News

Angry Birds. Discuss

The Western New York State Physics Teachers’ Alliance uses Angry Birds to poses physics conundrums

| Jun 20, 2011

| Angry Birds

Angry Birds is commonly referred to as a physics-based game (primarily because it is). According to the Western New York State Physics Teachers’ Alliance (WNYSPTA), this means it's a suitable physics teaching tool.

There are some who would claim that teaching physics with Angry Birds clips represents dumbing down. Not being able to comprehend the questions posed by WNYSPTA, nor therefore to distinguish them from proper questions in a textbook, we're not qualified to comment.

Here's the test in full. Can you do it? Can you?

Write in if you like, but we won't understand your answers.

1. Make a reasonable estimate for the size of an angry bird, and determine the value of g in Angry Bird World. Why would the game designer want to have g be different than 9.8 m/s²?

2. Does the blue angry bird conserve momentum during its split into three?

3. Does the white bird conserve momentum when it drops its bomb? Why would the game designer want the white bird to drop its bomb the way that it does?

4. Describe in detail how the yellow bird changes velocity. You will need to analyze more than one flight path to answer this question.

5. Shoot an angry bird so that it bounces off one of the blocks. Determine the coefficient of restitution and the mass of the angry bird.

Action-Reaction [via Electric Pig]

Rob Hearn

Having obtained a distinguished education, Rob became Steel Media's managing editor, now he's no longer here though, following a departure in late December 2015.

Next Up :
Backyard Baseball is coming back to mobile with the return of Backyard Baseball '01