Involuntary reactions, which happen without conscious thought, such as blinking an eye when an object approaches it, happen in fractions of a second. You can make a comparison of the speed of your conscious reactions and those of a friend by asking him or her to hold a ruler upright from the bottom. Put your fingers around the ruler without touching it. As your friend shouts “Go!” and drops the ruler, close your fingers as quickly as you can. Use the ruler’s scale to compare measurements with friends.
Think fast! Have you ever noticed that when someone unexpectedly tosses a softball at you, you need a little time before you can move to catch it (or duck)? That’s because when your eyes see an incoming signal such as a softball, your brain needs to first process what’s happening—and then you can take action. In this activity, you can measure just how long it takes for you to react, and compare reaction times with your friends and family.
You may not realize it, but when your senses pick up clues from the outside world—the smell of baking cookies, the color of a stoplight, the rrring! of an alarm clock—it takes a fraction of a second for you to recognize that signal and respond. During that time your brain receives information from your senses, identifies a possible source, and allows you to take action. The jam-packed fraction of a second is called your reaction time.
This activity teaches you about your brain’s reaction time, but it also relies on the laws of physics. Specifically, you can calculate your reaction time using our handy chart, which is based on how quickly a ruler falls. How do we know how quickly your ruler will fall? Gravity pulls all objects toward Earth’s center at the same speed. If you want to try this out at home, try dropping a tennis ball and a basketball from the same height: They should both hit the ground at the same time!
Picture Credit : Google
