CU Wizards work their magic on sports

The 33rd annual CU Wizards series at Duane Physics started off with a bang,
literally on Saturday (Sept. 26). Their first presentation, “Physics of Sports”
covered many different science topics geared toward elementary school kids.

Many Boulder kids and their parents came out to see professors perform
experiments, and more importantly, explosions to explain the science behind
sports.

CU Wizards was founded by Professor Jim Scott in 1976 and has been growing
ever since. The program strives to make science an educational and fun
experience for children of all ages. “This is the time to get those wonderful
minds engaged and thinking about the universe, attracting them to see that
science is something exciting and fun,” said Paul Beale, chair of the physics
department.

The first presentation, “Physics of Sports,” encouraged a lot of participation
from the young audience and explained topics such as angular momentum,
center of gravity and energy. Professors John Bohn and Debbie Jin demonstrated
why figure skaters have to pull their arms in to spin faster, how elasticity can
make a big difference and even how to throw a good curve ball.

The series hosts one show every month, with topics ranging from the physics of
sound to black holes. The next show, “How Math Can Save Your Life,” will be on
October 24 in Cristol Chemistry 142.

“For the kids, it’s nice to have things that they can do. We try to have as many
things volunteers can do, something that everybody can do, and then we let the
kids come down at the end and play with some of the equipment and really see
how it works,” said Jin.

If you want to go to the CU Wizards series, here are the upcoming events:

Sept 26: How Math Can Save You Life (Cristol Chemistry 142)
Oct 24: H2O!!! (Cristol Chemistry 140)
Nov 14: Dec 12: Bangs and Whispers: Physics of Sound and Music (Duane Physics G1B30)

For more information, visit the CU Wizards’ web site:
http://www.colorado.edu/ScienceDiscovery/cuwizards/