PHYSICS OF THE HOUSEHOLD
CONTENTS HUMAN PROBLEM HUMAN EYE THE CIRCULATION OF BLOOD A HUMAN AS A HEATER HUMAN WALK MACHINES MICROWAVE OVEN DEFIBRILLATOR PET SCANNER INDUCTION MOTOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES AIR CONDITIONER MOTION OF A CAR AIRPLANE AND HELICOPTER ROCKET GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM SPORT HOW FAR CAN ATHLETES JUMP? BUNGEE JUMPING SKI JUMPING DIVING BASKETBALL FOOTBALL TENNIS CONTENTS PROBLEM CUE SPORTS NATURE ALLOMETRY WALKING ON THE SURFACE OF WATER COLORS OF DOVES AND BUTTERFLIES RAINBOW RUNNING AND DRIVING IN THE RAIN RAIN LIGHTNING OCEAN WAVES EARTHQUAKE ENERGY WAR OF THE CURRENTS GREENHOUSE EFFECT WIND TURBINES PIEZOELECTRIC OSCILLATOR SOLAR CELLS MISCELLANEOUS TRAFFIC MEXICAN WAVE BOOMERANG INVISIBILITY SOAP BUBBLES CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE OPENING REFERENCES HUMAN PROBLEM HUMAN EYE HOW DO WE SEE? WHAT KIND OF GLASSES MIGHT WE NEED? WHEN CAN WE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE TWO EYES OF A CAT DURING THE NIGHT? A SCHEMATIC VIEW OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN EYE IS PRESENTED IN FIGURE 1 1 LIGHT RAYS THAT REFRACT AT THE CORNEA AND EYE LENS END UP AT THE RETINA, WHICH PRODUCES NERVE IMPULSES SENT TO THE BRAIN DOWN THE OPTIC NERVE IN A SIMPLIFIED MODEL OF AN EYE, THE CORNEA AND EYE LENS CAN BE REPLACED WITH ONE CONVERGING LENS (CALLED SIMPLY THE LENS IN THE REMAINDER OF THE TEXT) WHILE THE RETINA CAN BE MODELED AS A DISK OF RADIUS R = 1 00 CM, THE AXIS OF WHICH COINCIDES WITH THE OPTICAL AXIS OF FIGURE 1 1 SCHEME OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN EYE: (1) CORNEA, (2) EYE LENS, (3) RETINA, (4) OPTIC NERVE, (5) CILIARY MUSCLES, (6) SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT