Rod Cross Tennis Ball Reaction

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WHO IS ROD CROSS Where was he born He was born in Berry NSW in 1943 and lived there until he was 14, then he and his family moved to Forbes. What is he famous for He is famous in three distinct areas 1. Plasma Physics research 2. Physics of Tennis 3. Expert witness in murder trails Background His favourite subjects at high school where maths and physics and when he had almost finished school his plans were to go to university and study to be an engineer. Unfortunately his parents didn’t have enough money to pay the university fees and move the family from Forbes to Sydney. Educational history Instead of studying engineering he accepted a teaching scholarship and attended university studying education. After four years he graduated from university with a Bachelor Science and Diploma in education. He was suppose to become a science teacher at a school but as he loved university so much and he wanted to do a PhD. He was able to convince the Education Department that teaching at a university was the same as being a science teacher at a school. He completed his PhD in Plasma Physics in 1968 and then for 30 years he worked in the Plasma Physics Department at the University of Sydney continuing his research in shock waves and then Alfven waves (a sort of low frequency oscillation in plasma ions) and lecturing, retiring in 2003 as an honorary member of staff. Most exciting result from his plasma research His most exciting result during his 30 years of research was that he “discovered it was possible to launch an Alfven wave and have it stick to the field lines and “transmit almost like a laser”. These waves could do several loops of the Tokomak (donut shape magnetic confinement device) before they disappeared.” Why did he start to study the Physics of Tennis While coming to an end of his career and not being able to receive more
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