Physics Students, Spectators Get Lift From Outside Labwork

A Hawks in Flight Feature

Once more, the rockets flew high over Frisbee Field.

Dr. Kevin Schultz, Physics department chair, brought back his annual Principles of Physics lab, which involves students launching air-pumped rockets across the field.

After inferring the initial velocity of their rocket, each student gets a different launch angle and, based on the angle and their measure of speed, places a red flag where they think their rocket will land.

“Most came within five or six feet of their target,” he says. “It’s not about getting exact results, it’s about getting outside.”

The longest rocket launch was 210 feet, with a launch point at Yager and a landing point right at the edge of The Commons. “We didn’t break any windows,” he jokes. “So we consider it a win.”

The lab was a hit with his students. “Being able to take what we learned in class and apply it, then shoot off the rocket to see if we were right was so much fun,” says Dawson Tupponce ‘23.

“It felt like being a kid again,” says Tina Nguyen ‘24.

And they weren’t the only ones who got a thrill out of seeing the rockets launch. There were plenty of spectators as students and faculty alike stopped to watch the demonstration. “I would do a countdown or yell ‘fire in the hole!’” Schultz says. “Sometimes you have to be a little bit of a carnival barker.”

It’s just one of the many activities that Schultz has lined up for his students. “We have a projectile motion lab where they shoot a ball at me from across the room,” he says. “They determine the velocity, tell me where to stand, and I get a shield out. I used to give out prizes if they could hit me!”

Students also get to launch Hot Wheels cars through loops and over jumps. “We always try to make sure there’s interesting labs,” he says. “That’s how you get students excited to learn.”