THIS IS IT - A Review and Reflection of my Summer Physics Experience

Wow, I must say that even though I knew it would only last less than one summer - I can't believe summer school physics is over! It's truly bittersweet! Looking back I know that I learned a lot and with the help of Mr. Blake and my classmates I've placed myself in a better position for success in the upcoming year (or at least a more relaxed schedule).

I appreciate all the knowledge I've gained over the last few weeks! All of it is so valuable and some of it genuinely surprised me in how challenging it was and how relevant it is to my life and the world around me. Namely, when we learned about frequency and sound, I got so excited because music is my lifelong passion. I learned the science behind how harmonies are formed! When they have complimentary frequencies whose waves match up or coincide, the sound is beautiful! Also, we learned that sound travels at the same speed, regardless of frequency, in the same medium. So no matter the pitch, the sound will reach your ear in the same amount of time in the same medium! Lastly, sound waves can't be transmitted without a medium (unlike electromagnetic waves) - which basically means that my dream of being a guitar playing astronaut who serenades aliens with my smooth jazz is out the window.

Another big thing I enjoyed learning was some of the more, what could considered, basic concepts of kinematics only because that isn't something that you just read about on some worksheets, its something that you see everyday! For example, force = mass X acceleration! Things with more mass have have more force which is why if a bike came speeding towards you it would be less scary than if a buss with more force did! Similarly, momentum = mass X velocity! Things with more mass will have more momentum! This always made me think of football and gymnastics! The more lean wide receivers are easier to stop than the huge linebackers because they have less mass and therefore less momentum! With gymnastics, things like vault and double-mini are all about momentum, you run faster so you can increase your velocity so you'll have more momentum to release in a slue of glorious flips and tricks.

In conclusion this class was great! Everyone was so laid back and helpful that it really made learning an enjoyable experience. I'm so grateful for the valuable knowledge and awesome memories that I'm taking away from this summer!

Unit 10 Post - 7/20: Light Refraction!

Did you know that light travels at different speeds in different mediums? This causes light to bend which manipulates how you see things in glass or water opposed to in air. The fastest light can possibly travel is 3X10^8 m/s. A new value, the index of refraction ("n") is a ratio for how fast light travels in a specific medium. The lower the "n" value, the faster it travels in that medium. The n for air is 1, for water is 1.3, for glass is 1.5, and for diamond is 2.42. This explains why objects are distorted when looked at through water or glass! The formula used to find this is called "Shell's Law": n(1)(sine of theta1) =  n(2)(sine of theta2). The light bends and makes the position and orientation appear differently! If light is traveling from a fast medium to a slow one, it will bend towards "normal" (perpendicular to the surface) from the path it was originally on. But if it's traveling from a slow medium, like glass, to a faster one, like air, it will bend away from the "normal" of the surface. Light can also get trapped! The n of the first medium is greater than the n of the second (a slow to fast medium), light can't escape that medium and will reflect within it as a result. The angle at which this will start to happen is called the critical angle. You calculate this using the formula: sin-1(n2/n1)!

Unit 10 Post - 7/19: Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Lights, mirrors, and reflections are truly some of the most complicated physics concepts we've yet to explore. Basically there are two different situations you can deal with, the Law of Reflections. If light hits a flat mirror, it reflects off of that mirror at the same angle it hit the mirror. The image will also be upright and not distorted. If light hits a concave mirror, the image will be distorted in both size and orientation and the beam of light doesn't come back at the same angle it contacted the mirror.

In this picture, I'm shining the light into a mirror, the light bounces off of it directly and at the same angle that it hit the mirror, and reflects onto my face! 

The other thing we learned today was about colors! Colors in physics are very different than colors in pigments. In physics the primary colors are blue, green, and red. All of them together make white and none of them make black. Green + red = yellow, green + blue = cyan, and blue + red = magenta. Complimentary colors are two colors that combine to make white, like yellow and blue. In class, it was so much fun playing with the lasers and the sheets of colored light because it make these confusing concepts really come to life!

Unit 10 Post - 7/18: LIGHTS, LIGHTS LIGHTS!

Look up, look down, look all around... that's physics baby? Something as simple as seeing can be understood properly through physics. You don't see light, rather, light allows you to see. When light bounces off of a particular object and reflects onto your eyes - you see it! When the lights go out, when its dark outside, you can't see because your eyes aren't receiving any rebounded light. It may seem overly simple and mondane, but its good to understand. The speed at which light travels to your eyes is 3X10^8 m/s^2. Beat that Hussein Bolt... beat that.

Additionally, light travels through objects that are either transparent or opaque. In a transparent object, electromagnetic frequencies of light are able to go through - as seen in my fishtank below! However, in opaque objects these waves cannot. Its simple to think of this easily as things you can see through and things you cannot.

Unit 9 Post - 7/15: Consequence of SOUND!

