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  1. Nearing the end of the year 2013, a new Disney movie came out, sending society into fanatic obsession. This movie was of course, Frozen. Frozen tells the story of Queen Elsa and her struggle to contain her gift. The majority of the movie is her sister, Ana and her entourage tracking down Elsa to try to help her. Well trolls, evil fiances, and talking snowmen later, the world is completely addicted. I still am, quite frankly.

    While I watched this movie a hundred times, I wasn't just belting along to every song in the movie, I was baffled at how realistic it was compared to other animated movies. They made the characters 3D, they used a real reindeer to crate Sven, and they spent years making it perfect. (I'm not actually sure how long it took them, but it did take a long time to perfect.) Anyway, they are now in the works of making a second and...oh right! Physics...

    Well when I watched the movie after I entered my junior year, physics came into my brain. The animators took a lot of time to make sure that the movie followed physics, which I can't say for many animated films. Especially in action scenes, I noticed how they applied how objects would fall in free fall, also how all three of Newton'd laws were used correctly. Another way it followed physics was with their use of projectile motion as well as the other aspects of kinematics. When objects were moving around the screen and giving lines, the Doppler Effect was slightly apparent. This only scratches the surface at all the tech team to create a timeless classic.

  2. blog-0347723001429102834.jpgJust like how mirrors are colorless and have a color, black holes are TITLED black and do not have one. Fzx obviously didn't go to kindergarten.

    So I thought I'd just go through this black hole phenomenon real quick because I personally find it super interesting. And now: a brief summary of black holes and radiation...

    Black holes are NOT black! Not in the least. They glow. Black holes glow slightly and give off light throughout the whole spectrum! This includes visible light.

    This form of radiation is dubbed "Hawking radiation" after the famous professor Stephen Hawking. He was the first to propose this (legitimate) theory.

    Black holes are constantly giving off this glow and therefore losing mass. Ergo, unless another source of mass (such as interstellar gas or light) sustains them, a black hole will eventually evaporate altogether! Smaller black holes, in theory, emit radiation a lot faster than larger ones...so as predicted, if the Large Hadron Collider creates miniscule holes through particle collisions...they should evaporate almost immediately!

    In this way, scientists should be able to study a black holes' decay through radiation and learn much more about the how's, why's, and find answers to some of our most ominous, universal questions...

    Leading us to a much...brighter...future(;

  3. joshdeutsch
    Latest Entry

    I watched Interstellar the other day and was surprised by the amount of theoretical physics there were. One part of the movie they mentioned magnetic fields, which are real physics, but i thought it was cool that they incorporated that into the movie to show the message. Allow we can't just change magnet fields with the push of a book none the less cool idea. Now we will get into the theoretics. The astronauts in the movie didn't experience time travel but did go through a black hole that had it's own time spand due to being in another universe. This connected to the idea that time travel could possibly be harnessed. Weird ending but physics theoretical and real were present so that was cool.

  4. mandy
    Latest Entry

    Today in our lab we had a cylinder of water and some tuning forks and my group figured out a cool thing. When we struck the tuning forks and placed them in the water, the water splashed and made some waves. The tuning forks with lower frequencies didn't make those waves because they didn't have enough amplitude to move the water. The thicker and longer the tuning fork was the bigger the waves. The water splashed onto the cylinder of water and was quite amusing to me and my other group members. The sound waves from the tuning fork made a vibration and amused us by the splashing water. Although the lab was fun, that part was even more fun.

    Another thing that happened today that created waves was when I hit the rubber stopper against the plastic tube. The sound varied with the material I used to hit the tube. When I hit it with the rubber stopper, the noise was quieter compared to when I hit it with the wooden part of the pencil. The different frequencies changed the sound that we heard when I hit the tube.

