Several years ago a chaperone on a school field trip to SLAC (The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) asked if there was any danger from radiation on the tour. The answer was “No more than background.” Citing that obvious danger, the chaperone got back on the bus and refused to go in. That’s about as extreme an example of misplaced fear coming from a misunderstanding of physics concepts as one can imagine, and not all misunderstandings of physics concepts lead to fear, of course. Nonetheless, the word ‘radiation’ seems to generate fear more than any other. Some is justified. Much is not. The instructor will show what physicists mean by the word radiation and attempt to alleviate misplaced fear regarding 5G and nuclear energy, and instead instill fear regarding tanning salons. After that he will talk about other misunderstood physics concepts as time permits such as entropy, Schrödinger's Cat, and The Uncertainty Principle. We'll decide based on what most interests the class.
NOTE: Two sections of this course are being offered at the same day/time as a hybrid: one on Zoom and one in-person. Please register for and attend either the online or in-person section.