Sound is a longitudinal wave (meaning it moves parallel to the wave motion) that cannot be transmitted without a medium - which is why there's no sound in outer space. It's also a non-dispersive wave meaning all the waves travel at the same speed in the same medium regardless of frequency, so when you listen to music all the pitches reach your ear at the same time allowing tempo and rhythm to stay intact. At sea level this speed of sound is 340. 29 which is slower than the speed of light - meaning you will see motion happen before you hear it!

The human hearing range is from 20 Hz to about 20,000 Hz, and as you age this range decreases. Society manipulates that by instituting whistles and horns that can only be heard by younger people in order to keep them away from certain place as is in England.

When you listen to your ipod, the sound is traveling through the metal in the earphone and the air between it and your ear. This is a very short distance, thus if you listened to the same song at a stationary volume on your ipod and then through a speaker, it would sound louder on your ipod.

Unit 9 Post - 7/14: That's the WAVE!

From the cooperation of everyone in a large stadium, to the crashing beaches of our island, to the passionate twangs of music - waves are everywhere. Even in physics! Waves are a disturbance in energy caused by vibration that acts in a medium, the most effective one being a solid because the molecules are closer together and can transfer said energy more efficiently.

The different parts of a wave are the crest, trophs, and amplitudes. The help us measure the waves length and speed. A wave that's moving slowly has a low frequency and a long wavelength, while a wave that is moving quickly has a high frequency and a short wavelength.

Waves can interact with each other too! Unlike the normal physics of mass, waves can occupy the same space at the same time because of a property called superposition! Then two waves combine with each other, to briefly create a wave that is the sum of the two initial waves, its called constructive interference. When two waves of equal magnitude that are moving in the oposite direction and are oposite values (one positive one negative) interact, they cancel each others energies out for a moment resulting in a flat line - this is called deconstructive interference.

A special wave, called a standing wave, is created when two waves of equal wave speed and magnitude are moving in the opposite direction and interact. This video is a demonstration of that in which our shoulders are the nodes - parts of the standing wave that are stationary, and our hands are the anti-nodes - parts of the standing wave that are moving.

7/13: ROCKET LAUNCH FINAL DAY

Today was the official day of our rocket launches! Sam and I had planned on using balloons to keep our rocket in the air. We played around with this idea a lot and approached in with various methods... but in the end, it was gravity who took the victory.

I think that all in all we had the right concept, we just didn't execute them in the right combination! When it comes to what features were involved, the first thing we tried was using 4 regular balloons filled with oxygen. We taped them on strings relatively close to the bottle so the balloons and the bottle would be close to each other. We were hoping this would provide a huge amount of drag and act as a glorified parachute of sorts... and it did! ... Just not quite in the way we'd hoped. We figured that if we pumped it up so there was a lot of H20 PSI (we put in about 70) then we would minimize the effect of the balloons drag on the way up and the amount of drag it produced on the way down would give us a good time. However, we only taped the balloons to the bottle with small amounts of scotch tape... so when all the pressure blasted the rocket upwards, the tape couldn't handle it and the balloons were left behind.

Back to the drawing board! We then decided to try and sticking a deflated balloon into the top of the nozzle  opposite from where the water goes. We didn't really know why we were doing this, we just did it. We pumped a high amount of PSI - again around 70 - and noticed that this feature also worked pretty well. It didn't affect how fast and high the balloon shot into the air which was good because at 70 PSI it went pretty high/fast. However it did slow the fall of the bottle. We kept that idea in the back of our mind while we headed back to modify our rocket for the last time... our final ultimatum.

We had a helium tank and nearly 70 balloons. We did our research and found that 1 L of helium will lift 1 gram of mass. Each balloon could hold about 15 L of helium and our rocket was a little less than 20 grams. It was fool proof, or so we thought. So we filled 16 balloons with helium, leaving our tank virtually empty, and put strings on them and used hot glue and numerous rounds of duct tape to attach them to the bottle, we learned from our mistake of not securing the balloons the first time. We also removed two of the four fins from the rocket in order to make it lighter so the balloons could carry it. With no water in the bottle, the balloons allowed the rocket to float for about 2 seconds before falling at an extremely slow rate, so we felt very confident about our idea. We decided it would be best to not pump too much PSI into the bottle because we didn't want the balloons to come off and figured they could do all the heavy lifting on their own (since all the water from the bottle comes out as soon as its launched, and the balloons could support the empty bottle). We only put about 1/16 water in our bottle because we didn't want to take any chances of anything weighting the balloons down. This is where we went wrong... we only pumped 25 PSI into the bottle, so when we launched it it didn't go very high at all; and although it hovered for a moment before falling very very slowly - it just didn't have a high enough initial height to make enough of a difference and our final time was 4.9 seconds. OH WELLLL : (

