When Steve Gardos '98 asked whether I had ideas for a project he could pursue during the spring semester of his senior year, I did not imagine that my answer would have pedagogical implications for a generation of physics students at Nobles. Though neither Steve nor I knew much about basic electronics, I suggested that he attempt to do some high-speed, stop-action photography by building sound and light-activated triggers that could operate a camera flash in the dark, with the shutter of the camera held open. These triggers would allow Steve to more closely examine physical events that last for extremely brief periods of time. The notes in Steve's project journal that spring ran the gamut from frustrated to intrigued to curious to positively gleeful. Steve's work ultimately resulted in his capturing on film (using a sound-activated flash trigger) the structure assumed by a film of cornstarch powder lining the inside of a balloon membrane moments after the balloon ruptured.

It occurred to me that it would make sense for subsequent physics students to continue Steve's work. For the past seven years, during the spring semester of Advanced Projects, students have studied "What Happens" when ... water balloons are ruptured by high-speed projectiles, BB's are fired from air-powered pellet guns into fish tanks, stretched rubber membranes are struck by high-speed paintballs, glass shatters, corn pops, fast-moving racquetballs strike rigid surfaces, and hockey players make slapshots.

I imagine that these students have learned as much as they would in a course that approached physics with a more traditional pedagogical approach, and probably much more. We will continue pursuing the high-speed project in the Advanced Projects course for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, in the words of Kate Harrington and Reggie Farina (both N '00), who studied rupturing water balloons: "If anyone in AP Bio is wondering about the loud noises coming from the physics lab or the water dripping through the ceiling, we have an explanation."

Displayed in this gallery is a selection of the more striking images that students have captured on film in the lab in recent years. If you have questions about technical aspects of the work or wish to request permission for publication, please contact: Chris Pasterczyk or David Strasburger. Meanwhile, enjoy looking!


Please click on thumbnails to view larger images and descriptions.

Balloon Shock	Glitter Arrow	Fishy Fyziks
Bazooka Blast	Bazooka Science	Complementarity
Balloon Shock 2	Flexmaster 2	Slapshot Science
Squash	Got Coke?	Got Fish?
Supercavitation	If You Can’t Stand the Heat	Jimmy Crack Corn
Painted Arrow	Red Eye Flight	Sound in Starch
Pellet Dagger	Rat Trap 101	Refracted Ballistics
Got Milk?	Splish Splash	What a Pane
Explosion in Silk	Cornstarch Chaos	Glitter Fandango
7th Inning Stretch	Cervix Effect	Cervix Effect 2
Shattered Splendor