Physics 101: Description of Movie Assignment
Hollywood is notorious for “stretching” the laws of physics for the sake of a good drama. While
not all movies do this, an alarmingly large number do! For this assignment, you will be selecting
a scene in your favorite (fictional) movie, commercial, or cartoon, and applying principles
learned in class (including estimation, problem solving, and specific physics principles) to
understand whether the scene in the movie could feasibly happen in real life. You will write an
essay of 2-2.5 pages single spaced, 12pt font with approximately 1 inch margins.
Part 1 of this assignment is a proposal/draft for your essay. The grading rubric for the draft is
given below, followed by the rubric for the final assignment.
The assignment will include components of:
• Writing – your final product will be an essay with calculations.
• Identifying the physical principle that the scene demonstrates, and understanding the
relevant equations you could use to analyze the scene’s feasibility.
• Estimation – you will have to estimate parameters like mass, distance, velocity, as
relevant to assess the scene’s feasibility.
• Setting up the “word problem” – it may help your thinking about the situation to phrase
the scene as a word problem.
• Solving the problem – your conclusion should include an assessment, based on
calculations, of whether the scene is feasible or not based on your analysis.
Generally, you will be doing some calculation(s) related to what we have learned in class to
determine if your scene could actually happen. Non-fiction is preferred. For example, October
Sky is not fictional; it's based on a true story about rockets. Likewise, many realistic sports
movies wouldn’t work well, but the extreme golf in Happy Gilmore would be fine. Your
conclusion should NOT say something similar to “well clearly this can happen because it does
happen in real life.” The point of this assignment is to get you to calculate if a scene could
happen, use calculations and your critical thinking skills.
It is your job to pick a scene that has something to do with what we have learned in class
(examples: collision physics including conservation of momentum, objects hanging from strings,
projectiles – people jumping or something being thrown/bouncing/shot, things sliding across a
surface or down inclines, anything with pulleys, falling and conservation of energy, rotational
energy and angular momentum, stability and center of mass). After you propose your method in
the draft assignment, it is my job to point out any flaws that I notice in your logic. I can't read
your mind, so I can only do my job well if you give me details of the scene and on how you will
go about this calculation. Tell me what variable(s) you will calculate to determine if this scene
could happen in real-life and how you will know if the number you get for that variable(s) is(are)
reasonable.
Outlawed:
• Any examples used in class;
• The bus/bridge scene in the movie Speed;
• The circular bullet scenes in Wanted.
• Skyscraper movie poster
• October Sky
An important note on plagiarism: Strict rules for plagiarism assessment will apply to this
assignment. Please use your own initiative and creativity to decide a movie scene to analyze,
rather than searching online for scenes which have been analyzed by others. If we find that you
have copied (in part or in full) something from an obvious pre-published source you will be
heavily penalized and may receive a zero for the assignment. We have highly effective
automatic software that assesses plagiarism for this type of assignment, so such a thing will be
difficult to get through without myself and the TAs noticing.
Rubric for Draft Movie Assignment (DUE DATE 9 MARCH)
(30 points)
Competent (70%)
Proficient (100%)
Grammar and
Typos
(2 points)
Some grammatical errors or
typos, but they did not
significantly adversely affect the
readability.
Few if any grammatical errors and/or
typos. In the real world, everything you
turn in should look professional. Practice
now.
Description of
the Scene
(5 points)
Most of the scene is clearly explained,
but there are some details skipped that
could affect how the calculations should
be approached.
Based upon your description, it is very
clear what is going on in the scene (a
video link is also helpful but not
required).
Appropriateness
N/A
(3 points)
Formulas
Provided
(5 points)
You followed the directions above about
picking a scene related to class material
and not obviously possible or
impossible.
Most of the needed formulas have been All of the formulas and only the
provided, but some are missed and/or appropriate formulas needed to calculate
unnecessary.
the scene have been provided.
Identify
variable(s) to
solve for
(5 points)
N/A
At least one variable is identified as what
you will solve for to determine if the
scene can occur in real life. (Generally
that variable is not time, though you may
need to solve for it to get something
else.)
How you will
find out if
variable(s)
reasonable
(5 points)
While you mention the comparison of
your result to something you’ll find
online or in literature, no plan for
searching for this information or range
of possible results is given.
You discuss how you will determine if
your selected variable(s) are actually
achievable. This determination is either
based on things that can be found in
papers, or based on more calculations.
Estimations
(5 points)
Variables in need of estimation are
Any variables that need to be estimated
mentioned. Some minor variables might are mentioned as well as how
be left out.
estimations will be made.
Rubric for Final Movie Assignment (DUE DATE 16 APRIL)
(60 points)
Competent (70%)
Proficient (100%)
Grammar and
Typos
(3 points)
Some grammatical errors or typos, but they did
Few if any grammatical errors and/or typos.
not significantly adversely affect the readability.
Paper Length
(4 points)
The paper is slightly shorter than 2 pages
single-spaced, 12pt font. Because of this, the
paper is not as thorough in discussion as
desired.
Most of the scene is clearly explained, but
Description of the
there are some details skipped that could
Scene
affect how the calculations should be
(5 points)
approached.
The paper is 2 - 2.5 pages single spaced,
12pt font with approximately 1 inch margins.
Based upon your description, it is very clear
what is going on in the scene (however, a
link is also helpful).
Some MINOR physics misconceptions may be
discussed or the physics may be lightly
discussed at all.
The general physics principles are correctly
discussed with relation to specific parts of
the scene. For example, identify the area(s)
of physics (projectile motion, conservation of
momentum, etc.). Then, you should relate
the specific parts of the scene to these
topics.
Calculations/
Strategy
(15 points)
There are minor errors in the calculations,
approach and/or formulas AND/OR they are
sloppy and challenging to distinguish.
You have also made an appropriate
calculation to determine if your scene could
occur in real life. (For impact problems, you'll
generally want to solve for stress = force /
contact area.)
Showing Your
Work
(10 points)
The math work is hard to understand and/or
has minor errors.
The formulas and your work are included,
correct and easy to follow.
How you made your estimations was
discussed, but a little unclear AND/OR
somewhat unreasonable.
The estimations that were made, and how
they were made, are discussed AND are
reasonable.
Discussion of the
Scene Physics
(10 points)
Estimation
Discussion
(5 points)
References for
estimated values
(e.g. coefficient of
friction for some
material,
force/tension that
some
surface/cable can
handle, typical
mass of some
relevant object)
(3 points)
Having a Logical
Conclusion
(5 points)
Only one reference is given AND/OR the
references do not seem reliable (reddit, for
instance, is not reliable whereas Wikipedia and
specialist websites likely are) AND/OR no
range of results are given. If you see a citation
in Wikipedia, follow it and verify!
I am flexible on reference format as long as
references are given and could be found based
on provided information.
A conclusion is given, however, it seems
unclear or is not logical based upon the
calculations.
At least two reliable references are provided.
The citations for the references should be
given, but the format for the citations is not
critical. I should just be able to find it if I
desire.
The conclusion is logical based upon the
calculated numbers and the reference(s)
provided. You might even discuss how your
result might change if you adjusted your
estimates.
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