For a physics project, I had quite a difficult time trying to understand how what we learned applied to this. I mean we didn't necessarily have any formulas we could've used to find how to make the rocket stay in the air or anything. However this taught me a lot about drag and pressure. Drag may be a good thing when it slows a falling object, but the reality that it slows an object that's accelerating upwards as well! It's sort of a double edged sword, and with something like balloons, you will have a very high amount of drag. When it comes to pressure, I think the main thing I took away from this project is that the more pressure you have the better! Don't try to manipulate your pressure to do what you think is right, rather just get as much pressure you can into your rocket, and then adjust your rocket accordingly. Make your rocket adjust to the pressure, don't adjust the pressure to your rocket... and TURN THAT SUCKER UP! The reality is, the more pressure you have, the higher your rocket will go and the longer time you'll have. I'm sure there are negligible acceptions to this but for the most part, pump away! Our second balloon launch - with the helium balloons - was extremely secured to the balloon, so had we pumped a high amount of pressure into the rocket, it would've had more air time up and therefore more time to come down (very very very slowly). As far as otherwise, apparently this project taught me that... no matter what we're all doomed to fail so too bad? NAHHH This project was a great lesson in patience and happiness. It was weird seeing how people were so emotionally attatched to this project! I mean after tthe launches (mostly failures) people were all depressed and gloomy! Why?! Chin-up, life goes on, the sun will still rise tomorrow and you'll be just as young and good looking. Taking things too seriously can be dangerous, so choose happiness... it's so much easier : ) In conclusion this was a really fun project, I kinda wish we'd had an extra day to play around with ideas just because it's fun to experiment but all in all it was pretty darn cool!

7/12 ROCKET POWER!

Our assignment is to build a water bottle rocket that will stay in the air for at least 10 seconds when launched using a water-pressure system. Sam and I got to work with this challenging assignment

First we took our two 2L bottles and lengthened our entire rocket by cutting out bottom of the second and fastening it to the bottom of the outer one. Now we had two caps and the rocket is longer and more stable!

 

Next, it was time to add fins to our rocket. We measured how large we wanted them based on the fact that we didn't want them to big too big and weigh down the rocket, but we needed them to be large enough to provide stability and possibly some air resistance. We used cardboard because its thick and convenient and wrapped it in water proof duct-tape. Then we secured it to the base of the the rocket using more duct-tape and a hot glue gun.

 

Now it was parachute time! We took a thin plastic bag and shortened a little bit. then we poked four holes near its base and strung holes through it. Then we connected all those strings to a base of tape and hot glue. From that base we took two strings that we taped directly to the bottle, then we tucked the entire parachute into the top hole of the rocket.

It was launch time! The goal was 5 seconds, and unfortunately things didn't go out way... at all. On our first trial we got around 3.5 seconds. We were a little bit surprised but figured it was just an unlucky launch that could be easily improved with simple tweaks. On our second try the rocket didn't even shoot straight up and we only had a 1.7 flight time. On both trials our parachute didn't deploy at all. We've definitely our work cut out for us if we're going to make 10 seconds tomorrow... oh do we? ha ha ha... Ha Ha Ha... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *evil laugh* *lightning strike*

Unit 8 Post - 7/11: Power!

Work is basically "what" you're doing, which is why its defined by force (ma) times distance!
Power takes that one step further, its "how" you do what your doing, the rate at which you work. Whether you work faster or slower defines your power. You simply divide total work energy by time to find the rate   at which work is done - POWER - which is measured in Watts!

Power doesn't necessarily determine how much work you do, just how fast you do it! Work isn't a property of an object, but power is! Work is simply the noun while power is the adjective, thinking about it that way is so much more helpful!

Unit 8 Post - 7/08: Work and Energy

Today we learned about work and energy. I always thought work meant putting effort into something; for example we had someone holding heavy boxes and I thought that was work because of the fact that it required effort and energy to do! It's not like he could've just held those boxes for the rest of his life! But in physics sense, work is a change in energy: Work = Force X Distance (joules)
Work only happens when you're working against a force, so if its a frictionless environment then work is impossible. But if your working against gravity or some form of friction then your have to put in WORK!

Energy isn't created or lost, it simply changes form - this is the law of conservation of energy. The two main forms of energy we're exploring are kinetic energy (motion) and potential energy
Potential Energy is calculated by weight X height. You can think of it as the amount of energy "stored" in the object with the potential to release. When that energy is released, it changes into kinetic energy!
Kinetic energy is basically the energy of motion! The total energy of your system stays the same so as kinetic energy decreases, potential energy increases and vise-versa. They have an inverse relationship.