  5. Most people know that the compass is used to navigate yourself around. However most don't know how it works. A compass is a magnet that is free to line up with magnetic field lines. The earth is basically a giant magnet with a north and south pole. However, the north pole of a compass is attracted to the geographic north pole of the earth.. therefore the geographic north pole of the earth is a magnetic south pole. The compass is able to navigate you around earth when you are lost because of magnetic field lines which run from north to south outside of the magnet. A north point of a compass will point towards wherever the magnetic field lines point. A compass is a good thing to bring with you when you travel or hike because it doesn't require electricity and the poles on earth will most likely never change, making the compass a consistent tool to have for an emergency. A compass is polarized which means it has two distinct and opposite ends. Regardless of where you are on earth, if you have a compass you can use magnetism to help you find your way back home!

  6. evan
    Latest Entry

    Population concerns on Earth are leading scientists to inquire whether colonizing Mars is possible. As of now, over 78,000 people have applied to leave Earth forever and live on Mars. Mars One, a nonprofit organization, is sponsoring the colonization with a take-off date sometime in 2023. Out of the applicant pool, four will be chosen to send first to Mars. The first four will lay the groundwork for a permanent colony. Two years after the first four land, Mars One would send up more people to the colony. With the application process underway, it seems as though scientists have discovered ways for humans to survive on Mars indefinitely. However, this is not the case. Many, many concerns exist such as how will the colonists feed themselves? Will crops which grow on the Earth also grow on Mars?

    The first settlers of Mars will most likely be farmers. Yes, they will be astronauts; but, if survival is of any importance to them, they will learn to farm in order to eat. Research which has been conducted supports the idea that growing crops is possible in microgravity. However, those working for NASA do not know to what extent the gravity of Mars will effect crop growth. Also, Mars' surface only receives about half of the sunlight that the Earth's surface receives. Will plants be able to grow with limited sunlight? On top of the already limited sunlight, pressurized greenhouses would be necessary to grow crops. The greenhouses would block out more light. So, additional light would be necessary from other sources than the sun. What would power additional light sources? How would that power be generated and sustained?

    Radiation would also be a problem faced by those on Mars. Mars does not have as strong of an atmosphere as the Earth. More radiation reaches the surface of Mars than the surface of the Earth. Inhabitants would need a way to reflect the radiation or shield themselves from the rays.

    To live on Mars, man must master the art of agriculture in microgravity. Feeding the inhabitants of Mars is one among many more necessary tasks of survival. As of now, research is still being conducted. The 78,000 who have already showed interest in living on Mars are a bit stupid or extremely bold. With current technology man would not survive on Mars. I do not doubt though that technology will develop in the near future for man to successfully live on Mars.

  7. So far this year, I have to say my favorite lesson this year is went we were working with the machine that shocked us when we touched it. I thought this was enjoyable becaue it was very funny to watch people get shocked when they went to touch or even kiss the Van de Graff Generator. I think the created a very enjoyable setting to learn about how proton, and electrons interact between each other, and what pain they an create when they or not ground. I personally tried touchig the machine and I quickly pulled my hand away because it hurt so bad! But some people were brave enough to go ahead and kiss the thing... I would never. I also found it so fascinating how we all could hold hands as a class and send one huge shock through all of use. I never knew soemthing was possible. But his wwas my favorite demonstration for a class period. I thought it also helped expand my knowledge on how proton, neutrons and electrons interect!

  8. A tool that provides direction by the use of magnetism is based on the basis of physics. This tool, the compass, has been used for many centuries and helped guide history through various explorations. Today, this tool is not used as much as it had been in the past but if you are ever lost it is a great instrument to help you find your way.

    Magnetism is one of the first bits of science students learn about in school and just about the first thing we discover is that like poles repel opposite poles attract. If you hold two bar magnets so their north poles are almost touching, they will push away from one another; if you turn one of the magnets around so one magnet's north pole is near the other magnet's south pole, the magnets will pull toward one another. That's all there is to a compass: the red pointer in a compass - the magnetized needle - is a magnet and it's being attracted by Earth's own magnetism called the geomagnetic field. Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet with one pole up in the Arctic and another pole down in Antarctica. Now if the needle in your compass is pointing north, that means it is being attracted to the Earth's north pole. Since unlike poles attract, the compass is being attracted to must be a magnetic south pole. Furthermore, the thing we call Earth's magnetic north pole is actually the south pole of the magnet inside Earth. Originally this concept was a little challenging to grasp but then I realized all I need to remember is that opposites attract. Earth's magnetic field is actually quite weak compared to forces like gravity and friction. For a compass to be able to show up the relatively small effects of Earth's magnetism, the effects of these other forces must be minimized. That is why compass needles are lightweight and mounted on frictionless bearings.

