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Xinli Wang Post 1

• 8 June 2018, 2:42 PM

Saturn's rings from NASA

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Saturn is surrounded by immense rings built of chunks of water ice, with a sprinkling of rocky material. The rings can reach a width of 185,000 miles (300,000 kilometers), and the particles can travel at thousands of miles per hour. Researchers have found that the rings' particles are loose and porous. When two particles collide, if they're moving slowly enough, they will merge into one — but if they're moving too quickly, they'll shatter. We can use this image to talk about mathematically how this simple behavior agrees with the strangely precise distribution of the particle's sizes.



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Connie Blomgren Post 2 in reply to 1

• 8 June 2018, 6:43 PM

STEAM for GLAM?

Hi there- I enjoyed your math take on the planet Saturn. To widen the interest in what makes Saturn so special, one could think about the "A" in STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Aesthetics and Mathematics) i.e. STEAM through OER GLAM!!

Connie

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Jenni Hayman Post 3 in reply to 1

• 9 June 2018, 6:02 PM

Great picture Xinli, I love the beautiful images that come to us through NASA, and agree with Connie about the aesthetics and beauty of math, geology, chemistry, and physics.