In this picture, the fact that I'm standing at an altitude that is higher than my equilibrium (the ground) means I have potential energy.
PE = mgh (potential energy = mass X acceleration of gravity X height)
PE = 55.79 kg X 9.8 m/s^2 X 0.64 meters
My potential energy = 349.91 Joules

In this picture I am falling with kinetic energy. I simply stepped off the bench to release my potential energy and change it to energy of motion.
KE = 1/2MV^2 (kinetic energy = half of the mass X velocity squared)
KE = 1/2(55.79 kg)(assumed velocity of 0.5 m/x)^2
My kinetic energy = 6.97 Joules

Unit 7 Post - 7/07: EGG DROP (it like it's hot)

Today we conducted an experiment in which we were split into groups and given an egg. With that egg we had to build a contraption, not to exceed 35 cm in every dimension, in which to place the egg so that it could survive an approximate 10 meter drop.

My group built this: The Fluffy Fail

The brown paper bag on the top contains the egg in an individual zip-lock bag, surrounded by a bed of cotton balls in plastic bag, surrounded by a bed of marshmallows in a plastic bag, resting on a bed of plastic soda can rings - all wrapped in said brown paper bag. The brown paper bag is on a pillow that has been cut open by slitting in order to keep it from bouncing. The pillow sits on a mesh of plastic bags... we aren't sure if that really had a defined purpose but figured it couldn't hurt.

Just so you have an idea: Nude Egg Drop

We were dropping the eggs from more than a significant height under nothing but the good ol' force of gravity.

We conducted a practice run long before the drop with a practice egg I brought from home, it was successful! We didn't drop it from quite as high as the real one, but none the less were very excited knowing we were more than on the right track. We made some modifications afterwards to create the finished product you saw we tested. We cut the pillow - which looking back I think was destructive and unnecessary, we removed two red sponges that were between the bag and the pillow, which I also think was a bad idea, and we added the bed of plastic bags under the pillow - also regretted. I guess because our practice run went so well, we didn't think to just let it be - we thought anything we did to it could only make it better! 

The plan was to rely solely on cushion and padding. We weren't trying to manipulate acceleration, gravity, or the fall, were were just hoping we had put enough padding that it wouldn't matter. 

In conclusion, all the complicated things we added to the top in the brown bag (most of them unnecessary) caused the top part of our contraption - where the egg was - to be heavier than the bottom. So when we dropped it, the contraption flipped and fell directly on the egg. Game over.  In my honest opinion, if the contraption had landed right-side up, it would've worked. Our pillow was extremely thick and cushioned, and because it was slit open it couldn't possibly bounce. 

If i had to do it again, I wouldn't have put the plastic soda can rings in the brown bag, I would have cut the pillow a lot less than we did (but still had a small amount of slits just to let the air release so it wouldn't bounce), kept the red sponges between the pillow and brown bag, and... well I guess I would've prayed before we dropped it. This worked during the practice run - so I guess I learned not to "fix" it if it isn't broken

Unit 7 Post - 7/06: Impulse and More Momentum

Impulse is the change in momentum of an object; it's the average force upon the object at any given time (multiplied by the time). You calculate impulse by subtracting the object's final momentum (m*v) from its original momentum (m*vo). Finding the impulse is important because it helps you understand the relative times and and velocities for the motion you're exploring.

With regards to the science of physics, there are two types of collisions - elastic and inelastic. An elastic collision is one where all momentum and kinetic energy (motion energy) are conserved. The value that it begins with is the same as the value it ends with. In an inelastic collision, the objects stick together and become one. They then share an equal velocity based off the transfer of the original velocity in relation to their difference (if any) in mass.

Unit 7 Post - 7/05: Conservation of Momentum

In systems involving force, velocities, and momenta; the basic concept to be understood is that velocities can be changed (usually transferred) but momentum is the same. Mass plays a significant role in this because momentum is the vector product of mass and velocity - so the greater the mass the greater the momentum. Velocity is generally transferred from one object to another when they come in contact with each other and equal masses; but if they don't they transfer velocities in proportion to the differences of their masses.  But all in all, momentum is conserved, the amount that is put into the system is the amount that will come out as well - regardless of a change in mass or velocity.

 

http://webpages.uah.edu/~wilderd/resources.html

This picture demonstrates the simple concept. The two balls have the same mass so their velocities will be transferred equally. So when the white ball hits the yellow ball, the yellow ball will move with the same force that it was hit - while the white ball will sit still because that's the velocity it was hit at (when you hit something... that something hits you just as hard). The momentum of the entire reaction stays the same even though the velocities are transferred. 

http://www.russbrown.com/motorcycle-lawyer-blog/dls/car-hits-bike-300x196.jpg

This tragic picture is a real-life application of this concept. The car and the bicycle hit each other with the same amount of force and the amount of momentum in the collision remains constant. However, mass of the motorcycle is much less than that of the car, thus the motorcycle felt much more of the force while the car did not (more mass = more inertia = requires more force to accelerate), leaving the motorcycle in ruins.

PHYSICS REVIEW AND REFLECTION - SEMESTER 1

In my first semester of physics this summer I have been challenged, frustrated, and on the verge of giving up. I've been inspired, enlightened, impressed, and surprised. I'm so happy to be in this class - not just because it means no science for the entire school year, but because I'm learning so much about the science of the world around me while having fun!

