International science rings through Richland classroom

Fifth-graders at Lewis and Clark Elementary School tapped tuning forks on their shoes, their desks and their chairs Thursday and then held them up to their ears to listen to them ring.

It was an exercise to help them understand one of the most important scientific discoveries of the century, the detection of gravitational waves at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory just north of their Richland school at Hanford this month.

“The way we try to help kids, and really learners of all ages, understand the meaning of gravitational waves often is to compare gravitational wave processes to other kinds of wave processes,” said Dale Ingram, the LIGO Hanford education and outreach coordinator.

In this case, it was the process of the sound waves the students in Sara Curry’s class were enthusiastically creating.

Ingram’s been talking to Lewis and Clark students annually for many years. But this year he had something new to share.

The detection of a gravitational wave, as predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, launches a new field of astronomy. The LIGO observatory at Hanford and its twin in Louisiana each recorded near identical wave patterns in September from the gravitational waves of two black holes colliding in space.

After months spent studying the data and confirming the discovery, it was announced Feb. 11.

LIGO is not the type of astronomical observatory equipped with a telescope.

“This is something completely different,” Ingram said. “We are trying to detect waves of gravity.”

LIGO, essentially, is a big machine trying to measure vibrations, he said. But because the waves are invisible, scientists have to find another way to see them.

They make graphs, using math, just as Ingram’s computer made graphs with wavy lines that grew taller and shorter with the sounds in the classroom.

“It it’s higher, it’s more louder. If it’s smaller, it’s quieter,” fifth-grader Karla Nef figured out.

One sound graph, showing a smaller to bigger pattern, matched the graph produced by the gravitational waves from colliding black holes.

“This graph is a big deal,” Ingram said. “It represents something people have tried to measure for 50 years and have never been able to measure until now.”

News of the gravitational wave discovery made the front page of papers from the Tri-Cities to New York city to New Delhi, India. It’s been estimated that the news was spread in 70 million tweets over the last two weeks, Ingram said.

The most exciting part of Ingram’s annual visits is the student’s questions, he said. Mrs. Curry’s class did not disappoint.

“Is it true there is no time in black holes?” asked Ataya Studer.

The stronger the gravity, the slower the time, Ingram said. At the center of black holes, gravity basically stops.

“Do you know where stuff goes when it sucks to the black hole?” asked Isabella Fetrow.

No, Ingram said.

“What is it like in there? We don’t know,” he said.

But maybe one day a student in the class will get a PhD in physics and figure it out, he said.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "International science rings through Richland classroom."