The physics of baseball - particularly why it is different in Denver - and the physics of music and sound will be featured in two separate science outreach programs March 15 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The CU Wizards show "Bangs and Whispers: The Physics of Sound and Music" is scheduled at 9:30 a.m. March 15 in Duane Physics, room G1B30. At 2 p.m., the Saturday Physics Show "Physics of Baseball at a Mile High" also will be held in G1B30.
Both shows are free and open to the public. CU Wizards programs are geared to students in grades five through nine, while the Saturday Physics Series targets high school students, teachers and adults.
During the CU Wizards show "Bangs and Whispers: The Physics of Sound and Music," CU-Boulder physics Professor Steven Pollock will explore and explain the physics behind an array of sounds and musical instruments. The sounds of gongs, guitars, popping balloons and cracking bullwhips all will be investigated during the show.
Later, Professor John Bohn of JILA, a research institute jointly operated by CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, will discuss the physics behind the flight of a baseball and the changes that altitude can make. Bohn also will talk about the possible effects that storing balls in a humidor has on pitching and batting.
For more information about CU Wizards, call 303-492-5011 or visit the Web site at www.colorado.edu/physics/Web/wizards/cuwizards.html, and for more information about the Saturday Physics Series call 303-735-5993 or visit www.colorado.edu/physics/Web/Saturday/index.html.