Henry's Defeat

The next day of school I couldn’t wait to get into Mr. Olafson’s class. We were going to be discussing time dilation. I had read about it in one of Michio Kaku ‘s books a few weeks ago.

I went to my locker after mom dropped me off since I had to pick up my books for periods 1 and 3. The hallways were full of kids with heads looking down on their phones or horse playing. I wonder if these children realize how oblivious to the nature of the universe they really are. Do they even care? I never want to be like them. Following their music and movie stars as if they were deities or something. It’s so dumb. Why should I even be in the same school with them?

I look at one couple French kissing a few feet away from me. Is he actually putting his tongue in her mouth? Has he ever even heard of infectious mononucleosis? Who kisses like that? The human mouth has so many germs it’s ridiculous. I even hate it when my own mom kisses me. I’m so glad my parents saw the wisdom to put me in Mr. Olafson’s class though. Chemistry or Biology alone would’ve been very boring. At least during his class, I could be surrounded by people that thought like me. Very few girls in the class too, which was a huge plus.

“Hello, again.”

I hear a familiar voice behind me then turn to see the same dark-haired chubby chick that accosted me the day before.

“Sup?”

“How are you?”

“Fine…”

“I was able to find the right bus yesterday. Thank you for the advice.”

“Sure…”

“I’m Nicole.”

“Yeah…you said that.”

She hesitates for a while and then hits me with a huge smile. “I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll talk to you later.” She began to walk away but I felt an odd compulsion to say something...I don’t know why but the words just came out.

“Hey…I’m Henry…” She giggles a bit.

“Yeah…you said that.” I laugh with her.

“I did, didn’t I? Are you new to Florida or just new to Miami River Middle School?”

“Oh…my family just moved to FL from California.”

“Cool…I’ve never been there.”

“Don’t bother. It’s so much better here.”

“I bet…well um…nice to meet you, Nicole.”

“Yes and nice to see you again as well. laterz.”

She seems nice, but who has time for girls these days? She probably just needs a new friend. Is she trying to be friends with me because she also thinks that I am kind of new? Does she see me as some kind of loner. Is she horny? Her boobs are kind of nice. Wait a minute…no they aren’t. What am I thinking? I should get to class. She’s a just a girl…

The science class was essentially a combination of high school biology, chemistry, and physics rolled into one class. We did at least one project and one experiment per week with minimal lecture time. Mr. Olafson talked for about 10 minutes after we finished our bell-ringer and then we went off to complete the day’s agenda. It was so simple. Most other classes involve some boring lecture or maybe just tons of book work. It wasn’t difficult; it was just so bland. Here, I get to have some fun and learn useful new things.

“Alright troops…you know the routine. Bell-ringer…7 minutes. Go!” Mr. Olafson always referred to us as troops. He was once in the Army or something.

Today’s problem was a bit of a challenge, but I think I can handle it. It’s mostly a mechanics issue. Classical mechanics at that. Nothing quantum.

Problem 1a. An iron sphere with a radius of 25 centimeters is to be lifted off of the ground using a gentry crane. What is the minimal amount of force necessary to lift the iron ball off of the ground? Express your answer in both newtons and pounds.

Problem 1b. Assuming the sphere is on Earth, how much energy would it take to lift the iron ball 20 meters from the ground?

A puzzled look on Felicia’s face led me to believe that maybe some of the other students were having trouble with this problem. “Um…Mr. Olafson.”

“What’s up, Felicia?”

“What’s a gentry crane?”

“You have an iPad with Internet connection right in front of you. Find out yourself.”

“Yeah…I just want to know whether or not it’s important to the question. That’s all.”

“You tell me, young lady. I’m not doing the work for you.”

“Mr. Olafson?”

“Yes, Tommy?”

“I figured out that we need to find the force using Newton’s third law, but we weren’t given the mass of the iron. How can we find the weight of the ball without the mass?”

“Second law…and didn’t you just hear what I said to Felicia, Tommy?

“Sorry…”

Mr. O laughs “Tommy, It’s okay to ask, but I’m not going to hold your hand trooper. Remember this class is about using resources to find the answers on your own and building upon what you learn to launch your own exploration into science.”

“Go it! I got the answer!” Rebecca exclaimed. “Too, easy Mr. O.”

“Okay, let the others finish and we’ll compare answers in a few minutes. If you’re done with the problem please take out your notebooks because you might want to copy some of this down for a future project…coming up….Soon.” He giggles.

