Thankful for Physics

The topic for this weeks blog in honor of Thanksgiving, is what we are thankful for in physics. After a while trying to decide what I am thankful for I finally decided that the number one thing that I am truly thankful for in physics is gravity. There really is a lot to be thankful for in physics because physics is really what makes our world function the way it does. Gravity is what basically keeps us firm right on the ground and not floating around. Gravity is also equal to 9.8 m/s2. I am truly thankful for gravity because that is what makes Earth so special. In all honestly I rather be flat on the ground then floating around. Gravity is what allows us humans to do such amazing things like throw a ball, or kick a rock, or even do crazy flips. In life there are many things to be thankful for, but honestly gravity is what makes life possible and allows things to happen on this Earth.

Understanding Momentum

This week in class we learned about momentum and how it works. First and foremost I would like to explain what exactly momentum is. Momentum is a measure of motion. The equation based on momentum goes as follows: ΔP=mass*velocity. This basic equation can be used to solve the momentum of an object in motion. A conceptual way of explaining momentum is the force that something gets when it is being hit by another object exerting force. As there is conservation of mass, there is such thing known as conservation of momentum. Basically momentum cannot be created nor destroyed. It is just simply based on. Another aspect of physics that goes hand in hand with momentum is impulse. Impulse is the change in momentum. The equation for this goes as follows: I=ΔP (Pf-Pi). In class we used the example of a simple punch to further understand how impulse and momentum work. For a punch to have more momentum it must have more mass and more velocity. And if there is more momentum then there will be more impulse because impulse is just the change in momentum. Physics is all around and we can use it in everyday life.

Newtonʻs Second Law of Motion

In class this week we did an experiment to analyze Newton's second law of motion. Which has to do with the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. We did a number of trials which included changing the mass and then changing the force. This was a very successful lab that helped to further explain the law. To understand this concept we must remember that force is at equilibrium. But the equation for force goes as follows: F net= (mass)*(acceleration). So when you look at the equation if the mass is larger then the acceleration must be less because it has to equal that certain value. This experiment really enhanced my understanding of this law.

Newtonʻs First Law

This week in class we discussed and learned about Newtonʻs Laws of Motion. There are three laws:

1. Law of Inertia: objects in motion (rest) tend to stay in motion (rest) unless acted upon by outside unbalanced force.

2. Law of Acceleration: Acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force on the object.

3. Action Reaction Law: For every action, there is an equal or opposite action. For every force, there is an equal or opposite force. Equal in magnitude, opposite in direction.

In class the one we focused on the most was the first law. The law of inertia. We did an experiment analyzing inertia using a frictionless disk. We pushed it across the floor to analyze how it will forever continue to stay in motion until something affects it. One example that Mr. Blake discussed that was actually very funny was in relation to us teenagers. He said an excuse to not do anything was to tell your parents about the first law of inertia. How an object at rest stays at rest. Therefore since I am an object at rest I will tend to stay at rest. I honestly thought that, that was a very funny example of physics in everyday life. Everyday I learn that there is physics more and more in everyday life. 

Predicting Landing Point

This week in physics we learned how to use formulas like d, a, t, and v, a, t, and d, v, t to solve for where an object would land coming off of a cliff or ledge. For example I could use certain givens like the height of the bed and acceleration of earth to calculate where the calculator would land on the x-axis. To me this is a pretty cool skill because it allows a person to make predictions and find out where something would land. A skill like this could be used for stuntman to determine if they could make a certain jump. Because we had a problem that modeled how certain velocities can affect the outcome of a distance. Therefore it is important to know where things will land.

Projectile Motion

This video is a video of me throwing a calculator. I took this video to show an example of projectile motion. Projectile motion is when an object is moving in both the x and y axis. As you can see the calculator is moving up and down as well as left and right. Therefore it is moving in both axis. Projectile motion is actually very interesting and it is around more then we think. For example a ball being thrown is also undergoing projectile motion. A person jumping from point A to point B is also projectile motion. In class this week we learned multiple different ways to find out certain measurements having to deal with projectile motion. Projectile motion can be actually beneficial in everyday life because it can help us further understand how things move and certain factors to it.

