
increasingly stronger sand structures and loading them until
collapse. The final lecture was also given by a PhD in geology from
the Faculty of Geology and Earth Sciences, detailing his everyday
work and how important a role physics takes in it.
SYP
7-9 (theory of
relativity)
To
cap off a tremendous season, students undertook the daunting task of
understanding Einstein’s relativity. The season closer was a
success, with an intro into STR and GTR in the popular lectures, then
using an elastic membrane to simulate the bending of spacetime in the
experimental part, and, finally, prof. Kaščejevs
(who is a student favorite) giving a lecture on gravitational waves.
Students
observing a model of spacetime curvature
Additionally,
the 2nd School Cup was awarded at the end of the season. This year,
Aizkraukle Regional gymnasium’s team “Re, kā!” were the
winners. They took away the main prize; second and third place also
received prizes, as did the students that performed best throughout
the season.
More
details are available on our main homepage www.jfs.lv (in Latvian).
