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About this blog

I enjoy being a student at IHS and being able to take a lot of classes in the STEM areas. I like to problem solve and create solutions, following them through from design phase to hands on building. Encountering a challenge is rewarding to me, and I believe that is the main reason I picked this class. I also have always been fascinated by concept of putting numbers to nature since I was a kid. To me, physics is like taking a big mess and then breaking it up piece by piece to understand it and bring some order to natural behaviors. That is not to say everything can be, with 100% certainty, explained in the present. After all, there is still theoretical physics and these points of points of possibility can be just as, if not more, exciting.

I look forward to reading all the other posts on here and the topics you guys choose.

-ThePeculiarParticle

Entries in this blog

Who I Am

I enjoy being a student at IHS and being able to take a lot of classes in the STEM areas. I like to problem solve and create solutions, following them through from design phase to hands on building. Encountering a challenge is rewarding to me, and I believe that is the main reason I picked this class. I also have always been fascinated by concept of putting numbers to nature since I was a kid. To me, physics is like taking a big mess and then breaking it up piece by piece to understand it and br

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

What is with the Hype Surrounding Hyperloop?

It is a known fact that the United States is lagging behind in the area of infrastructure. The true problem with this question is how far forward should we upgrade in a world where other countries have passenger bullet trains. A solution to this may come from of a new era of transportation technology referred to as Hyperloops.   The open sourced design was released by a joint team working with SpaceX and Tesla to be modified by the public and worked into a functioning design. The overa

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

What Is This and Why Is It Important?

What is this? Over the summer I participated in Photon Camp at  the University of Rochester with a few classmates. It was an awesome experience by the way! The main reason I’m here is to talk about the project I worked on in a group of 4. Each student had a different project. So, if you need an idea for a blog post, there you go. My group was studying photolithography which is the process of creating patterns using light. We worked with Professor Bryan McIntire and were able to go into

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

What Is The Deal With Theremins?

Anyone remotely into science fiction has heard the sound of a Theremin at least once, from its use in most 50’s movie to a variety of later Star Trek and Doctor Who sounds. It has been the sound of the future since its creator Leon Theremin unveiled it in 1928.   Before I explain, what it is it is important you see what it looks like in use. For reference the Theremin playing begins at 1:00. So how does this machine work? Well, this connects back to our unit on capacitan

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

What is Onix Made Of?

I was a fan of Pokémon for a very brief time as a kid, but it stopped the same summer it started.  So, when a recent post went around about an Onix’s size compared to a Pokéball, courtesy of etracey99, I was a little interested in the subject.  I began wondering, what exactly is this rock monster made out of? The answer shocked me. In order to do this, we need the density of the Pokémon. The first step is to find the volume of this behemoth.  To do this, I gathered information such as

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

What Do Heinrich Gustav Magnus, Volleyball, and KFC Have in Common?

The holy grail of serves in volleyball is the jump spin serve. A serve going over a 2.43 m (7' 11 5/8”) can be understandably difficult for many, but higher level players are constantly trying to deliver more speed and directional movement to the ball in order to make it harder for the opposing team to return. The jump spin’s first benefit is, that by jumping, added height is given to the point at which the ball is contacted.  By doing this, the difference in height between the ball and the top

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

What Causes Friction?

So, we always talk about the coefficient of friction in dynamics, but we don’t talk about what causes it. The truth is there are multiple factors. The one most people think of is based upon how rough a surface is.  Coarse grit sandpaper requires more force, and takes more material off an object, than fine grit. The same idea applies to smooth objects on a much smaller scale. Even something as smooth as the surface of a polished table, on a much smaller scale, has ridges and valleys. These imperf

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Two Cool Physics Sources

So, as a recap for mid year, I wanted to talk about two types of physics related media . These two  sources have inspired ideas for blog posts, and are things I listen or watch for enjoyment. So without further adieu, here they are:   1. Twenty Thousand Hertz - What is it? Well, it is a podcast about sound. Wait don’t leave just yet... It is a lot better than it sounds, I swear. This labor of love connects the sounds we hear everyday to physics, psychology, ecology, and even history. T

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Third Quarter in Review

No doubt the course has gotten much harder in the transition to electricity and magnetism. The result is that I've needed to adapt a new approach to the course. I have tried watching videos then filling in my notes with information from the book and vice versa. For me watching the videos first worked much better. So, if anyone finds this blog, I'll certainly recommend that. But one of the most important things I can do is look back at the course and experience as a whole, despite having inductio

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

The Sport of Pumpkin Chucking

When I look back to past Thanksgivings, I remember the smell of turkey baking, my sister leaving after the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and clicking over to the Science Channel to watch one of the most prestigious competitions of the year: Pumpkin Chunkin. The goal of the competition is to use a variety of heavy machines to blast pumpkins as far as possible. The different divisions consisted of air cannons,  trebuchets,  torsion, and “centrifugal” machines. While the trebuchets and torsion divisions

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

THE SECRET BEHIND WIRELESS CHARGING THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW!!!!

Sorry for the clickbait, I’m just trying to beat The Night King at his own game. The truth is I am just going to tell you what wireless charging is. Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have a global conspiracy. I won't do it again. An emerging technology, which every company Samsung to Tesla are trying to jump on board with, is wireless charging, but believe it or not, this technology has been around since the 1960s. It’s called induction charging, and, as given by the name, is works

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

The Physics in Album Covers

Physics is all around us, and sometimes it is so visually awesome that it can make for great album covers. Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon   One of the highest selling albums of all time, and having one of the most identifiable covers of all time, Pink Floyd should rightfully start up this list. The phenomenon shown is called dispersion of light. This occurs when white light hits an optically permeable surface. In this case, white light is hitting a prism.

