SEMINAR: The Physics of Bicycles
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Since a spinning bicycle wheel is the canonical example of angular momentum, many physicists believe that angular momentum is important to the stability of a bicycle. However, it has been known for a long time that this is not so; angular momentum plays only a very minor role in maintaining bicycle stability. In this talk, I will describe how one balances and steers a bicycle, and how the bike frame aids stability. I will also discuss the curious fact that one generally turns the bike handlebars to the left when one wants to make a right turn, and vice versa.
Speaker(s) |
Joel Fajans is a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from MIT for a thesis on Free Electron Lasers, and was a post-doc at the University of California, San Diego working on nonneutral plasmas. Since joining Berkeley Fajans has conitniued work on nonneutral plasmas, two-dimensional fluids, nonlinear dynamics. He was a founding member of CERN's ALPHA antihydrogen experiment, and shared the 2011 American Physical Society John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research for his work in this area.
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Location |
Room 2.15, Physics Buidling
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Contact |
John Brookes
<[email protected]>
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Start |
Wed, 26 Jul 2017 12:00
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End |
Wed, 26 Jul 2017 13:00
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Submitted by |
John Brookes <[email protected]>
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Last Updated |
Mon, 24 Jul 2017 09:50
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