Interview of a Physics Expert..pls help

[Allsaints6a]

Hello , My name is Steven and I am in 6th grade at All Saints School. In prep for my science fair project, I have to interview someone who is knowledgeable in physics since my science fair project falls into the physics category.For my science fair experiment I am investigating what effect the size of the parachute has on the quality of the flight. I hope you can help
I have a series of questions I am suppose to ask:
1.) Name and Title of person interviewed:
2.)Why would you say you are an expert in the physics field?
3.)Do you think physics is interesting, useful and important? Why?
4.)When did you first learn about physics?
5.)What are some important things you have learned about this topic?
6.)How can knowledge about this topic(physics) be applied to everyday life?
7.)What is your favorite thing about Physics?
8.)What made you want to study physics?
9.)What subjects should you study if you want to go in the physics field?

My I have your permission to cite your name as a reference and include facts from this interview in my science fair report?
Thank You!

[deleted-71712]

1.) Name and Title of person interviewed:

My name is Amanda McDermott, and I'm a graduate student (fancy version: PhD Candidate) studying materials science and engineering at Penn State.

2.)Why would you say you are an expert in the physics field?

I have a B.S. degree in physics, and I'm definitely using it.

3.)Do you think physics is interesting, useful and important? Why?

Of course! It's given me a great foundation for thinking about problems logically, even situations that have nothing to do with physics. And even though I gravitated toward the condensed-matter subfield, I'm excited to see what advances in more fundamental areas like particle physics and cosmology are made during my lifetime. When I was an undergraduate, I got to hear a lot of talks by people who were building detectors for and preparing to handle data from the Large Hadron Collider, and it's fun to have a bit of an inside perspective on a huge undertaking like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensed_matter_physics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmology# ... _cosmology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_physics
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0 ... n+collider

4.)When did you first learn about physics?

When I was in 10th grade, I read a book called Where Does the Weirdness Go? Why Quantum Mechanics Is Strange, But Not As Strange As You Think. It was fascinating and made me want to learn more!

http://books.google.com/books?id=Q240Jm ... q=&f=false

5.)What are some important things you have learned about this topic?

Sometimes people think of the sciences in a hierarchical way, with math as the most fundamental, then physics, chemistry, biology, etc being progressively more empirical (based on observations). For example, the energy levels of different electron orbitals in atoms that you learn about in chemistry can actually be calculated using quantum mechanics (a major topic in physics), which in turn requires a ton of math to figure out the answers to equations that express physical principles. And a lot of biological processes are basically chemical reactions. But even though in principle you could calculate exactly what a system would do using just physics, in practice this becomes incredibly difficult as the system gets larger. So to address practical or engineering problems, collaborating with people who have different backgrounds is a great way to get things done. For the same reason, computational science is also becoming very important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_science

6.)How can knowledge about this topic (physics) be applied to everyday life?

Whenever I wonder how something works, or why it's not working, I fall back into the same process that I learned to use for solving physics problems: think about the forces involved and how all the components involved are interacting.

7.)What is your favorite thing about Physics?

I like that it can turn something that seems intuitive but difficult to explain into a straightforward phenomenon, and that that can allow you to take the concept even further. For example, part of the reason that it's easier to balance a bicycle when you're going fast versus when you're stopped is that the wheels behave like gyroscopes, which have all sorts of other applications.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H98BgRzpOM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyroscope

8.)What made you want to study physics?

When I was your age, math was my favorite subject. But as I thought about it more, I realized that I didn't want to be a mathematician because it seemed so separate from reality. I liked doing physics for many of the same reasons, but the problems were about more tangible things. When I thought about what major to choose in college, I realized that almost all of the classes required for a physics degree sounded interesting, so it was an easy choice!

9.)What subjects should you study if you want to go in the physics field?

During high school, take as much math as you can handle, preferably one or two years of calculus. (If you have extra time and want to get a headstart, differential equations and linear algebra are also likely to be required for an undergrad physics degree, but most high schools don't offer them so you won't be behind if you take them during college.) Any physics classes that are available, of course. Other than that, go with what interests you most! There are connections between physics and pretty much all science and engineering fields, so exploring them can give you an idea of what area of physics you'd like to specialize in. A lot of people don't realize how important writing and public speaking skills are for communicating your work as a scientist, so if you enjoy them, developing those skills will also be helpful.