Hands-on physics

It was show-and-tell time for the Department of Physics on 28 October when over 300 Grade 11 pupils from 30 of the Peninsula's high schools converged on UCT for the annual Phenomenal Physics afternoon.

The action-packed and hands-on experiments and demonstrations were geared to interest them in careers in the sciences, specifically in physics.

Demonstrations explored the physics of waves (sound and light), fluid mechanics, electricity, magnetism and cryogenics.

The department's Dr Spencer Wheaton said that the afternoon is all about showing, rather than explaining or talking about physics.

He said he hoped that learners had left the event with a greater appreciation of physics as a science, and for the centuries of study and development of theories and technologies that impact on their daily lives - and hence that physics is an exciting and relevant academic pursuit.