Drexel Professor Develops Physics Teaching App For Art Museum
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- You can learn about physics while on a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art thanks to a free new app developed by a Drexel University professor.
The new iPad app is called Physics at the Art Museum. It's designed to focus on physics principles at four different areas of the museum.
Mary Jo Grdina, an associate clinical professor at Drexel's School of Education, developed the application.
"We look at the Calder mobile, it's an example of rotational equilibrium and torque," she says. "We look at arms and armor, we look at swords and we see where the center of mass of a sword is is very critical to how it could be wielded. And then we look at the statue of (Roman Goddess) Diana and see if she shoots her arrow in an example of (Isaac) Newton's first law, which way would she fall?"
The final area involves paintings and how the human eye absorbs and reflects color.
The app is aimed towards middle school and high school students. It can be downloaded for free by going to the iPad's app store.