When it comes to discussing what I learned, it would be so easy to go on and on about the equations, formulas, scientific concepts, laws, and technicalities covered on paper. But if that's what you're interested in, just read my earlier posts! Learning is so much more than that! This class has taught me discipline and avoiding procrastination. Because we always have to post on our blogs every night by a certain time, and with my busy schedule, there's no room to slack or put things off. I'm able to stay focused and on top of what I need to do. Secondly, this class has taught me persistance and critical thinking. When physics gets hard, as it constantly does, it would be easy to give up and mutter around hoping someone will step in and save the day. However, that doesn't happen here or in the real world. When I'm confused and frustrated I've learned to push through that wall and challenge myself! Lastly, physics has taught me how to be a better team player and work with others more. I've always hated group projects and the like because in my mind it's easier to worry about yourself and no one else. However, we did so many group labs that you didn't really have a choice but to learn to work with others without taking too much charge or bumming off of others' efforts.

The things I really enjoy about physics class is the remotes and how we use them to test our knowledge without too much risk. It helps you learn because even if you make a mistake it's ok, but at the same time it helps you exercise the knowledge that you do know! Another thing I like is when we have class and group discussions about the concepts that we're exploring because students helping students is very effective because you're communicating on a level that you understand and it also gives you the opportunity to do soem teaching yourself! I also enjoy those simple worksheets that you shouldn't over-think because they lay everything out that you need to know in a simple way that isn't too intimidating.

Some of the things I feel challenged with in physics was, like I said, the group work - namely the labs. It often felt like we were thrown into the ocean with no life-vest. We'd just learned a concept or idea and then are expected to execute it on our own? That doesn't work so well; instructions can sometimes be confusing and hard to follow and more often than not when the lab finally gets completed I see absolutely no relevance or significance with it!

I chose this picture because the jumping reminded me of many of the concepts we learned this semester regarding forces, acceleration, gravity, and acceleration! In this picture you can see all of those things brought to life! However, this picture is a celebration from my sister's college graduation at the start of the summer and I also chose it because it sentimentally represents my much more "mini" graduation from my first semester of physics! WHOOOHOOOO!

Unit 6 Post - 6/30: To Acceleration... and Beyond!

A big part of physics is the equations we use to solve for various aspects of concepts and ideas. I often feel as though the equations are nothing more than a series of numbers and letters that if I'm lucky enough to memorize, I can hopefully plug in some values here and there. However, in further explorations of accelerated forces today, I have a genuine understanding of the equations and the concepts they enforce.

F(net)=ma. Because acceleration is multiplied by mass to find force, these variable are inversely related! That means that as mass increases acceleration will decrease and vise versa! This concept was illustrated perfectly in the Air Track Lab we did. As we added more mass to the dragging object, the acceleration of the entire system decreased. But when we decreased the mass of the dragging object (and/or added mass to the falling object) the overall acceleration increased! This makes sense since the objects with more mass exert a greater fore of weight downward and objects with more weight have more inertia and are harder to move or accelerate!

Understanding that equation relates directly to the understanding of the following:
Total acceleration = weight of falling mass (m*g)/ total mass of all the objects
By dividing these variables you clearly illustrate their relationship. The equal sign between "total acceleration" and "weight of the falling mass" means that they are directly related and as the weight of the falling mass increases, total acceleration will increase.

Unit 6 Post - 6/29: Forces with Acceleration

When you draw the Free Body Diagram of an object that is accelerating, not only is the object moving but it's changing speed (getting faster or slower) as it does! The forces acting upon the object aren't balanced which is why its velocity isn't constant.

In this video I illustrate a simple acceleration force by dragging my ipod across the floor, slowly at first, but then faster and faster to demonstrate how it changes speed. Obviously, my ipod represens the object. At first it's at rest - and at no time during the motion does it leave the ground; this means that two of the forces at work are the ipod pushing down with "weight" onto the Earth, and the Earth pushing up on the ipod with equal magnitude with "normal" force. The earphones inside the ipod are the force specifically pulling my ipod (obviously because I'm pulling it... but for the sake of the video, work with me here). The chord represents the unbalanced force of "pulling" to the left. The only force opposite this pulling is the friction of the floor, because it's rigid; however the pulling force is greater than the friction force thus leaving the equation unbalanced and the object to accelerate. Below is a more literal illustration of this motion.

Notice that the arrows of force in the up and down direction are equal magnitude, which is there is no acceleration in the y axis. However, the arrow for the pulling force arrow has much more magnitude than the smaller friction arrow in the opposite direction. It's not balanced, thus the acceleration on the x axis in the positive direction is justified.

Unit 5 Post - 6/28: Ukerub It Up!

