Physics, Fun and Beyond (4A23, 4A14)

Date: 27/02/2018

Title: Physics – Fun and beyond

Author: Eduardo de Campos Valadares

Publisher: Pearson Education

Do you like doing experiments? If yes, I’m sure this book, “Physics – Fun and beyond” written by Eduardo de Campos Valadares can inspire you with many innovative ideas. This book introduces numerous simple and low-cost experiments which involved principles closely related to our daily life. By reading this book, you can build up your physics concepts and explore many others by yourselves.

This book is composed of 5 different parts: mechanics, light, atoms, sound, and electricity. You might think that the experiments are totally unrelated as they are separated into different areas. However, it is just an illusion. Science is without boundaries and the principles behind the experiments are actually interrelated.

In the beginning of this book, the author introduced the details of some typical tools in doing experiments, such as clamps, electric drill. Afterwards, different experiments are thoroughly introduced. Step-by-step guides were given so that you may set up the apparatus and do the experiments by yourselves. Some fun facts about the experiments were also provided as a follow-up. They let you to go one step further and think deeper about it. For some experiments, alternative guides are also provided to recommend further investigations about the experiments.

One of the experiment I liked the most is called “Stepping On Eggs”. It is to investigate how pressure can be put on eggs without breaking them. In this experiment, an egg is placed upright between two egg carton parts. A bottle filled with sand is then placed above the egg. Amazingly, the egg did not break. But if the egg is placed horizontally, it breaks easily. The same phenomenon happens to a plastic bottle. When we press the top and the bottom of a plastic bottle, it is not easy to deform it. But if we apply forces sideways, the shape of the plastic bottle changes greatly. This phenomenon is explained by the book. The top and the bottom of eggs and plastic bottles are more “structured” than their sides. Therefore when forces are applied to the top of an egg, it will not break easily. In addition, the book states that, the reason explained above can also be applied to the case when a chick hatches. Chicks came out of the eggshells through the sides because the structure of there are relatively weak.

I have learnt a lot after reading this book. This book enhanced my creativity and encouraged me to design my own experiments. And the most important thing is, never give up. When we do an experiment, we may fail in the beginning. Instead of giving up, we should find out the reason behind and fix it. I wish you will like this book too. Thank you for listening.