Smashing Pumpkins

By berghaus (133)

On Halloween, the College of Arts and Sciences physics department hosted its third annual Pumpkin Drop at the Metcalf Science Center. The tradition, which involves dropping pumpkins filled with substances from popcorn to paint onto Metcalf Plaza [...]— 70 feet below — is both a promotional and an educational tool, according to department chair Bennett Goldberg, a CAS professor of physics. "We're interested in exciting the community about physics and seeing gravitation in action," he says. "Additionally, we have recorded the motion of each pumpkin as it fell, demonstrating that it falls at a parabolic trajectory. So there is a learning element for the students."

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http://www.bu.edu/today/node/5658
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