    Compasses provide direction to our destination which in the end can be more useful than most other instruments we use in our daily lives.

  9. Sabrinademarco
    Latest Entry

    A guitar string has a number of frequencies at which it will naturally vibrate. These natural frequencies are known as harmonics. The frequency at which an object vibrates at depends upon the tension of the string, the linear density of the string and the length of the string. Each of these natural frequencies or harmonics is associated with a standing wave pattern. Also, the length of strong required to produce a natural frequency could be predicted by using the wave equation (v= frquency x wavelength).

  10. as some of you know I work at 2 ton ton'y where we have real good pizza. And the other day I had to walk to work in the rain. And so I was walking up Hudson and crossing th cross walk in front of wegmans, you know the big long one at the main entrance. as I was walking along I looked over my shoulder and noticed a car was waiting to pull into wegamans, and I didn't want to hold that nice man up I did like a half jog to get out of his way. I continued my walk to work as usual and right before I was about to enter my work place I checked my pockets to see if I had everything, and my phone WAS NOT in my pockets. so I sprinted back as fast as I could to that cross walk because I knew it had to be there. As I approached the beginning of the cross walk I could see my phone face down in road. But then the worst thing happened, I watch a ford f-150 run over my phone. I walked slowly toward my phone as if I were in a dramatic sappy movie picked up my phone and observed my screen. nearly completely shattered with no hope of working again. But then as im holding my phone in despair I get a text and my screen lights up. and so my still works but moral of the story is pedestrians have the right away and take your time on those cross walks.

  11. One of my favorite movies is Miss Congeniality! If you have not seen it, number one, you should, but it is about an FBI agent who goes undercover in the Miss United States Pageant. Because she is not by any means a pageant star, for the talent portion she shows off her amazing skills playing music on different types of wine glasses. The reason sound is produced as she swirls her fingertip around the glasses is due to the principal called resonance. Resonance occurs when a system vibrates another system with natural frequency. Different size and shaped glasses cause differences in pitch because the sound wave vibrate differently due to their differing frequency. Nothing better than coming across some physics in one of your favorite films.

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    fminton20
    Latest Entry

    Walter Lewin was a professor at MIT for 49 years. He became quite prestigious, not just on campus but online as well with his online video courses. In 2013 he began to create online versions of his classes for people to take as well. And in October 2014 it brought him sexual harassment charges. Immediately after said charges were brought, Lewin was fired and his videos were taken down from the internet. I don’t believe that his videos should have been taken down off the internet.

    I do understand why MIT would believe it was right to remove the videos. Lewin’s reputation was intertwined with that of the institute, once people find out about the charges it reflects negatively on MIT as a college. MIT wanted, “a complete separation from Walter,†(The Tech). if it’s found out that instead of defending Lewin, that MIT fired him and cut off all ties they had with him, it would look good for the college, because they took action against something that is frowned upon in society. So MIT’s rash decision to remove all videos and fire Lewin is completely understandable, but maybe not so well thought through. MIT was just trying to watch their own skin and are trying to prevent, “any further inappropriate behavior,†(The Tech). By removing the videos MIT is guaranteeing that there are no ties with Lewin at all, and there is almost no way to find the videos now, and will be forever deleted at the end of this semester at MIT.

