Tag Archives: Physics for the Coffee Table

Physics for the Coffee Table – Quiz # 7 – Seven Winners!

4 December, 2013 · by · in Physics For The Coffee Table · 7 Comments

Situation I had the privilege last week to address a large audience at the Royal Aeronautical Society at the Engineering School at Cambridge University in the UK.   (click here for more information). The next morning Dr Hugh Hunt (Department of Engineering) showed my son Alexander and I around the Trinity College and the Trinity Clock Tower. We […]

PFTCT – Quiz # 6 – No Winners This Week!

15 April, 2013 · by · in Physics For The Coffee Table, Richard de Crespigny, Technical · 20 Comments

Question # 6 See also:   Physics for the Coffee Table (PFTCT) Situation A major city (population 5 million) is planning to build a new airport at a new location inside the city.  Two sites are proposed: one beside the ocean and one twenty kilometers  inland from the ocean. Consider the noise levels originating from aircraft […]

Physics for the Coffee Table

10 January, 2013 · by · in Physics For The Coffee Table, Richard de Crespigny · Leave a comment

About Physics for the Coffee Table Richard wrote a book in the late 1980s called “Physics For the Coffee Table”  (PFTCT). The book (or series of books) consisted of many seemingly basic questions about day to day events that had counter-intuitive answers. The book was inspired by a remarkable physicist by the name of Professor Julius Sumner […]

Slingshot Effect (QF32 p 346)

22 August, 2012 · by · in Back Stories, Big Jets Book, Technical, Technical Crew · Leave a comment

Editor’s Note I am pleased that this topic has generated much discussion in the pilot community.      Few readers understand if and why the Slingshot Effect exists which makes this topic is even more interesting.      Question QF32 reader John Reid asks: “The QF32’s appendix includes A380 specifications.   There is a statement […]