(Posted April 7, 2015)

Students from a past Physics Phun Night work with kids on stage. TPhysics Phun Night is at 7 p.m., April 16. in Alumni Hall in BAC.
Students from a past Physics Phun Night work with kids on stage. TPhysics Phun Night is at 7 p.m., April 16. in Alumni Hall in BAC.

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Lauren Bowen, whose first year as Juniata College's provost has been a rush of meetings, classes and planning, will get a chance to relax at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 16, in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Academic Center, when she agrees to lie down on a bed of nails as part of a demonstration of scientific principles at Physics Phun Night.

The event is free and open to the public.

Physics Phun Night's highlight has always been the demonstration showing how the distribution of force over a wide area can lessen the effects of the force. Provost Bowen will demonstrate this principle by allowing James Borgardt, professor of physics, to break a cement block balanced atop the prone provost, with a sledgehammer as she lies on the bed of nails.

Sponsorship of Physics Phun Night, sponsored by the Society of Physics Students, combines entertainment and education for fellow Juniata students and community members.

Other demonstrations will include:

Barrel Crush: Students demonstrate atmospheric pressure by crushing a 50-gallon drum.

Bottle Music: Demonstrators use sound waves to shatter a wine glass and demonstrate resonance using a bottle.

Air Cannon: Physics students use scientific principles to shoot table tennis balls out of a tube.

The Bernoulli Effect & Fun with Toilet Paper: Using household items to demonstrate pressure and flow.

Glowing Pickle: Students will use a pickle to demonstrate conductivity.

Lycopodium Powder: This demonstration illustrates how diffuse powder can ignite.


In all, the students will demonstrate more than a dozen concepts in an entertaining and informative presentation.

The Juniata chapter has more than 20 active members for the 2013-2014 academic year. The student leaders for Juniata's SPS chapter are as follows: Mary Elizabeth Petrie, a senior from Harrisburg, Pa., is president; Alex Debrecht, a senior from Winston-Salem, N.C., is vice president; Bradley Spayd, a senior from Altoona, Pa., is treasurer; is treasurer; and T.J. Hershey, a junior from Willow Street, Pa., is secretary

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.