    But removing the videos also may not have been a great idea for MIT to do. I understand getting rid of Lewin’s online classes. But Lewin’s videos, “have reached millions,†(The Tech). Lewin’s videos have helped not only the physics students at MIT, but people all around the world, learn physics by this brilliant man. He created demonstrations and lectures that, although I have not seen them, look as though they made it quite interesting to learn. By deleting the videos, MIT is taking away a valuable way to study and learn physics, for students who may not understand it sitting in a lecture hall. Although MIT is keeping them up till the end of this semester, what about the students who may need them later on in life? Or other students across the globe who have used Lewin’s videos to enhance their learning. Lewin’s videos have nothing to do with the sexual harassment charges, so if you delete the online classes that’s fine because that is where the charges began that’s fine and understandable, but taking away videos that were created to help students learn, is only hurting the students who may have relied on Lewin’s videos. Not only that, but Lewin is a brilliant man and MIT is deleting his work. Although what he allegedly did is wrong, it is also wrong to permanently destroy someone’s lifetime work.

    In conclusion I believe that Walter Lewin, accused of sexual harassment, should not be allowed to continue to work at MIT and give online classes, but I do not believe that his lecture videos should have been deleted. His lecture videos offer a different way for students to learn the material especially if they don’t grasp it in class. I personally know from experience that online videos to help learn actually help me learn the material so much better. Although I understand the reasoning behind MIT firing Lewin and not wanting his name associated with theirs, I also understand that Lewin is a brilliant man and his work has influenced so many lives across the globe help to learn physics from “swinging from a ball†(The Tech). Lewin’s videos should not be deleted because they help kids learn and the alleged accusations did not take place within these videos and have nothing to do with students, except for helping them learn the material that’s being taught to them.

  12. Ryanz18
    Latest Entry

    My dear friend Joe went through a tough time in his life. He once fell in love with a girl on Facebook who was not real. Thoughout this time physics was displayed in many ways. As he found out that this person was not the person he believed was to be, he started to cry. As the tears ran down his face friction slowed them down before they entered the pool that was below from his tears. Friction played a big part as his face turn red. As he got more angry he threw the bear he bought for her. As the bear was airborn, friction slowed it down from the original speed it was released at. As the momentum grew the force behind it hit the wall. Due to the large amounts of force there was a hole in the wall. Causing Joe to get even more angry and cry more. So as you can see physics has been shown in Joes catfish days.

    @Joe_Thompson

  13. Waves they're everywhere. They're apart of our daily lives. We experience waves 24/7 whether its from sound waves, light waves, etc.! In this blog post I'm going to be discussing several examples of waves in our daily life.

    Light waves- The sun is the main source of light waves on earth and require no medium to get to us.

    Sound Waves- These waves require a medium to get to us.

    For example if you put a bell in a vacuum sealed, air tight case and hit it then you wouldn't be able to hear the bell but you could still see it. This is because light waves don't need a medium but sound waves do.

    This sums up a short summary on waves thanks for reading.

  14. thatnewjunior
    Latest Entry

    On a slightly-longer-than-necessary-immediate-family-only-two-week trip to the Adirondack Mountains over the summer past, I learned how to waterski on one ski. Once up on two skis, the forward velocity of the boat makes the water 'act' as it would if you had fallen on it from a very high position: it 'hardens' beneath you, making it possible for you to basically stand on your skis, on the water. Once you get going and find yourself advancing in a relatively straight line, you slowly add pressure to one foot, and begin to slide your other ski off by lifting your heel. More often than not, you will fall once your weight leaves the ski you are trying to get rid of. But eventually I succeeded in keeping upright after dropping a ski! Next summer's task: getting up on only one ski to begin with!

  15. Colby's Blog

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    Another example of how physics applies to karate is in take-downs. This is when you use your opponent's bodyweight against them (which I know is more Judo inspired than actual karate, so just bear with me). But what I observed is with minimal brute force a person with little mass can take down an opponent with much bigger mass. This is done with speed. And as the formula for force goes, it is equal to the mass of the fist times the acceleration of the acceleration of the punch. So, short people of the world don't worry, with enough speed you can beat a much bigger opponent.

