Fermi Estimates
This is the number of sheets of paper that can be stacked vertically in 1 km.
10^7
This field of astrophysics studies the nature of the universe.
Cosmology
If you were on a frictionless surface, which direction (e.g. forwards, backwards) do you need to place your steps to move forward?
No possible directions; you need an external force to start moving and your foot is an internal force
The Doc's dog from Back to the Future was named after this famous physicist.
Einstein
This is Dubs’s (our current husky mascot’s) dog breed.
Alaskan Malamute
10^9
Enrico Fermi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 for demonstrating new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation in this branch of physics.
Nuclear physics
You are standing inside a train moving at a constant velocity of 30 m/s relative to the ground. You throw a ball straight upward at 5 m/s relative to yourself. The train is 120 m long, you are standing exactly 37 m from the front of the train, and the ball has a mass of 0.2 kg. Ignoring air resistance, where does the ball land relative to you?
Approximately in your hand (you, the ball, and the train already share the same horizontal velocity)
Christopher Nolan worked hard to ensure a level of scientific accuracy, spending over 100 days simulating a black hole for this movie.
Interstellar
This is the name of the giant cherry tree that stands in the center of Red Square, famous for being one of UW's most photographed trees.
The Red Square Cherry Tree
This is the number of stars a single person can see in ideal conditions.
10^4
This field of physics explores the properties, behavior, and manipulation of light.
Optics
At t=0 seconds, Car A with mass 20 kg is at position (3 m, 10 m) moving in a straight line directly southwest at a constant 15 m/s. Car B with mass 17 kg has an initial position of (+1 m, -9 m) and is moving in a straight line directly northeast at a constant 22 m/s. What are the velocities of Car A and Car B after t=5 seconds?
Car A’s velocity is 15 m/s southwest, and Car B’s velocity is 22 m/s northeast (they did not collide; they’re moving on parallel roads and move at a constant speed)
This is an incredibly successful film based on the biography "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Oppenheimer
This is what students commonly call the giant sculpture in the middle of the Physics & Astronomy buildings.
The Peanut
This is the number of sand grains in all of the beaches on Earth.
10^18
This field of physics had major contributions by people such as Max Plancke, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, and Lise Meitner.
Quantum Mechanics
You place a 200 mL cup of coffee at 90°C and a 500 mL cup of coffee at 50°C exactly 1 inch apart on your desk. Both coffees have a specific heat capacity of 4,180 J/(kg·°C), the density of coffee is approximately 1.0 kg/L, and the room is maintained at 20°C. Q = mcΔT is used to calculate the amount of thermal energy transferred from the hotter coffee to the colder coffee. After the first 10 minutes, how much heat energy was transferred directly between the two cups by conduction?
None; the cups aren't touching, so there is no direct conductive path between them.
In 1976, NASA rolled out its first ever space shuttle. What famous sci-fi space craft was this shuttle named after?
The Enterprise
This specific cherry blossom species was transplanted to the Quad in 1962 and currently takes up the majority of The Quad.
Yoshino
This is the total number of worms (of all varieties) on Earth.
10^20
The law that indicates the irreversibility of natural processes (implying the existence of entropy in a system) comes from this branch of physics.
Thermodynamics
You have just finished your first university physics Multiple Choice Exam and immediately close Canvas. Every question has 4 possible answers, and you guessed on every single one of them. Suddenly reminded of Schrödinger's cat, you refuse to check your grade because, until you look, you don't know whether you got a 95% or a 0%. What is your expected score?
Around 25%. Unfortunately, your exam is not a quantum particle. Not checking Canvas does not put your grade in a superposition.
In Cixin Liu's 3 Body Problem, these subatomic supercomputers are created by taking a proton, expanding into a two dimensional sheet, engraving circuits onto it, and then folding it back into a subatomic particle.
Sophons
This is the name of the giant fountain in the middle of campus that used to be nicknamed “Frosh Pond” because of an old UW tradition for first-year students.
Drumheller Fountain