Physics at Home

I was sitting at my dining room table eating my dinner and trying to think of what I could use in my journal. Feeling a gust of wind, I stood up to turn the fan off because it was so cold, windy and rainy. Looking at the fan reminded me of what we are learning in physics - the difference between rotational and circular motion. The fan has rotational motion because the axis is within the fan. However, if you were to place an object on the end of one of the fan wings, that object would have circular motion because it's axis would be the fan which is on the outside of the object. If I were to push one of the fan wings with the fan off, my finger would be the force (the torque) and the lever arm would be the distance from my finger to the axis from which the fan is rotating around. I thought that it was really cool how I could find physics in such a simple and often over looked object!

Football!

This weekend, as part of FCA I went to the UH vs. Idaho football game. It was surprisingly really interesting and fun! Since my family doesn't have a TV, I don't really ever watch football and so I didn't know what to expect; but with Coach Dom's help I understood more than I usually do. Anyway, as I was watching, I was reminded of the homework problem we did about the football players who got tackled. However, instead of just reading about it, I got to watch and see it in real life! A physics problem come to life! I was able to see an actual sticky collision and envision that the two football player's momentums were conserved throughout the tackle. As one football player ran into a second football player, the (initial velocity of the first football)(first football player's mass) + (the initial velocity of the second football player)(second football player's mass) = (first football player's mass + second football player's mass)(final velocity). This law could also be applied to when a football player caught a ball. If the football player is standing still, when he catches the ball, the final velocity of the ball + football player is from the initial velocity of the ball. In all, I thought it was really cool to be able to watch physics come to life and try to figure out all the different ways physics could be applied throughout the game.

Physics in Toys

This afternoon, I was at my friend's house because we were supposed to be working on a Psychology project. While there, I saw this toy in her room and it reminded me about what we are learning in Physics. This toy follows the law of conservation of energy because the first ball bearing starts off with all the energy of the system while all the other ball bearings are at rest. However, as the ball comes into contact with the ball next to it, it transfers some of its energy to the second ball. This pattern continues as the second ball comes into contact with the third ball, once again transfering some of its energy. As a result, when the last ball is hit, there is still the same amount of energy in the system from the beginning. Even though the first ball no longer holds the same amount of energy as it did in the beginning, the total amount of energy within the system of all five balls, is the same. No energy is lost, and no energy is gained. This picture that I took of the action shows this law taking place!

Green Light!

As the quarter comes to an end, I was reflecting on my attitude towards Physics. After learning so much in just a couple of months, I feel like everything I see has something to do with science. I can see something and realize that it has a friction force keeping it still, or that it has a negative acceleration even if it is speeding up. That is so cool! This is why, to represent my attitude towards Physics, I chose a green traffic light. I feel that my attitude is much like a green light, it can't wait to go! Whenever I'm waiting at a red light, I'm at rest, content and staying still. However, once the light turns green, I step on the gas and move forward. For the next quarter, I can't wait to move forward in my learning and find out more amazing things and concepts that are behind and fueling every day actions such as running, moving things, traveling, and so much more. I don't want to be a red light, and satisfied with everything I know, I want to constantly learn new things and further my physics journey.

Fun at the Beach

This past summer, I went to Lanikai Beach with my friends to try to escape the hot summer sun and enjoy the ocean. While at the beautiful beach, my friend took this picture of me jumping off a tiny cliff onto the ground. After looking back at my pictures, I realized that this in fact is Physics also. After I jumped up into the air, my acceleration was -9.8 meters per second squared because I was carried only by gravity. Then, I reached a peak where my velocity was 0 m/s and I stopped going up and began descending down towards the ground at the same accleration of -9.8 meters per second squared. This demonstrates the affect of gravity "g" on acceleration. There was no outside force pushing me down, or pulling me up which is why my acceleration was always -9.8 meters per second squared no matter what direction I was moving. The sign of this value is always negative because even though I am moving in a positive direction, I am slowing down, and when I am moving in the negative direction, I am speeding up. Who knew that my simple jump at the beach could hold so much physics behind it?

Water Park Fun

This summer, my family took a trip to the water park. This picture is another example of velocity, acceleration and position. My brother is lying on a foam mat that slides downhill on the Volcano Express ride. Because it is a steep downhill ride, his velocity is constantly increasing because his speed is constantly increasing. His acceleration is also increasing. However, once he reaches the end of the ride and the slide levels out, his acceleration and velocity will begin to decrease. By the end of the ride, his mat will come to a complete stop and his final velocity will be zero just as his initial velocity was zero when he was at the top of the slide. Therefore, his average acceleration, which is his final velocity minus his initial velocity over the elapased time will be zero.

Wave Boarding

This past weekend, I observed what we are learning in Physics while watching my brother wave board outside our house. In this picture, he is pushing off the ground to begin his motion, giving him a positive velocity and acceleration. Velocity measures his speed and direction. Since his speed is increasing and he is moving forward, his motion would be represented by a straight line with a positive slope on a velocity graph. However, if he were for instance, trying to go up a hill but was unable to and began to slide backwards, his velocity and even his acceleration could be negative because of his change in direction. If my brother started from our house and went down the street, turned around and came straight back to our house using the same route, his total displacement would be 0. This is because he would have travelled about 25 meters forward and negative 25 meters backwards. Since velocity is calculated by dividing the total displacement by the elapsed time, in this case, his average velocity would be 0.