Directions, magnitudes, and angles... OH MY! The "Ukerub" technique is all about thaking 2 vectors and getting one resulting one from which you can find the total displacement and angle of a "journey". First you define each of your given vectors in x and y terms (which may require the use of trigonometry functions), then add them together to find the resultant vectors in where you use opposite SOHCAHTOA to find the angle and Pythagorean Theorem to find your variables!

When learning about Newton's laws we learned about inertia and friction. Inertia is an objects ability to stay in the same state of movement that it's in. Friction is a type of force that works against motion and impending motion. In this video, I represent an object moving at a low and constant velocity with no acceleration. The only forces acting on me at that time are my weight downward and "normal" upward with equal force. My inertia is high because, although my velocity is low, I can maintain it easily. My friend Sam represents friction; with the support of the table, her mass is greater than my mass, so when come in contact I can no longer move. The force of her friction is greater than the force of the velocity I'm moving at or my force of inertia.

Unit 5 Post - 6/27: Newtons 3 Laws of Physics

Newton's three established laws of physics are some of the most fundamental and basis concepts of this science. His laws changed our understanding of the universe because they apply indefinitely to everything they refer to.

His first law states: "Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it."

This video shows a ball sitting still on a table. The ball is in motion, it has a speed and velocity of 0 m/s and no acceleration and has distance and displacement of 0m. This law says that the ball will continue to stay in this motion until something changes that! It's right! The ball just sits there, consistently sitting still. That is of course until I poked it. This was the "external force" that I applied to it in order to change its state of motion. When I poked it, the balls state of motion was changed!


His second law states: "The relationship between an object's mass (m), it's acceleration (a), and the applied force (F) is F=ma."

In this video, I used two balls to demonstrate Newton's second law. This mathematical formula is used to describe the force of objects in relation to each other. Both balls are dropped from the same height so they fall the same distance and are under the same acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s^2) - in that respect they are the same. I take a moment in the beginning to show that the purple soccer ball is bigger than the tennis ball, it has a greater mass. This all means that when I run up the stairs to drop them, the purple soccer ball falls with more force than the tennis ball because it has a greater mass and the same acceleration! 

His third law states: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

This simple video accurately demonstrates Newton's final law. The action that occurs is me throwing the ball up at a certain velocity. The equal and opposite reaction is that the ball falls down (in the opposite direction) at the equal velocity I threw it up at for the same distance that it went up at! The reaction was both equal in distance and opposite in direction and both in velocity because when it came down it was going the same velocity but negative.

Source:
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newton3laws.html

Unit 4 Post - 6/24: What Happens in Vegas...

You better shut your mouth... or I'll BUREKU your face! HAHAHA!!! Today I learned so much about solving physics equations that give you less information so you have to use more logic! Even though it was quite a challenge, it made me feel smart using such big numbers and complicated ideas. The "Bureku" technique is all about breaking vectors into equal parts so you can create variated right triangles based off of something like a single angle or velocity. When you form the right triangles you can use "SOHCAHTOA" (sine, cosine, and tangent trigonometry functions) to solve for legs of the right triangle you formed and give you velocities of the x and y axes. From there, the rest is history. I'm really enjoying discovering all the new ways to solve problems that I'd normally think were impossible.
An excellent application of this is the "Donkey Lab" that we did today in which we used our knowledge of physics to determine where a launched ball would land from scratch. This especially impacted me because using our knowledge of science and hard work, we created something real, tangible, and meaningful that went beyond just equations on paper. It was something that actually existed, actually mattered, I mean using that same science we could figure out where to drop a bomb or something (not the best example but... hey)! I was impressed and surprised not only that physics held such valid world application, but that we could really see how that application was real and we could make it happen on our own!

Unit 4 Post - 6/23: From X to Y; Accelerate All Over

Projectile motion takes the idea of acceleration one step further because it describes motion on both the x and y axes and their relationship with each other. One of my favorite things about this unit is the challenge of extracting information from word problems because it helps you to think critically and logically about the science behing what you're exploring. I  really enjoy the challenge of combining the logic of the world and the scientific rules of science. This is one of those rare times in school where I value what I'm learning because it's not just pointless and insignificant to the reality of my life.

The following series of pictures is basically exactly what we did in learning about projectiles and movement on the x and y axis. In the first picture, the ball is traveling with no acceleration along the x axis only. In the second, the same is true, but as it approaches the drop gravity's acceleration begins to take ove. In the third picture, the ball is now traveling along the y axis as it falls accelerating at gravity's rate of 9.8 m/s^2 which means a new velocity as well! In the last picture, the ball is about to hit the ground and has long since finished traveling along the x axis and is about to finish traveling along the y axis. The ball took the same amount of time to go the distance of the x axis as it did the y axis; that's physics baby.

Summary of Physics Thus Far!

