Top Science and Math Teachers Receive Presidential Award (2 of 2) (IMAGE)

U.S. National Science Foundation

Top Science and Math Teachers Receive Presidential Award (2 of 2)

Caption

Physics teacher William Leacock stages a dramatic demonstration of inertia and distribution of force by lying on a bed of nails while a student smashes a brick with a sledgehammer over Leacock's abdomen. Because of a Belgian block sitting below the brick, there is inertia that resists motion and keeps the student from hurting his teacher. Meanwhile, because Leacock is lying on 1,500 nails, there is not that much force on any one nail, so his back is also unhurt.

Credit

William Leacock

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