OH what a fun chance you have to explore the world of physics and
theatre!
Here are a few suggestions from things that I have found fun/possible:
Lights:
Light in general is a form of Electromagnetic radiation. So it needs no meduim to travel through. So through some
fog in the
theatre and explain how you can see the light now because it is going through a medium now (in this case gas)
Color theory: showing how you can create white light with
RGB lights. You can also show (with the right equipment) color mixing. This is all about waves
Optics: show them a
Leko inside and explain how a lamp with no
Ellipsoidal mirror the light goes everywhere but with it you can increase the amount of light you have by a huge factor.
Take that same
Leko and put a
gobo in it and focus it. This shows the nature of lenses and how they work
Show them a
Fresnel and explain how light diverges with this type of
instrument and explain the difference.
If you are REALLY passionate about this I would also have a tub of water to shoot through and show interference and how that changes the nature of the light.
Newtonian Physics:
LOADS of fun examples
A fly
system that works on a single or double
purchase system can be used for friction, forces at work (and the diagrams that go with that) and elasticity. This can also be used for Vectors. If you have any spare sheaves and blocks you can explain mechanical advantage and how it works. if you can secure this you could lift something REALLY heavy (or a person if you can rig it safely).
If you have J bar you can explain how a Fulcrum works. This also covers the law of Torque but you can do that with a wrench and a
bolt just as easily.
Pendulum: This one is a little scary but it WILL work if done right. Hang a object from a rope.
pick up the object and bring it to your
face; (allow it to touch your
face)then let it go. It will go down,
swing up the other way and come back at you. It will STOP about half an inch before touching the person who let it go. You MUST NOT GIVE THE OBJECT ANY FORCE. Simply let it go. It freaks everyone out but it's really cool
and if you are REALLY crazy (I did this one with my dad when I was a kid) try this one on waves.
Take a pipe (about and inch or 2 wide and about 3 to 5 ft long) secure it to the
ground and cap one end with a nipple that can attach to a can of some sort of
flammable gas. Take the other end and attach it a
speaker (Make sure its got a O ring it so it's secure and gas cannot
escape). On the pipe drill holes (maybe pencil wide in diameter) and space every 2 to 3 inches down the entire pipe.
Here is where this gets fun:
Fill the pipe with gas and light the gas. It should look like a row of birthday candles or a menorah. Now if you
play ANYTHING through that
speaker it will dance and match the wave nature of the sound. If you have an oscilloscope you can make a standing sin wave. The flame will
bend and form it.
We did this once for a physics class in our garage and even though I lost all the hair on my
hand and a good part of my arm it was AWESOME. I don't recommend this for just anywhere BUT it will be the remembered.
I hope this helped some. My father taught physics and was our qusi TD in high school. We loved doing things like this for classes and there is a TON more if you are willing to do some
leg work first. If you want more let me know.
Best of luck,
GBTimex