  16. isaacgagarinas
    Latest Entry

    When I was in Jacksonville I went to a go kart place called the Autobahn Indoor Speedway. These weren't your typical go karts however. At the Autobahn the cars reached speeds up to 50 mph! Drivers have to wear helmets for safety and the speed made for some pretty intense races. There was a lot of physics involved in driving the cars. One of the most important parts of learning how to be as fast as possible was getting used to knowing how much and when to brake around turns. Braking too much will slow you down and can cause wrecks, however not braking enough can cause you to slam your car into the wall, also slowing you down and putting you at risk of wrecks. The only way to do this was through friction. By stopping the rotation of the wheels the tires then grinded against the concrete ground creating friction which is what would slow down your car. Also many forces were exerted with the bumping of cars and from running into walls. If my car ever rammed into another, the force exerted from my car onto his was the same amount of force his exerted onto mine. A lot of centripetal acceleration also takes place at all 4 of my wheels. Even if my car is moving at a constant velocity, the wheels are constantly changing direction as they spin and therefore accelerating inward. Finally the force of gravity is always constant on me and my car. Gravity exerts a force of 9.81 m/s^2, which is what keeps me and my car from flying off of the track. The Autobahn Indoor Speedway was a pretty intense go karting place and I had a lot of fun racing!

  17. Being a girl a generally spend some time getting ready for various events. Getting ready requires many different tools such as curling irons, flat irons, and hair dryers. These tools require a good amount of electricity to power and when you plug more then one of them into the plug the lights dim significantly. This is because the circuits that these are plugged into are only series circuits. This means there is only one path for the current to flow through and when you plug in another tool it requires a lot of extra electricity so the lights dim so enough energy can be pulled for the blow dryer. This way you the circuit wont blow out and a fire wont start even thought it is a possible.

  18. t_hess10
    Latest Entry

    In magnets, there are many rules to need to know. First magnets run from north to south outside the magnet and south to north inside the magnet. Also, magnetic field lines show the flow of these electrons and how they interact with other magnets around. When two magnets are close to each other with both of their closest sides the same, the magnets repel each other and magnet field lines shown in between the magnets are seen repelling away from each other. Also, when two magnets are close to each other with their closest sides being opposite, they attract, which is shown with magnetic field lines. Overall, by using these need to knows, you can determine many question with magnets.

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    aj31597
    Latest Entry

    In the movie Furious 7 there was a really cool scene where they dropped their high end cars out of a military plane with parachutes with the drivers in them in hopes to land on a road and continue driving. To shoot the scene they actually did it dropping two cars out at a time with parachutists following on the way down with cameras. At 12,000 feet the skydivers had to follow the cars at the angles needed and dodged falling debris. The shooting for this movie not only took caution and creativity but a knowledge of physics as well.

  19. There are many different types of waves. Mechanical Waves, Sound Waves, Electromagnetic Waves and even waves people get in their hair. Today I am here to discuss the term wavy in context of style and fashion. Coming from Urban Dictionary wavy can be defined as the new futuristic way of describing something in a positive connotation, popularized by rapper Max B. Another definition for wavy is the highest level of smooth/cool/swagger. For those who don't already I know I am known around I-town as the "wavy boy". I brought this name to myself because I feel that I am "wavy". I take pride in the way I dress and I like passion. I could go on and on about the term "wavy" but I am going to end it here. Thank you for time and stay tuned for more!

    @Wavy_boyDJ

    Follow me on Twitter and Instagram

  20. During a sporting event, the players are the ones expected to perform physical activities. However, within the game and the stadium, there are many other types of physics. A few examples are waves. Waves range from the stadium fans, to the sounds of the players, to the light waves lighting up the stadium. One of the most common waves is performed by the fans, but must be done with a lot of concentration and coordination. A stadium wave has most, if not all of the crowd performing a transverse wave that usually has a very long period because of how long it takes to complete. A transverse wave is a type of wave where the direction of energy transfer is perpendicular to its oscillations. The sound waves created by the players and cheering fans are classified as mechanical and longitudinal waves. They are mechanical because they require a medium to travel through, and they are longitudinal because the air particles are caused to move back and forth. Finally, there are light waves which are classified as transverse and electromagnetic. They are electromagnetic because they do not need a medium to travel through , and are transverse due to the same reasoning as the stadium waves. There's a lot of physics within sports and the players, but the rest of the environment contributes to physics as well, as much, if not more than the actual players.

