Bad Physics
in Newspapers, Magazines and Literature

The site created and maintained by Dr. Mikolaj "Mik" Sawicki,
Professor of Physics, John A. Logan College, Carterville, IL 62918, USA.
Copyright © 2001 Mikolaj "Mik" Sawicki. All rights reserved.

This site has been featured in the January 2002 issue of The Physics Teacher

This web site discusses popular physics misconceptions found in newspapers, magazines and literature. Bad physics that inundates Internet is not addressed here due to a sheer magnitude and a fleeting character of a nonsense posted there.  Other excellent web sites keep track of
Bad Science, Bad Movie Physics and Bad Astronomy. Contributions from readers are welcome, and should be mailed to the address given above.

Credits

I would like to thank the following people who generously contributed to this site:
                Dr. Barron Arenson, Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona.
                Dr. Sean M. Cordry, Department of Natural Science, York College, York, Nebraska.
                Bob Devantery, Winnacunnet High School.
                Robert D. English, John A. Logan College, Carterville, Illinois.
                R. Gerharz, US Army, Night Vision Lab, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
                Dr. Richard R. Hake, Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
                Dr. Mike Howard, Conoco Inc. - Deepwater GOM (special thanks for detailed comments.)
                Toby D. Jones, London, England.
             Thomas David Kehoe, Casa Futura Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.   
                Terese Keogh, Freeport Public Schools, Freeport, New York.
                Dr. J.J. Leigh, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
                Pawel Sawicki, Carbondale, Illinois.
                Chris Stevenson, Fairfax, Virginia.
                Dr. Virgil E. Stubblefield, John A. Logan College, Carterville, Illinois.
                Dr. James Watson Jr., Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
                Ian G. Whittaker, Eyemouth, Scotland.

Contents
Inertia
   Marilyn vos Savant on two bullets.
   Marilyn vos Savant on falling into a tube through a center of Earth.
   Associated Press (AP) on a jumbo jet hitting turbulence.
   Associated Press (AP) on expansion of Universe.
   Funky Winkerbean cartoon strip.
   Frederick Forsyth on two cars negotiating a curve.
   Michael Crichton on two cars negotiating a curve.

Gravity
  Shooting a lay-up, hang time and Michael Jordan.
  A speed of gravity.

Satellites and Weightlessness
  The Southern Illinoisan on gravity.
  Sky & Telescope on orbiting objects.
  Marilyn vos Savant on weightlessness.
  The Arizona Republic on launching a space shuttle.
  Associated Press (AP) on falling satellites.

Gravity and Tides
  Marilyn vos Savant on tides in a human body.
  The Miami Herald on tides in a human body.
  Arnold L. Lieber on tides in a human body.
  The Southern Illinoisan on tides in local lakes.

Astronomy
  The Associated Press on Christmas Eve full moon.
  U.S. News and World Report on elliptical orbit.
  The Southern Illinoisan on the Oort cloud.
  The Daily Egyptian on the Solar System.
  Planetary motion in Michael Crichton's "Sphere".
  The Associated Press on a solar eclipse.
  Where's Mars, usually?

Optics
  Which color is on a top of a rainbow?
  Marilyn vos Savant on a triple rainbow.
 Truck drivers blinded by lights from vehicles behind.

Magnetism
  Marilyn vos Savant on a north pole of a compass needle.
  Joyce Carol Oates on sheerly diamagnetic impulses.

Radiation and Radioactivity
  Michael Crichton in "Sphere" on radio waves.
  Microwave ovens and sound waves.
  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on anthrax scare and irradiation of mail.
 The Southern Illinoisan on bioterrorism and irradiation of food.

Electricity
  What's the white wire in the dryer plug for?

Plain ignorance
  The Wall Street Journal on Volt and Watt.
  The New York Times on an unit of energy.
  Car stopping distance.
  The Midwest Motorist on roller coasters.
  Advertisement for a lamp delivering 75 watts of light on 13 watts of electricity.
  Advertisement for power tools.

Innumeracy
  Ann Landers on counting  $1 trillion in one-dollar bills.
  The Carbondale Times on securing billions in government business.
  The Southern Illinoisan editorial on $1.5 billion slush fund.
  The Southern Illinoisan on pizza consumption.
  The Denver Post on treating a half a million patients.
  The Arizona Republic on an aging workhorse.
  The Center for Auto Safety on 55 mph speed limit.
  The Family Circle on calculating a speed of thought.
  Amazingly precise casserole.
  Burning calories during everyday activities.
  The Southern Illinoisan on a size of an average single family home.
  Car racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
  Associated Press (AP) on a risk of avalanches.
  The Southern Illinoisan on a tornado.
  The Daily Egyptian on a surface area of a fry.
  Marilyn vos Savant on a pyramid.
 

Last updated December 9, 2004.