And they're off!

Thousands of students marched back to class today, and it seems we are not the only ones excited by the start of the new school year. Exploding Beakers asked current University of Calgary student John MacDonald (Father Lacombe, Class of 2006) to reflect back on his high school days:

"One of my favorite moments in high school physics was when my teacher demonstrated what most would call a “hoot” tube. It is basically a tube which you hold overtop of a bunsen burner and a resonant frequency (which corresponds to a wavelength of half the length of the tube) is the result. This experiment peaked my interest into the properties of sound, how it is made and how it propagates through various mediums. This interest later lead to an exploration into the properties of sound absorption in a research paper I wrote in grade twelve. I went to the university in search of information, conducted some laboratory experiments that I came up with myself and came to a solid conclusion about sound absorption in regards to materials used, shape and even how these materials react at various frequencies. It is amazing how a small classroom demonstration can invoke so much interest, that it allowed me to go beyond the scope of the curriculum to discover other aspects of science outside the classroom."