Ogden News

On Tuesday, October 28, the Physics and Astronomy department hosted the second annual Nightmare on Physics Avenue (NOPA) at Kelly Thompson Hall. Guests were greeted by friendly faces in fun costumes, then wandered through the haunting hallways, filled with fascinating and spooky physics demonstrations! Guests were encouraged to wear Halloween costumes, and wore everything from fairy wings to a realistic gorilla suit! With over twenty unique and educational physics demonstrations and activities, guests learned all about concepts such as energy, electricity, sound and light waves, and more! Demonstrations such as "Zap the Prisoner", "Hair-raising Happenings", "Great Balls of Fire"- and others- were popular! Guests were also excited to see Big Red make an appearance at the event and participate in activities and demonstrations alongside them. This is a family-friendly event that is fun and educational for all ages, and we hope to see you at the Nightmare on Physics Avenue next year!

See the information below to learn more about some of the most popular demonstrations and activities featured in this event!

Hair-Raising Happenings - Guests had the chance to touch an electric sphere called a "Van de Graaf generator", which builds up enough electric charge to cause the person's hair to stand up due to the excess electrons spreading out and causing each hair strand to push away from the others. This is a classic physics demonstration that all ages love!

Zap the Prisoner - Guests learned about how a special metal mesh called a Faraday Cage protects a person from an electrical discharge, such as lightning, by using electrostatic shielding. Guests were even given the opportunity to touch the faraday cage with a small tesla coil to create lightning, leaving the staff member inside the cage completely unharmed!

Great Balls of Fire - Guests took part in an intriguing demonstration where they smacked two steel ball bearings together to safely burn a hole through a piece of paper between them, which taught guests about the conversion of kinetic energy into intense heat. This is a safe, fascinating experiment that demonstrates the concept of converting kinetic energy to heat in a simple, visual way!

These are just a few out of many engaging, amazing activities and physics demonstrations at the Nightmare on Physics Avenue!

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event! We hope to see you next year!