American football is known for its hard hits on players, and as a result, injuries happen way too often. Players with more mass may not have a faster acceleration towards another player, but because of their mass they often times cause more damage. Picture a smaller running back running into an defensive lineman. The lineman don't have to move with nearly as much speed, simply because they are a lot bigger than the running backs. That is why the running backs are often the ones that fall backwar
Let me start off by saying I hate the Patriots, but I love Rob Gronkowski. His ability to get to the ball so quickly as a tight end amazes thousands. Because of his large mass, he is able to plow through other players and catch the ball as he so often does. The way the ball just perfectly lands in his arms is insane, and it all relates to physics, obviously. Rob Gronkowski is able to carefully calculate the trajectory of the projectile, or the football, and where it will eventually land. That ma
As a waitress, its kind of important to learn how to balance multiple things on a tray while walking and without tipping the tray. Its hard to do so, and physics can help explain why. When loading items on a tray, they automatically apply a force down, which is their mass times the acceleration due to gravity. At the same time, my arm and hand have to push back with the same amount of force in order to keep the tray up. Also, when taking items off of a tray, its important to find that balance so
In July, I will be taking a vacation to the beautiful island of Turks and Caicos as a gradation present. At the resort, there are many excursions to choose from. However, the coolest one that I saw was a paddle boarding adventure through a cove with iguanas. Though paddle boarding may look easy, I imagine that there is a lot of physics involved and that it it a lot harder. The rider has to apply enough work and force to the paddle in order to propel the board forward. This can prove to be a stru
My catapult that I built with Kalea did not go as far as the other catapults, but let's just say ours was the cutest. It launched our softball a whopping one meter, compared to the highest of around 46 meters. We tried to achieve a release angle of 45 degrees, because we knew that it would travel the farthest distance. However, we found it quite difficult to achieve that 45 degree angle so we assumed a position that we thought would work. Our catapult launched the softball in the air for an aver
Almost two months ago, I dropped my phone outside by the football field. I usually just pick it up and go about my day, but this time was different- a portion of my screen actually shattered. I've had my phone for almost two years now, and have dropped it more times than I can count. But of course, I was having the worst day and my phone free fell into a shattered and broken mess. It fell out of my pocket with an initial velocity of zero, and an acceleration of 9.81 meters per second squared. Wh
I learned the hard way that driving in the snow is not as easy as it looks. One day over winter break, I was driving when the back end of my car slid out from under me. Its a very scary thing to have happen because for a moment, I felt like I had lost total control of the car. In the instant, the back tires had absolutely no friction with the ice, so nothing was helping me stop or gain control. Also, when driving in the snow and icy conditions, there is less friction, increasing stopping time, f
A lot of people like to go ice skating in the winter, and there is a lot of physics behind ice skating. First, in order to take off skating, the skater must propel himself forward, using low friction blades that allow him to glide over the ice smoothly, but also dig in to the ice to make a turn or stop. A lot of skaters crouch too while ice skating, decreasing the amount of air resistance and allowing them to skate faster. Crouching forward also helps the skater to maintain balance, because it m
Even though we learned Kepler's laws before break, I never got around to posting this video my group found while researching it. Its actually very informative, despite the mediocre singing.
Physics is a big part of the game of basketball. When a player jumps into the air, he is a projectile. He initially launches himself with a said velocity, but, at his highest point, he has a velocity of 0 m/s. He is now in free fall, accelerating downward at a rate of 9.81 meters per second squared. He follows the path of a projectile that sort of looks like a parabola.
As some of you may know, I work at a restaurant that is known quite well with little kids for its "huge" bridge and koi pond. However, there are some nights when these little kids become too rambunctious for my taste, and many times I have contemplated the consequences if I were to push somebody into the pond. From a physics perspective, it really doesn't take much force to launch a small child over the brick ledge. An adult would require a little more force, but everyone needs a strength test e
New York City is notorious for its subway system, connecting the entire city in an entirely different underground city. There is a lot of physics involved in the movement of the train cars, from beginning to end. The braking system of a subway involves the use of electromagnetic induction and Eddy currents. An electromagnet is attached to the train care and is positioned near the steel rail. Braking occurs when a large current is passed through the electromagnet. This relative motion of the elec
As a child, I used walkie talkies a lot on certain adventures. I was always confused by the fact that I could hear a friend on one station, but never another if we both weren't on the same one. As I got older, I learned that these stations were in fact frequencies, and anyone within range on that some frequency could receive or transmit messages from or to me. These devices, however, cannot receive or transmit messages at the same time. The same thought process goes for radios, it seems as well.
Have you ever noticed that when you put a straw in a glass of water, it looks bent if you were to view it from the side of the glass? This is due to the light being refracted around the straw. The same were to occur if looking at an object underwater, especially in a swimming pool. You could go under to reach for it, and find it to be in a different spot, a little off from where you reached.