Acceleration is always the constant force of gravity : 10/ms^2 downward. However, velocity changes as something moves with or against gravity. If something goes upward, against gravity, at a specific velocity it will go up quick, go up slow (as gravity's acceleration takes over), stop briefly, come down slow, then come down quickly. The speed that the object goes up at is the same speed (oposite velocity) that it comes down at when it's at the same position coming down. I demonstrate this concept in the video below. The acceleration of my entire flipping journey is always 10 m/s^2 (because of gravity). Let's say that when I first take off and I'm 0.5 m above the ground I'm moving at 2.5 m/s velocity; when I come down and I'm about to land and I'm 0.5 m above the ground I'm moving at 2.5 m/s.

THROWBACK! In Unit 1 we learned about scientific notation and how it's used to express especially large or small numbers in a more convenient way so you can manage them effectively. You move the decimal point to make the base number between 1 and 10, and how ever many places you moved the decimal place is the exponent above the 10! If the decimal point made a small number a big number, the exponent is negative, if it made a big number a small one the exponent is positive. This reminded me of how we use coins or paper money to express specific amounts of money to make them more manageable. I took the picture below to demonstrate how scientific notation works with the more applicable example of money: 10 pennies, 5 nickels, 4 dimes, and 1 quarter vs. a simple dollar bill.

In conclusion, in learning about physics I really learn about the world around me. When you look beyond the formula's and the confusing concepts, the science behing physics is truly the science of our world. 

Unit 3 Post - 6/21: Acceleration (Continued)

I took this video on the car ride home with my mom, it was late so at times its hard to see some of the detail. The video demonstrates many of the different concepts regarding velocity. In the beginning we increase our velocity and accelerate to a faster speed. Then we maintain that speed, so even though we were going 75 mph (hahaha) we had no acceleration. A car pulled in front of us and our exit approached, which meant it was time to slow down. This meant that we experienced negative acceleration, and a lower velocity. Then we came to a complete stop, not only did we have no acceleration (because we were maintaining our speed of 0 mph) but we had no velocity as well. It was a lot of fun!

Today, one of the biggest accomplishments in my understanding of physics and acceleration was units! Units are everything! Even if you don't completely understand the problem, you have a good chance of making something work if you just keep your units in tact. Understanding that acceleration is measured in m/s^2, time is measured in seconds, and distance in m will get you pretty far if you know what you're doing. The second thing  was understanding the differences between each type of graph and discovering ways to use the information it gives you efficiently. For example in a speed vs. time graph, if you want to find distance, you don't have to do some complicated formula - just find the area of the region below the curve of the specified section.

Unit 3 Post - 6/20: Acceleration

Acceleration is defined as a change in velocity per unit of time measured in m/s^2. Basically it means a change in the rate of speed. Acceleration doesn't have as much to do with the specifics of position; it does however describe total displacement and defines positive acceleration as moving away from the origin while negative acceleration is moving towards the origin. 

This video is a simple recording of the fishes in my aquarium. Fishes seldom are still, they're always moving. Often they aren't moving towards a specific destination - they're just moving! This reminds me of acceleration! Acceleration, like I said, usually describes displacement opposed to destination. Fish don't move towards a destination, but they don't visit the same spot twice - so they have a lot of displacement which you can see in my video. Also, I tapped the glass during the video to scare them and make them swim faster to demonstrate a change in speed. If you watch the fish, you see how they move slowly sometimes, then speed up, then slow down, and so on! A great practical application of acceleration!

Unit 2 Post - 6/17: Origins, Destinations, and the Journey

Today it all made sense! We continued studying motion, but this time around the big words and the subtle differences weren't quite as scary. With just a little bit of mental work and some real world logic you can understand the difference between velocity vs. time graphs and distance vs. time graphs and how what they show you relates to each other. When we applied what we were learning to word problem stories, a clearer picture was painted in my head of what we were studying. That application was the turning point in helping me understand kinematics. So, as you can see below, I decided to make my own.

This picture describes my mom's journey to her room in a velocity vs. time graph which has a slope that describes acceleration. She decided she was on her way, but before she could go I got a little hungry and asked her to get me a snack from the kitchen. She reluctantly agreed and slowly walked at a constant rate the kitchen, giving me that "mom glare" the entire way, because meant she was walking in the opposite direction of her destination from where she came from. She got the the kitchen and quickly stayed there while putting together something yummy for me! The line is short because she didn't stay there long and has no velocity (positive or negative) because she wasn't moving. When she was finished, she decided to hurry up to her room. The line is of positive velocity because she's moving away from her origin to her destination and its further away from the base line because she's moving at a faster velocity. The line is longer because her room is very far away so it took a longer time to get there. 

