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Adam

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Everything posted by Adam

  1. Recently we learned about resonance, which by definition is "the tendency of a system to oscillate with greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others." This is one of the many examples of physics found within the guitar. Tuning a guitar is an example of resonance. The string's vibrations create sound waves with different frequencies. Also, when you plug in your electric guitar to the amp, you are actually making use of a physics skill! You are making a speaker. The amplifier projects the sound waves which leads to louder sound. However, these sound waves might sound a little muffled to your mom who has on earplugs. You can change the bass and the treble which alter the way your eardrums detect the sound waves. As opposed to acoustic guitars, electric guitars are electrical, so they require circuits, current, and an electrical source.
  2. It may be a little late for this post but the weather doesn't seem to think so. Anyway, while the Winter Olympics in Sochi are still somewhat fresh in everyone's minds, I thought it would be good to describe a few of the mannny examples of physics that occurred in the Winter Games. Ice hockey, for example. The players think about physics AT LEAST three times a game!! Between every period, the zamboni comes out and levels off the ice! This is needed when the players notice that the ice has more friction, usually after a lot of action and scraping occurs on the ice. Furthermore, hockey players take into consideration how far the rubber puck will slide on the ice, or its coefficient of friction. If the ice is fine the puck will slide further, rather than if the ice was more rough it would take a greater force from the players shot to make the puck slide the same distance. In addition, this same example is evident in things like figure skating, bobsledding, and curling, skiing, and snowboarding!
  3. Adam

    Physics in Paddling

    Say you are paddling a canoe or kayak or something through the water. Chances are you noticed that is is significantly easier when you are paddling with the current. On the contrary, when you are paddling against the current, it feels a whole lot harder. When paddling or rowing against the current, there is more resistance. This requires more energy on your part and is more work overall to keep the canoe or kayak going in the direction you want it to. Also, it requires a greater force on the paddle or oar to glide you through the water. In addition, when you are paddling or rowing, as opposed to short and choppy strokes which will do nothing but waste your energy, you should paddle with a strong and steady force. This will make it easier for you to paddle through rough waters and it won't wear you out as quickly.
  4. Adam

    Physics in Precalc

    As we have learned, different examples of physics are located everywhere! This time, physics can be found in Mr. Muz's room as we are learning about Vectors. We are learning the same concepts of vectors as we did in physics in the beginning of the year, including equations like x(t)=Vocos<t and y(t)=Vosin<t-16t^2. We are learning in depth
  5. A few of my friends and I were making a snowman the other day and when I was rolling up the base, it reminded me of some physics. When you start, you clump together some snow which at first is a piece of cake. However, eventually as you keep rolling it and it gathers snow, the ball becomes bigger and heavier. It takes more energy and force to push it. As a result of this, your overall work increases. Finally, when you are ready to stack them to finish up your snowman, you lift the middle ball up and not only do you hear the sound waves produced by your back breaking but you attribute the fact that the snowman's different "layers" are not floating away due to gravity. Gravity is further exemplified when your snowman tips over.
  6. Say there is a nice fresh coating of good packing snow on the ground. You feel the need to take advantage of it and nail someone (your sister, your mom, your dad, your grandma, etc) in the face with a snowball. You make the snowball and wind up to throw it. However before you let it fly, you have to take into account several physics factors. One, how far away is your target? At what angle should you launch it at? Depending on the distance, an angle of 45° would deliver the farthest distance. Secondly, do you have a moving target on your hands? If so, you would want to throw the snowball ahead of your target, but in the path they would cross. Because it takes time for the snowball to accelerate through the air, your target would have a chance to move, duck, dodge or whatever before it hits them. If you want to really surprise them, you would aim farthur and then they would never know what hit them. As you can see, it would be very intelligent to consider some minor physics details before you let it fly.
  7. Before Christmas, my family went out to cut down a tree. When we picked one out, it came time to chop it down. Using force to saw at the stump, my dad used his physics wisdom to cut towards the center of the stump so the tree wouldn't fall on him when he made it through. Then we proceded to purchase the tree, and toss it on the roof of the car. However, we remembered that when driving 60 miles per hour on the expressway, that there would be a lot of wind resistance. So, we decided to strap it down as to not lose our tree on the way home.
  8. This weekend while I was at some pretty big swim meets, I found myself taking into consideration how physics applies when you hear the starter and you dive into the pool. For starters, you have potential energy as you are crouching on the block in your start position. When you hear the buzzer, you immediately transfer that into kinetic energy as you dive into the water, which brings us to the next example. When you hear the buzzer and you launch yourself into the pool, you are a projectile, moving at an angle. Lastly, when diving in, your goal is to get the greatest dispacement outwards rather than down, to give yourself a racing advantage.
  9. Adam