  21. The moon does some strange things if you haven't noticed! And something very strange is happening this Saturday, April 4th! A so called, "Blood Moon", is to occur that will be the shortest of the century, these are very rare occurrences that are very interesting to examine.

    The blood moon occurs only when the sun, moon and earth are lined up perfectly with the earth in the middle. The earth as it lines up with the sun casts a large shadow which then envelopes the moon as it passes into the earths shadow. As it does this the moon becomes darker and eventually a reddish hue. The moon is turning red for a certain reason because the atmosphere of the earth filters out the blue light of the sun leaving only the red light to shine on the moon giving it it's signature red moon color.

    This blood moon occurrence happens to be a special one though, that is because usually a blood moon occurs twice a year, but when it occurs four times, like it will this year, it is known as a tetrad.

    So if a blood moon is when the moon is blood red, a blue moon is when the moon is blue right? Surprisingly no! A blue moon has nothing to do with the color of the moon unlike the blood moon. So what is a blue moon? Well it is a confusing tail.

    Originally the idea was traced to the "Maine Farmers's Almanac", which stated a blue moon was the third full moon in a season that contains four full moons instead of three which is a rare occurrence. But the idea was misinterpreted by another author who stated a blue moon is the second full moon in a month with two full moons, this was published and adopted as common knowledge.

    Now when you're friends start talking about the lunar cycles at the lunch table you can contribute useful information into the conversation. Enjoy your Saturday night which I'm sure you'll spend doing something other than watching the moon!

    Blue moon information from space.com

    Picture from toonpool.com

  22. This ones going to be a throw back to the beginning of first-person-shooters online. Doom, the game where you stop the forces from hell taking over the earth (or if you're a stickler it's Doom 3 and you close the gate to Hell on Mars.) and you are the only guy ( Doom Guy, heh, bad pun sorry) to complete the task....or if you want to play the older games with a friend and then have it turn into an all out brawl with your fists. With this i'm ignoring the everything else that has to do with the physics because most things like floating eyes that spit fire and a portal to Hell on Mars can possibly be explained, i'm focusing on how the heck Doom Guy can carry nine different guns. This guy carries around shotguns, a pistol, a rocket launcher,the BFG and a chainsaw. Yes he can be strong enough to carry but where does he put them when he isn't using them, let alone all the ammo for it. I would have a video for this one but man is the game as bloody and gory as it can possibly be for it's time, instead have a picture.

    blogentry-3595-0-44193200-1428074154_thu

    Also, who's excited for Doom 4?

  23. heather_heupel
    Latest Entry

    Ever since I had an MRI on my knee (worst experience ever) I wanted to discover what was really going on. Sitting still for 32 minutes really makes you start to think about everything. I wondered what the machine was really doing. I had to take off all of my jewelry, or clothes that may have metal on them and until 9 minutes into it did I realize I left my ring on. I only noticed because it was vibrating and made my hand feel weird. I pulled the emergency cord and told them what was wrong and they allowed me to keep it on because that part of my body was not in the tube.

    I found a really good video that started off by explaining the waves, amplitude, frequency, phase, etc. The concepts are kind of hard so I had to keep re-watching parts of the video. I also still need a lot of explanation. What I did pick up was this is one of the times electrons aren't as important as the Nucleus. Using the technology and creating the clear pictures, tumor tissues could be differed from normal tissues. It became the quickest (although not very quick if you're actually in one) screening tool to detect these defaults in the human body. To make an MRI picture, they use 3D space to focus the image of the ligaments.

    This was a very hard topic to research especially since it is only my first year of physics but Mr. Fullerton I'm sure could easily understand it;

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