Students can’t see each other’s faces, but as their eyes get used to the darkness, they start to notice small points of light that spread across the inside of the tent. These little lights form figures from Greek mythology, including hunters, princesses, scorpions and whales – this scene is set within a planetarium located on one side of the Great Hall of Instituto Superior Técnico, at Alameda campus, during Physics Week.
From 5 to 9 May, the Physics Students’ Organisation (NFIST) welcomed hundreds of participants, from pre-school to secondary school, for various experimental activities covering topics such as thermodynamics, mechanics, acoustics, plasmas, electricity, magnetism and optics.
The initiative took place in the Main Building, at Alameda campus. This year’s edition also included two new features. On the evening of 8 May, Técnico opened its doors to the families of professors, researchers and school staff, allowing them to participate in the experiments. Additionally, on the weekend of 10 and 11 May, NFIST took science out beyond the campus, to Belém, by transforming the entrance to the Marinha Planetarium into an open-air exhibition showcasing these activities.
Upon exiting the planetarium set up in the Great Hall (after a few laughs and jolts while walking blindly through a “gauntlet” to leave the tent), the group of students from Lisbon had the opportunity to witness various physical phenomena. They observed light bulbs that lit up when balloons were nearby, experienced the dilation of space-time demonstrated with tablecloths, and watched as a ‘capacitor cannon’ shot metal discs through the air by momentarily creating an intense magnetic field.
Diogo, an 11th-grade student and one of the group members, has visited Técnico before. Last year, he participated in a chemistry-related activity held at the institution and since then has developed “a very positive impression of it”. Interested in physics, he watches amusedly as a classmate, standing on a chair and resting one hand on a Van de Graaff generator, has her hair lifted by static electricity. Moments later, her classmates, holding hands, touch her hand, creating a small shock that sends them all into fits of giggles.
According to Inês Alvito, a third-year student in the Undergraduate Programme in Engineering Physics, events like this are “almost a tradition.” Since her first year at Técnico, she has made it a point to participate in Physics Week, leading various activities and experiments. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm for us to get involved, too,” she shares, adding that “Técnico has been a challenging experience” and that “students work very well together.”
The Main Building’s atrium hosts dozens of other students. Here, a weight suspended from a rope attached to the ceiling serves as a demonstration of principles such as the conservation of mechanical energy – in other words, a student dropped the weight from a position close to her face and let it swing the entire length of the space. Noticing that it stopped just centimeters from her face, she didn’t have to turn away.
Like Diogo, Miguel has also been to Técnico before – in addition to meeting people who attend Técnico, he has participated in a materials science activity. “[He knows] it’s a good school, with strong academic recognition”, so much so that he’s considering applying for Mechanical Engineering. He plans to focus on science related to cars, and is already familiar with the Formula Student team at Técnico (FST Lisboa).
The conversation is interrupted when a nearby pipe bursts into flames. This is, of course, a controlled phenomenon—another experiment featured during Physics Week designed to demonstrate the wave nature of sound. With a sound wave produced inside the pipe, which is fed with natural gas, the various holes at the top produce flames of varying heights, illustrating how sound creates areas of compression and rarefaction of the air feeding them. As music plays, the flames rise and fall, as if dancing to the sound of the track.
More than once, an incredulous student has asked, “Is this for real?”. It’s not magic – it’s science in action, performed and explained by Técnico students.
