What are Waves?

This week in class, we were introduced to a new topic. We started to talk about waves and what they are exactly. Well basically a wave is a disturbance or oscillation (vibrating) that travels through a medium from one location to another. A medium is defined as material that carries the wave. There are various types of mediums in the universe. Another thing we discussed is the two different types of waves. Transverse waves and longitudinal waves. Transverse waves have energy that moves perpendicular to the wave motion, while on the other hand longitudinal waves contains energy that moves parallel to the wave motion. Some examples of a transverse wave include, ripples on a pond or an actual WAVE in a stadium or sporting event. An example of a longitudinal wave is like a sound wave. Below I have included a video of my brother singing

This would be an example of a longitudinal wave because he is creating sound waves. Although we are unable to actually visually see the sound waves we are able to hear them. These waves are created by the oscillation or the vibrating of Duke's voice. His vocal chords vibrate to create this noise that we hear that is considered a longitudinal wave because the energy is traveling parallel to wave motion. 

Multimeterssssss

Recently in class we have been learning about circuits and how they work. In doing so we were introduced to a tool known as a multimeter which helps us to find different values for certain things such as resistance, current, and voltage. This tool is very useful because it allows us to get accurate values without having to do it manually with equations. This is what a multimeter looks like:

(http://media.onsugar.com)

As you can see in the picture above the dial is what tells the multimeter to measure. The two prongs coming out of the multimeter are used to put onto the circuit directly so that we can measure the values. The numbers on the screen are obviously going to be the values. Typically multimeters will also give you the unit in which the value is being measured. Another use for a multimeter other then in physics class is to check if a battery is dead or not. Therefore multimeters are a very useful piece of equipment that makes the world a much better place. 

Energy Saving Project

This week in class we were introduced to a new project in which we will be starting. Basically what we are doing is analyzing our energy usage and ways to lower our consumption. In this project we will use various skills that we have used thus far to calculate numbers and figure out what we can do as an individual to lower our electric bill. In my household my family spends about $24.50 on using the dryer alone. It does not seem like a lot of money but in the end it adds up. My job while doing this experiment is to lower that number and save my family money. My plans include to simply just direct my family to hang our laundry instead of using the dryer. I believe that if we stay strict to our plans we really can lower our electric bill. My only fear for this project would probably be that my family members will not participate fully causing my predictions to become false. All I can do is hope for the best and do my part of the project. Another obstacle I might face though, is not being able to have solid evidence that my efforts were successful. I say this because my family cannot always provide me with an electric bill to prove the money saved for each month.

A vital part of this experiment is to create a lab report. Mr. Blake had mentioned that he will be grading us based on another persons opinion. Therefore I must make my lab report as thorough as possible so that a stranger who has no idea what this project is about will be able to understand what is the goal and what I am trying to do.

This is a picture of my washer and my dryer is on the side. 

Circuits

There are two different circuits we learned about this week in class. The first type is a series circuit. Basically this is a circuit that has only one path to take because the resistors are arranged in a chain like form. One characteristic of this circuit is that current is the same all the way through. Another thing that is special to this circuit is that the resistance can be found by simply just adding up all of the resistances.
An example of a series circuit includes a flashlight because the entire mechanism has only one circuit that makes it work. This is an image of my uncle's flashlight:

The switch, wires, and bulb are all together in one circuit making it a series circuit.

The second circuit that we learned about is a parallel circuit. In this type of circuit resistors are arranged with their heads together and their tails together. Unlike a series circuit a parallel circuit breaks up into different paths. One characteristic of this circuit is that voltage across the circuit remains the same. When calculating the resistance of a parallel circuit you must add all the resistor values in inverse then again inverse the answer. 

Ohm's Law

This week in class we learned about Ohm's law and how important it is in physics and understanding circuits. Basically what it is, is an equation that can be used to understand and find certain variables for potential difference, current, and resistance.

These are Ohm's Laws:

(http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/dccircuits/dcp23.gif)

The basic equation for all three equations is V=I*R and from that one equation you can derive two others that are used to help find variables in a circuit. The reason why these equations are known as Ohm's laws are due to the fact that Georg Ohm was the person who founded these equations and their function in physics. V stands for voltage, I stands for current, and R stands for resistance in a circuit.

Power is the rate at which energy is converted from the electrical energy of the moving charges to another form of some kind. We have seen power in previous parts of this course and it is relatively the same here. The amount of work being done basically. We can solve for power using this equation: P=VI. P stands for power, V stands for volts, and I stands for current. Another way to solve for power is using a variation of Ohm's law:

http://www.radioing.com/hamstart/ohms.gif

If you look at the blue section of this image, that is the equations that can be used to find power using Ohm's law.

It is obvious how useful Ohm's law in this unit. 

Electricity

This is a picture of an outlet, this is where electricity is drawn from.

Typically a regular wall plug like this disperses 120 volts of electricity.

What is electricity?
According to the dictionary, electricity is a form of energy resulting from the exsistance of charged particles. Electricity can be measured in watts. Electricity is considered a secondary energy source because it is made of many primary sources.

Why is electricity important?
Electricity is very important today for many reasons. The first and most broad reason is because it powers almost everything that we humans use in everyday life. Electricity, so to speak, makes our world go round. It powers almost everything from a phone to an entire household. Electricity is important because humans have found a way to use it so that it may save lives. A heart defibrillator is an electric box that basically shocks your heart and can bring a person back to life. Electricity helps many of us live life. It powers our lights, TV's, phones, stoves, and many other things that are necessary in our lifestyles here in the 21st century. Without electricity the world would just not be the same.

What is electric current?
Electric current is the flow of electric charge. Typically electric current is a flow of electrons through a wire. There are different ways to calculate current in a circuit. The first way is to use the equation I=Q/T. I stands for current, Q stands for the charge, and T stands for the time. Another equation used to calculate current in a circuit would be a part of ohm's law which I will later talk about in a different post. Current is measured in amperes, or otherwise shortened and known as amps.

What is resistance?
Resistance is the delay of movement of a charge in a circuit. Resistance is directly related to the length of a wire in a circuit and the number of collisions. Resistance also has an inverse relationship to the cross sectional area of a wire, which is basically how thick that wire is. It makes sense the the more area electricity has to flow the lower the resistance. Resistance is measured in ohms, and to calculate resistance we use Ohm's law, V=IR. V stands for volts, I stands for current, and R stands for resistance. This equation is very useful in trying to find multiple values.

Capacitors

Capacitor is something that holds energy in an electric field between two plates. Capacitors are very common in our world. Capacitors can be found in many various electronics. Such as TVʻs, DVD Players, and even computers. Capacitors are very important in our lives because they are what powers many of the things used in our everyday lives. Another example of a capacitor in our everyday lives is in a defibrillator. A defibrillator is used to start people's hearts if for some reason they stop beating. Obviously capacitors are very important in everyday life and they are useful. The science behind this concept is pretty straight forward. There is an electric field between two charged plates. The picture above is a picture of flash. Flash is also considered a capacitor.