Vectors

This week in class we learned about vectors and what they were. We further understood how they work and what they are. The picture above is my brother holding out both arms creating vectors. A vector is basically a quantity that has both magnitude and direction. The vectors created are not considered equivalent vectors because they donʻt have the same direction. Vectors are actually pretty interesting because they can be broken up to make certain lengths and to find certain quantities. We were also assigned a vector quiz and I am actually having a really hard time with it. Hopefully I can figure it out though.

Projectile

This week in physics class we learned about projectiles. The definition of a projectile is: something that has a single force affecting it, gravity. We conducted multiple experiments and used logger pro to analyze and understand projectiles. For example a person jumping from point A to point B would be considered a projectile because the only force affecting it, is gravity. The video above is an example of projectiles. That is my brother Byrne who is jumping from point A to point B. The only thing affecting him is gravity because there is nothing else putting force upon him. Projectiles are pretty cool and I am very excited to analyze other forms of projectiles. 

Teach the Makua

This is a video of me teaching my father about some concepts learned in Physics this quarter. Enjoy!

Q1 Physics in a Nut Shell

Physics is all around us in everyday life. It is pretty much the fundamental building blocks of how things work and why it works that way. Through this course I was able to understand many parts of my everyday life. To begin, the first thing that I have learned is the difference between accuracy and precision. They are both very important in physics. Accuracy is how close a value is to the “accepted value” while precision is how repeatable the values are. Another thing we learned in physics was periods of a pendulum and how different factors affect them. After an experiment we had conducted we learned that only the length of a pendulum affects it period. When we finished learning about pendulums we moved on to the unit of movement and kinematics. In this unit we covered many different terms such as, velocity, displacement, acceleration, and many more. This whole unit was basically to learn and understand how things relate to each other and how movement is a very complex topic. We learned how to solve multiple different equations to find out certain information on movement. Like “d,a,t” equation. An equation used to find either distance, acceleration, or time from a moving object. Mr. Blake taught us these equations to help us further understand relationships in this broad topic of movement. Another thing we did pertaining to this whole unit was graphing. We learned how to graph movement and the parts of it. One thing we figured out is how graphs in movement can be converted and relate to one another in some way or another. Like a distance vs. time graph, it can be converted to a velocity vs. time graph using slope. This quarter I learned a lot about the world around me. Through this class I was able to further understand why certain things happen in this world.

Kinematics

This is a picture of a nerf gun. This nerf gun is a part of physics in everyday life. When solving certain equations in physics you use different values. One of the values is labeled as V_{o. It stands for original velocity. When an object is simply just being released, not thrown its}  V_o is equal to zero because it is starting from rest. When an object is thrown down it's  V_o then contains a value because it has a certain speed. The bullet about to be shot by this gun would have a  V_o with a value because it is being shot out with force. Meaning that there is movement from the very beginning. After the bullet from this gun hits the wall it will begin to decelerate. The bullet will begin to fall to the ground. The acceleration in which it would fall would be 9.8 m/ s. It would be this value because we are located on earth and that is what gravity is. It is amazing how things work in such weird ways. It is even more amazing how physics is literally all around us. Everything in life relates to physics. This simple nerf gun for example. It contains both velocity, original velocity, and even gravity. Before this class I would have never been aware of how truly amazing and alive physics is. 

Acceleration

In class this week we learned about acceleration. Acceleration was defined as the change of speed. This is a picture of the inside of the car. On top of the thing behind the steering wheel there is a thing that shows acceleration. There are numbers and it shows the change of speed. Acceleration was something I did not really know about before this week. To me I thought it just meant to start moving. I mean that is technically true, but not really at the same time. I think it is amazing that cars are so amazing that they can calculate something like acceleration. Acceleration is something that seems complicated but it really isn't. It's simple all you have to do is break it into parts. 

Displacement

This past week in class we learned about  motion. A sub topic within motion included this thing called velocity. Velocity is equal to displacement over time. We learned that if a race starts at a certain point and ends at the same point the velocity would be equal to zero because there was no distance that was displaced. This is a picture of my brothers getting ready to start a race. The start and finish point is the same. According to what we learned in class. The velocity of them during the race would equal zero because there was no displacement.