Nicholas Arnold

Homework 1
May 25th, 2015
Two problems from Fundamentals of Physics: 9th Edition by Jearl
Walker. I found this on a web site where a student was complaining
about their textbook. You can find the post here:
http://imgur.com/gallery/iCz9Qe8

Problem # 85 displays the typical arrogance and condescension that

many people associate with physicists. It is also demeaning to an
entire discipline. Even worse, it is completely unrealistic unless you
accept that the person who has been kidnapped has super powers, like
being able to estimate speed from the whine of an engine, or that you
live in a city where the streets are perfectly laid out in a rectangular
grid (only true in Salt Lake as far as I know). It is exactly the kind of
problem that serves to alienate portions of the classroom, and
perpetuates the stereotype that physicists think they are better than
scientists in other disciplines.
Problem #86 is indicative of the types of errors that Eric Mazur points
out in his lecture. From d1=360 * sin(40) meters= 231 meters ~ 760
feet, it asks the student to believe that aircraft normally travel about
760 feet off the ground, which is illegal in most places, and that

typical radar dishes are about 400 feet tall (based on relative heights
in the diagram), or roughly the height of the Statue of Liberty. Though
this may be true in extreme cases, like the Arecibo radio telescope,
most radar dishes are no bigger than the average automobile. The
really huge ones are usually immobile and do not move, or move VERY
slowly. Solving the problem, the student would find out that the aircraft
travels about 1000 meters linearly. With an antenna radius of
approximately 200 feet ~ 60 meters (based on the dimensions of the
diagram) this means that in order to track the aircraft the radar dish
would have to turn through 120 degrees in about 17 seconds, based on
the average airspeed of a Cessna, which is about 130 mph. (This gets
worse in a hurry if the plane is a 737). This leads to an angular velocity
of roughly 7 degrees a second (or ~ 18 radians a second), which
means the linear velocity of the antenna tip is travelling at roughly
mach 2, which is twice the speed of sound, or about the same speed as
a high-velocity rifle bullet. Not very realistic. Especially coming from
someone who talks down about other disciplines. No wonder students
think their instructors cant relate to the real world.