The Handy Physics Answer Book - 9781578596959

We don’t need a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to know that everyone is governed by the laws of physics, but what are they? How do the affect us? Why do they matter? What did Newton mean by saying for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction? Which law talks about the conservation of energy? What is Bernoulli’s Principle? Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? How do forces, motion, energy, and inertia interact? How do laws, theories, and hypotheses differ? Physics can often seem complex and complicated, but it need not be so difficult to understand.

Revised for the first time in a decade, the completely updated third edition of The Handy Physics Answer Book makes physics and its impact on us, the world, and the universe fun and easy to understand. It disposes with the mathematical explanations and scientific jargon often associated with physics and instead takes a more conceptual approach—all written in everyday English.

The Handy Physics Answer Book tackles the big issues and concepts, such as gravity, magnetism, sound, and light, and the smaller topics, like why don’t birds or squirrels on powerlines get electrocuted, and makes them fun and enlightening for anyone who picks up this book. For everyone who ever wondered about the sources of energy in the United States, the different varieties of light bulbs, or why it is warmer to wear dark-colored clothes than light-colored ones, Handy Physics examines more than 1,000 of the most frequently asked, most interesting, and most unusual questions about physics, including ...