Physics is Cool by Aerianna Beth Porter
3rd Place - Natural Category
School: Columbus School for Girls
Teacher: Dr. Kevin Sweeney
This photo is of a flowing creek whose surface froze in layers. This particular location was near the bank under a bridge where large rocks about the size of basketballs impacted the flow of the water around it. The shape of the bubbles captured in the ice shows the direction of the current. The slow phase change beautifully displayed how cool physics can occur naturally. The ice formed was about an inch thick, yet each individual frozen layer was about a millimeter thick. The picture was taken from above at a height of about one foot, straight down, nearly perpendicular to the surface in attempt to capture some of the many layers. The overall area captured by the picture is approximately one square foot. The amount of detail and sheer size of this ice bubble formation is what made it so spectacular. What I love about this is the level of variation and uniqueness that can result in physics when you least expect it to. Even things such as phase change that seem so simple can yield a unique, complex result.