Rebecca thinks she’s so smart. She probably gets everything she wants. Rich family too. Well, she’s not smarter than I am.

“Got it, Mr. O. Real simple.” I say.

“Okay, Henry. Keep it to yourself for now. Alright…so what is time dilation? Did anyone complete the reading for today?”

“I did, Mr. O. As an object approaches the speed of light, it reaches something known as relativistic velocity,” said Rebecca.

“Okay…and why do we call it that?”

“Oh…not really sure. Is it because it’s related to objects that are stationary?”

“Hmmmm…” Mr. Olafson tilts his head a bit. “Tell me more…”

I interject “Because at that speed, one would have to account for Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which states that the speed of light is the same regardless of reference frame so time slows down for the object. Time must slow down.”

“Interesting response Henry. Why would time be different for an object just because it’s moving very very quickly through space?”

“Well, it actually slows down for any object that is moving but the effect only needs to be accounted for objects that move at realistic velocities. Now, I remember!” Rebecca says.

“Great Rebecca. That’s correct, but it fails to answer the question. Why must time slow down even for those slower moving objects?”

“ Because…if time didn’t change for an object moving at relativistic velocity, the object might be able to exceed the speed of light, which is impossible.” I said finally.

“I don’t like using the word impossible in this classroom, Henry, but you are essentially correct. Nice to know someone does the reading.”

I look over at Rebecca with a smirk…just to let her know who’s really on point in this class room. She looks back and gives me a friendly nod.

“Why is it impossible for an object to reach the speed of light?” Felicia asks.

The classroom was actually silent. I had an idea of what the answer was but I didn’t want to feel too much like the teacher’s pet or something. I decide to keep my mouth shut for now. I take pleasure in the fact that Rebecca doesn’t seem to know either or is she just keeping her mouth shut because she also previously answered a question. Who knows?

“It’s okay if you all don’t know the answer to that. Just think about the answer as you complete the projects for today. Now…we need to go over the answers to the bell ringers. Who wants to give it a try?”

“I think it’s 71 Newtons and 55 Lbs.” Rebecca said.

“Hmmm okay. Did anyone get anything different?”

“It’s actually 32 Newtons and 14 lbs.” I heard myself say out loud.

“Interesting. You mind showing us how you got that on the board…”

“You mean me?” asked Rebecca.

“I mean both of you. Get on up and grab a marker.”

I rose from my chair and slowly walked to the board even though I really felt like running up to it. I’m not about to pass up an opportunity to show her exactly who the smartest in the class is.”

After about 3 minutes, I proudly look at my work with equations on the board. Physics and mathematics were always easy for me. It was chemistry that I liked the least but even that was better than language arts. This problem was actually kinda easy too. I even finished before Rebecca.

“Wow…you’re both good but…one of you has made a mistake. Did anyone else catch it?”

My heart began to race. Did I do something wrong? I was pretty sure that my answer was correct. My palms became slightly moist as I looked over my work.

“Oh, common now. I know Rebecca and Henry aren’t the only ones in the class with the courage to try. Who caught the mistake?”

Felicia slowly raised her hand.

“Yes, Felicia?”

Felicia looks over to me as if apologizing in advance. “Henry incorrectly used 32ft/s as the acceleration due to Earths gravitational field.”

“Really? And what value should he have used then?”

“9.81 meters per second.”

“And when that value is used, what will be the final results for 1a?”

“71 Newtons and 51Lbs.”

“Dammit!” I heard myself say aloud…

“Hey…no profanity in this class, soldier. Besides, I’m still proud of you…you got the concept right. You simply forgot to use the SI unit of meters instead of feet. No biggie.” He winks at me, but his words don’t assuage the embarrassment much.

“At least Henry had the courage to come up. You too Rebecca. Excellent work. There are adults that wouldn’t have even gotten this correct, child.”

“Thanks, Mr. O.” Rebecca said. She then turns to me and playfully sticks out her tongue.

“Hmmm…good job, Becky…” I say with a smile.

“Thanks, dude.”

“Super. Now…everyone grab your notebooks and one partner of your choice. We’ll be measuring the approximate speed of light today in the lab area.”

I walk over and grab my notebook in silence and then head over to the back. Tommy seems to be heading in my direction. I wouldn’t mind being his partner or even Felicia’s. As long as it wasn’t Rebecca I was fine with anyone in that moment.