Gravity...the movie

Mon. March 24 and Tues. March 25

While I was off backpacking on the Olympic Coast with the outing club, students watch the recent Oscar winning movie (for best director Alfonso Cuaron), Gravity. The physics of the movie is pretty amazing but of course, they couldn't get everything right. Here is a link to a pretty good summary of some of the inaccuracies of the movie in terms of physics: Washington Post. Overall I would like students to focus on the movement of the astronauts as they traveled through space illustrating Newton's three laws...
1.  An object in motion, stays in motion...Sandra Bullock keeps moving and spinning.
2.  The net force on an object produces an acceleration proportional to its mass...a small thrust from George Clooney's jet pack produced a small change in motion.
3. Forces exert equal and opposite reactions on each other. When Sandra used the fire extinguisher she was propelled in the opposite direction of the force of the ejected material.

Here is an interesting video about the behind-the-scenes making of the movie. Try watching it in different browsers because sometimes it starts and stops a lot. I hope you enjoyed seeing the movie!