science: physics

I used to believe…

You know when you give someone a piggy-back or shoulder ride and when they get off you get a weird feeling like your arms are lifting up, well I used to think that if I gave a really fat person a piggy-back, when I put them down I'd spring up off the floor and float off.
I always had to hold on to something after I put my friends down.

I used to believe that if I fell over a cliff in a telephone booth that I could safely step out at the last second like Wylie Coyote in Looney Tunes cartoons. Physics changes everything.

I used to believe…

When I was little, not understanding gravity so well I figured that if I wasn't very careful I would fall right off the planet on account of it's constant spinning.

I use to beleave that if a plane was crashing you could save yourself by jumping off just before it hit the ground.

I used to believe…

When I was younger, I had a firm belief that if I ever fell from a high place (i.e. a cliff, skyscraper, etc.) I could simply grab on to something during my fall, or jump off of something right before I hit the ground.

I used to think that if you shone a flashlight beam onto a lightbulb long enough, it would eventually light.

I used to believe that if you dropped a coin on a table and gulped in the air as it fell, that you would be swallowing 'energy' and that this would make you energetic. This is because I had seen a children's science programme on television which said something about energy being 'released' if you dropped a coin.

I spent many frustrating hours believing that if i tried hard enough I could lift myself off the ground with no means of support. I also thought if a lift was plummeting down a shaft you would be perfectly alright if you gave a little jump just before it hit the floor.

I just found out that when I told my son (years ago) that windmills made the wind (they only work when it's windy!), he believed me up until now.

i used to think that if you disconnected your speakers while playing music, the noise would build up inside the wires like water at a dam, and when you plugged them back in the built up sound would all come out at once like a flood.

I remember my first science based thought was based on a survival scenario. If you are a small boat going over a waterfall then you need to crawl to the back, grab hold of the boat and just before you hit the water you jump from the boat. Thus saving yourself from a 100ft fall by making a three foot jump. Ta da.