ERIC Number: EJ1162301
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
"Einstein's Playground": An Interactive Planetarium Show on Special Relativity
Sherin, Zachary; Tan, Philip; Fairweather, Heather; Kortemeyer, Gerd
Physics Teacher, v55 n9 p550-554 Dec 2017
The understanding of many aspects of astronomy is closely linked with relativity and the finite speed of light, yet relativity is generally not discussed in great detail during planetarium shows for the general public. One reason may be the difficulty to visualize these phenomena in a way that is appropriate for planetariums; another may be their distance from everyday experiences that makes it hard for audiences to connect with the presentation. In this paper, we describe an effort to visualize special relativity phenomena in an immersive "everyday" scenario. In order to bring special relativity to human scale, we simulate a universe in which the speed of light is slower, so that "everyday" speeds become relativistic. We describe the physics and the technical details of our first planetarium show, "Einstein's Playground," which premiered at the Museum of Science, Boston.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Physics, Astronomy, Visualization, Teaching Methods, Museums, Recreational Facilities, Scientific Concepts
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://aapt.scitation.org/journal/pte
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Boston)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A