From kor2@midway.uchicago.edu Mon Apr 30 11:45:33 2001
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 03:43:58 GMT
From: P. Korda <kor2@midway.uchicago.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan
Subject: Re: TAN: That's _Professor_ OilCan to You, Punk

In article <98tqd0$31g@llama.swcp.com>, The Jimster <jimhill@swcp.com> wrote:

>Dr. Extinguisher-cart also demonstrated the ObPendulum.  You know, raise
>a pendulum to some height, let it go with zero initial velocity, and the 
>height will never be higher than that at time zero because of energy
>conservation.  He did this by hanging a heavy ball of metal about the
>size of a softball from a very long cable (high-ceilinged lecture hall).
>Took a student from the front row, put him against the wall held the
>ball up right in front of his face, and let go. As it traversed its
>long, slow arc across the room and back, he calmly discussed the
>implications of energy conservation and pendula.  Watching the student 
>try to squeeze his head into the wall as this large, heavy ball came 
>toward him was priceless.

Ooh, bad demo. Exposes school to lawsuit (and professor to dismissal)
if student is a dumbass, moves his head, and gets his head caved in by
the bowling ball.  Best way to do this demo is for the professor to be
the one standing in the path of the ball-o-doom.

And really, it's more entertaining, er, instructional, if the
professor is risking his own life.

-pam