Accession Number:

ADA551255

Title:

Rolling the Black Pearl Over: Analyzing the Physics of a Movie Clip

Descriptive Note:

Journal article

Corporate Author:

NAVAL ACADEMY ANNAPOLIS MD

Personal Author(s):

• Mungan, Carl E.
• Emery, John D.

Report Date:

2011-05-01

Pagination or Media Count:

7.0

Abstract:

In the third movie At Worlds End in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Jack Sparrow and his crew need to roll their ship the Black Pearl over in order to bring it back to the living world during a green flash at sunset. They do so by running back and forth from one side railing to the other on the top deck. In addition, Captain Barbossa orders that 18 cannons and a pile of barrels on the lower deck be cut loose to add mass to the running crew. In the movie they overturned the ship, but would they succeed under the same circumstances on a real galleon In this paper, a numerical analysis using simple approximations is developed that suggests that what occurs in the movie is in fact realistic. Analyzing a popular film clip in this manner is a good way to arouse student interest, to teach about physics and numerical methods, and to model scientific reasoning when a situation is not as neatly defined as in a typical textbook problem.

Descriptors:

• *PHYSICS
• *TEACHING METHODS
• BUOYANCY
• CENTER OF GRAVITY
• DISPLACEMENT
• MASS
• REPRINTS
• ROLL
• SHIP MOTION
• SIZES(DIMENSIONS)

Subject Categories:

• Personnel Management and Labor Relations
• Marine Engineering
• Mechanics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE