Nexus beer mats

Hints

How fast would the ping pong ball move?

4 cm/s, 4 m/s, 4 km/s ?

This is a straightforward comparison of the kinetic energy of the ball with the energy of two relativistically moving protons. As a starting help the LHC will be able to accelerate protons up to energies of about 7 TeV each. Why is the result not necessarily what you might expect? Why is this not a particularly good way of showing how powerful the LHC is?

Which can will win the race down the slope?

Think about how the contents of each can behave during rolling. How would this change if other liquids were used? What other factors might affect the behaviour?

What happens if you try to light a candle in weightlessness?

Think about why candles burn on Earth and what happens to a key ingredient necessary for burning. How would the flame look like if the candle lights? What differences are there to burning on Earth under the influence of gravity?

How far does the Sun move from the centre of mass of the solar system?

Think about what might have the largest gravitational effect on the Sun, to simplify your calculation. How significant are other contributions, including the Earth’s pull on the Sun? How does the answer tie in with detecting planets in other solar systems?

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