I.T. to Teacher

For the past few weeks I've been seeing one particular kid in a lot of the classes I've been subbing. He has an interest in physics and seems to be a pretty sharp kid. The physics teacher mentioned him to me one time as the kid who wants to know why the electrons follow the path of least resistance rather than the other path. You may think, "Duh, it's the path of least resistance." Well, he's the type that would want to know how the electrons know that. My kind of kid.

He knows I have a degree in physics so he's been asking me all sorts of questions; the problem is we only have a few minutes between classes to talk about things. It's hard to explain black hole evaporation through quantum tunneling, radiating properties of matter in the accretion disks of black holes, properties of quasars, wave-particle duality, and what makes a supernova go bang in just 3 minutes a day. After we talk I usually get a flash of insight, "Ah, I should have told him about Cherenkov radiation as an example of the speed of light changing depending on the medium!"

I hear you, don't think that I don't. You're thinking, "Cherenkov, wasn't he the guy in Star Trek who was looking for the nuclear wessels?"

It's challenging to try to remember my physics, bring it down to a high school level, and present it all in a few minutes. It sure is fun, though.