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

The Physics Behind Transition Lenses

Well, before that snowy and cold winter break, one of the cloudiest cities in the nation was beginning to see the sun. It was while walking around I realized how beneficial my old transition lenses were. Then it hit me, how exactly do they work over and over again. As it turns out, the answer is a simple chemical reaction.  Each transition lens has millions of silver chloride particles. These particles only react when exposed to UV light hence transition lenses do not work when driving. Nat

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

The Oh My God Particle

On October 15th 1991, an event which challenged our scientific understanding of our universe occurred.   The particle that was registered is now referred to as the “Oh My God Particle” after the statement blurted out upon detecting it. Under the night sky of Utah’s Cosmic Ray Detector, a particle was recorded going 99.99999999999999999999951% the speed of light. To put that in perspective, that is faster than even the highest recorded speed of a proton recorded in the Large Hadron

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Public Service Broadcasting "The Race For Space" Essay

The Space Race between both the USSR and the United States is by far one of my favorite eras of history to study. They say competition is the perfect motivation, and I truly believe, from a technological standpoint, this is era is a prime example of that motto in its purest form. Some of the biggest strides in human history were made in a time where computers were still the size of rooms all due to fear, curiosity, and drive. Public Service Broadcasting’s album, “The Race For Space”, tries to ca

Physics Behind a Fly Fishing Cast

Anyone who is friends with me knows I love fishing of any kind. The one which I feel is the most labor intensive per cast is most certainly fly fishing, and know any of the friends I’ve taught even the most basic casts will agree. For those who aren't familiar with fly fishing, it separates itself from any other kind with the type of rod, reel, and cats the user makes. Regular fishing uses a reel where the user casts out in one fluid motion where they wish to go. In fly fishing, the flies, or ba

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Oscilloscope Art

If you have ever seen a black and white horror movie with a mad scientist in his lab chances are that in the background you saw one of these: Well, this machine is called an oscilloscope and its primary function is to measure signals of voltages in relation to time. By visualizing signals in the X and Y planes, values such as amplitude, frequency, rise time, and distortion can all be measured from the visual representations of waves displayed on the screen. Its applications range from

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

On The Topic of Pole Reversals

Based on a variety of evidence, the last time the Earth's magnetic poles flipped was 750,000 years ago. Going off of this, many sources say we could face another flip at any point. Now, before you panic and begin blasting REM out of the nearest speakers, I just wanted to fill you in on what the process looks like. The process is much longer than most people think when first visualizing it. It is actually a process which is estimated to take 1000-10000 years. To explain why, the main factor

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

ICE ICE BABY!

“Alright stop, collaborate and listen Ice is back with my brand new invention Something grabs a hold of me tightly Flow like a harpoon daily and nightly Will it ever stop yo I don't know Turn off the lights and I'll glow.”                          Why would I start this blog up with Vanilla Ice’s song “Ice Ice Baby”? Well Ice is the subject of today’s blog. “BUT TPP, HOW MUCH CAN YOU TALK ABOUT ICE?” I hear you ask off in the distance from behind your computer… well, honestl

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

How Do Pickups Work?

Yes, there has been some delay between posts, I apologize, but life is busy as usual. This week I wanted to cover the topic of pickups for string instruments. So I play electric bass and wondered the other day how different pickups get different tones and sounds out of them. You can have warm, mellow, fuzzy, even screechy tones all based on the different models.   To answer this, we need to see how a pickup actually “picks up” the string vibrations, and it does so through Faraday’s La

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

How Different Pitches "Break"’

Inspired by AaronSwims’s blog post title, I wanted to make my own post on a completely different topic. I wanted to focus on resonance and, while we briefly touched upon it last year, I feel the need to write about it. Resonance, in its most basic definition, is “the condition in which an object or system is subjected to an oscillating force having a frequency close to its own natural frequency”. So how do we see this every day? Bang a pot, pan, glass, even sheet metal and you will find that a n

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

How a Rock and a Hyperdrive Could Defeat the Empire and the First Order

STAR WARS SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!   It's never a good idea to go to a science fiction film and look for scientific inaccuracies. That being said, a lot of things from episode VIII a lot of things left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I'm here to talk about one scientific inaccuracy which leaves a Death Star sized hole in the story’s plot for all movies.   The one scene I am referring to occurs near the middle of the film when a large resistance ship, called the Raddus, aims itself

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Gravitational Waves 2017

Besides acting as an eye catching graphic, this animation shows the interaction between two bodies which causes gravitational waves. Amidst increasing international and domestic tensions, it is hard to find any news agencies talking about 1.8 billion year old news anymore. This week, LIGO observatories announced the detection of gravitational waves back in August caused by two colliding black holes. It is estimated that both black holes had the mass of 53 suns. As for what gravitation

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Go With the Flow

Ever add too much food coloring or dye to water and wish there was a way to separate it out? “Yea it happens all the time TPP what about it?” I hear you say. Well I just wanted to show a phenomenon where the mixing of different fluids can be reversed, but it only occurs under certain circumstances.  Laminar flows only occur in situations depending on the viscosity or velocity of a fluid. When fluids mix slower,  there is less chance of a turbulent flow where the creation of eddies. E

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

Getting the Most Out of Studying

1. A.) There are several misconceptions about studying that can hurt you in the long run which include: Learning is fast Knowledge is composed of isolated facts Being good is a born talent I can multitask B.) The misconception which resonates with me the most is that “knowledge is composed of isolated facts”. It seems that many teachers, when focusing on studying, believe that vocabulary is the best way to digest informati

ThePeculiarParticle

ThePeculiarParticle

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