Post created by: Titus
For this second physics in media assignment, I decided to write about the movie, October Sky. I chose this movie because of how much physics is integrated throughout the movie. In summary, this movie is about a small-town boy, named Homer, who finds a way to break out of the family coalmining business through rockets. His dad ran the local coalmining business in town and was not in support of Homer’s dream until the very end of the film. Homer takes interest in rockets after receiving a letter from a famous NASA rocket, personnel. His teacher, miss Riley, provided books and tools that give specific calculations on how to build rockets. Homer uses physics to build the rockets with his classmates using calculations that involve measuring distance, time, force, and velocity. With the help of his classmates, and community, he enters into a National Science Fair and wins first place with his rocket model, built from his physics calculations.
Physics is also seen in the film when Homer and his classmates get in trouble by the local police for starting a fire with a lost rocket. Homer did not believe it was their rocket that caused the fire. Instead of believe the local police, he decided to investigate the fire himself. With the help of his classmates, Homer measured the gravity and time at which the rocket launched and landed with the distance. By using physics calculations to investigate the fire starter, he found the location of the fallen rocket. The rocket was too far away from the location of the fire, therefore proving they were innocent. In this scene, they were able to use physics to prove their innocence.
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