    Physics of Waves

    Say it is a windy day and you are out on the lake on your jet ski. The wind picks up and it becomes more wavier. You want to try your best to not capsize, or do damage to your ski. You look at the oncoming waves and have to decide how you want to attack them. You could ride parallel with them, you could hit them head on, or you could graze them at an angle. Physics tells you that hitting them head on might be damaging and not the smartest idea. Secondly, riding parallel with them could cause you to capsize, and that would add a lot more physics into the equation. Your best bet is to attack the waves at an angle, maybe 45° unless you feel like getting wet.
  10. The last time I was at a concert, I saw people crowdsurfing, which is a common thing at concerts. When I saw the guy dive right into the crowd, I naturally immediately started thinking of physics. After countless hours of contemplating, I came to the conclusion that one person could not support the impact and the weight of another person for the most part. Although they might not know it, all the crazy fans who push everyone over to get to the front of the stage are not going to try and get their hands on the lead singer of the band, but moving closer to distribute the crowdsurfer's weight evenly. The physics involved is that all the people in contact are sharing the singer's weight, so it doesn't feel like much. Furthurmore, the lead singer of the band who is about to do a stage dive into the crowd doesn't know it, but he is also doing physics in his mind. Chances are he doesn't want to do a faceplant on the cround. To achieve this, he might not jump into a section where wthe crowd is sparce, like towards the back. Normally when they dive into the crowd, it is right in the middle in front of the stage. The act of crowdsurfing might be considered common sense, but really is simple physics.
  11. So when I am swimming, i'm not only getting exercise, but also studying physics!
  12. No matter how you swim or what stroke you are doing, chances are that you are applying physics to your path in the water. There is the speed at which you are going, the massive resistance from the water, etc. When you dive into the pool, you are launching yourself from an initial velocity of zero into the pool. You want to maximize your displacement. You want to go as far forward in the air as possible, but you also want to stay shallow in the water as you make contact. To do this, you are incorporating many examples of physics into your start. Also, whenever you are moving through the water, you are affected by gravity, normal force, and the force of the water. When you move your arms and kick your feet, you are accelerating yourself through the water. By pushing the water, you are propelling yourself forward. Unless you can't swim. In that case, the force of gravity is pulling you under the water.
  13. While physics can be found in every sport, hockey is a big one. Force, velocity, gravity, and friction are all components of the sport. For example, when a player skates up to the puck to make a slapshot, they have to take into consideration that when the stick comes into contact with the puck, the force of the stick will launch the puck at an angle. The desired angle would be the angle that brings the puck into the goal. The player doesn't want the puck to go over the net, so they must shoot the puck with an angle and a large enough force that will send the puck into the goal. In addition, friction is another example of physics in hockey. When a player shoots the puck down the rink towards the goal, the puck will not go on forever. The ice is slippery enough to make the puck go far enough, but realistically would stop if the rink was large enough. This is also determined by how hard the player shoots the puck. Lastly, when the Sabres are playing and they are losing, the theory that "objects in motion stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force" applies as the pillow that I threw stops moving when it hits the TV.
  14. Interesting connection between a fun activity and physics.
  15. Again, driving is a great example of physics in action. This time, i'm referring to driving a golf ball off a tee on a par 3 course towards the hole. Its hole 18, and you bet your friend $100 you can make it under par. Most likely, you would want to do everything you can to increase your chances. Almost everything you do to enable a good drive is physics. For example, you take into consideration how much force you will hit it with, which direction to swing in, what angle to hit it at, and how far you will need to hit it. Also, depending on the conditions, you may consider any resistance, friction, or other interferances that could affect your drive. All the steps taken prior to when you tee off in order to be as precise as possible, have to to with physics.
  16. Adam

    Physics of driving

    As you can imagine, there are many examples of physics found when driving a car. Changing velocity, acceleration, distance traveled, etc. For example, if I'm driving down Titus at 40 mph and I see that the light ahead of me (50 meters away) turns yellow, I might choose to floor it and take my chances, OR, I might apply a force (my foot) on the brake and come to a quick stop. In both situations, my velocity is either increasing or decreasing, and my acceleration would also change. Driving a car is a great example of physics since so many concepts are very commonly found behind the wheel.
  17. Adam

    About me

    Hi I'm Adam, i'm 17, and i'm a Junior. I swim varsity and I lifeguard at the school. In my free time, some things I enjoy are hanging out with friends, going to concerts, and watching Anchorman with my friends which usually leads to long lafs. Realistically, all I do is swim. I am taking Physics to finish off the science requirement, as I did not incredibly enjoy Bio or Chem. As of now I am happy with that choice since I enjoy my class and Mr. Fullerton is funny. I, too, am looking forward to the catapult project and the bottle rockets, so I think it will be a good year.
  18. Thats pretty much why i'm taking physics too! Yes, Mr. Fullerton seems really fun and nice.
  19. Captain of the swim team!!!???? Thats awesome Reed!
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