The Search for EHE: Breakout Activity
This table-top escape room activity will have your students thinking and collaborating while solving challenges related to black holes and senior physics. Students work through challenges related to a black hole exploration mission as a small group of black hole researchers. You can pick and choose from the challenges based on your classroom needs. An online version of this activity is also provided, with a link to a Google Form. The online version requires no setup and can be run right away.
Cyg X-1 Probe (Doppler Effect)
Students use their knowledge of the Doppler effect to solve a puzzle related to the accretion disk of a real black hole.
Vul 1988 Probe (Gravitational Forces)
Students use data and equations to calculate gravitational forces in the vicinity of a black hole.
V616 Mon Probe (Time Dilation)
Students are told that a probe has deposited several tree-growing pods, each at a different orbital radius around black hole V616 Mon. They use gravitational time dilation to determine a tree’s age.
V518 Per Probe (Spaghettification)
Students are challenged to examine the stretching and squeezing of a probe near a black hole due to tidal forces.
Sgr A* Probe (Kepler’s Third Law)
Students determine the mass of Sgr A* using Kepler’s third law.
Location of EHE (Escape Velocity)
Students calculate the escape velocity at an orbital radius near a black hole.