This graph describes my journey from my bed the car in the morning when I'm on my way to summer school in a distance vs. time graph. The difference between this graph is that it's slope describes velocity and it's consistency; also this graph demonstrates position as well! I wake up and roll out of bed; tired and groggy I half sleep-walk to the bathroom to get dressed and ready. The bathroom may be close to my room but the line has a shallow slope because I'm walking so slow, and the line is long because it takes so much time to get there. Once I finally manage to trudge to the bathroom, I stay in there a little bit to get ready. Brush my teeth, change clothes, all of the things it takes to be as fabulous as me. However, halfway through I realize how tired I am and how painful this is. The line is flat because I'm staying in one place with no velocity; but the line is short because I don't stay in there for long. Like I said, I'm not a morning person, and I can get ready in 5 minutes flat, so I decide that it's back to bed with me! With all the energy I have, I dash back to the comfort of my pillows and blankets to wait out the sunrise. This line has a steeper slope because I'm moving at a higher velocity, but it has a negative slope because I'm moving back to my starting point.

Unit 2 Post - 6/16: In the Fast Lane With No Direction

Physics is really forcing me to look at my world in a different way, and I love it! The subtle, yet imperative differences between distance and displacement or speed and velocity are direct applications to my world! Critical thinking is a big part of our educational growth, and now when I go running on a track versus running a trail, I have a deeper understanding of that! When I'm fast-walking to class because I'm late, but then stop for five minutes to talk to a friend, I can understand the science behind that!

It's hard to point to one specific thing and say that it was the most important aspect from unit 2. All of it was new to me, all of it was important to me, all of it taught me something new that allowed me to see things in a different light! The two pictures (... one of which that INVOLVES MY PARENTS ; ) above present the variety of topics we learned about. We were all headed to Tommy Bahama's at Waikele for some Father's Day Shopping. I decided to take my bike (not actually MY bike for the record) while my parents drove in order to represent speed and velocity. The van can go much faster than me, therefore it has a greater speed and therefore a greater velocity (it's slope on a line graph would be steeper). However, we are headed to same destination so we were moving in the same direction and traveled (about) the same distance. After we went shopping, we returned home; back where we started. Thus, even though we moved at different speeds and velocities, we traveled the same distance and had a displacement of zero. Funny how this stuff seems so confusing in the classroom but truly comes alive in our day to day.

Unit 1 Post - 6/15: Mass Don't Matter!

In unit 1 we discovered the foundation of physics and learned ways to describe and present various concepts and ideas with regards to this science. Scientific notation, dimensional analysis, and describing the relationship between variables in both graphs and equations are namely some of the things we explored.

One of the biggest things that impacted me was the pendulum experiment because it was hands on, active, and fun! Having a huge string swing thing hanging in the classroom was definitely the right way to get us motivated on the first day. Beyond that, the experiment really taught me something and genuinely surprised me! When discussing the different quantitative measurements and observations we could explore, I hypothesized that the mass of the weight on the pendulum would have a direct relationship with the period.

I chose the two pictures below because they properly illustrate this idea. If you saw an elephant on a swing, you might thing that it would swing for a much longer time than a hamster on a swing under the same circumstances of being released at the same angle and being on a pendulum of equal length. But the reality is, it would have little to no effect on the period at all! Although the masses are different, mass and weight are two different things, and mass has no affect on gravitational acceleration - which is based on weight. The links below are the sources of the pictures.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-elephant-on-a-swing-image9249929

http://www.thatcutesite.com/hamster-on-a-swing.html

Information About Me: 6/14

Hey! My name is Joshua Smith, I'm 16 years old and I'm a rising Junior at Punahou whose been here for 2 years. I love meeting new people and experiencing new things in hopes that I'll take away all that life has to offer while giving back to the people and the beauty that has inspired and offered me so much.

Science has always been a subject I enjoyed because it explains the mysteries of this world in a tangible way. So far I've taken Biology Honors, Chemistry, and plan on taking a Psychology course in the upcoming year.

Math isn't something that comes easy to me, but my work ethic always get me through. So far I've taken Algebra 1, Geometry, and plan on taking Algebra 2/Trigonometry in the upcoming year.

From this class I hope to learn a lot about physics, and it's application to the world around me. I look forward to being surprised to seeing just how prevalent physics is in my life specifically. By immersing myself in a fast paced intensive course, I also hope to improve my work ethic and study habits for all of my educational career as well.

The story behind this picture is pretty simple, I had a photo-shoot with a friend of mine because I wanted to and it made me happy. The importance of the art of glamour, vanity, and narcissism is a tragedy that I willingly suffer. Don't think too hard about it. It's may not be justified, possibly unverified, but it's my way of life - for me there is no other.  In the words of Mother Monster, Lady Gaga:

Vanity
(Pictures in magazines, movie screens)
Vanity
(There is a camera, so many beauty queens)

Vanity
(It's so good to be)
Fabulous and glamorous, we love ourselves and no one else

Nothin' wrong with being just a little bit vain
We need a little pretty 'cause this country's insane
So go ahead and label me whatever you like
But nothings quite as sexy as a woman is fine

http://www.metrolyrics.com/vanity-lyrics-lady-gaga.html