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  1. Mankind likes big things. We like gigantic iPhones, Venti Lattes, and skyscrapers. The pyramids of Egypt represent perhaps man's earliest obsessions with making big things. As children, we stack wooden blocks until they topple and injure the cat. We are a species obsessed with bigness. But how big could we build? The current tallest building in the world is pretty big, but it's miniscule compared to the towering peak of Mt. Everest. The world's tallest buildings keep getting bigger, but eventually there comes a point when it is impossible to keep building upward. Or is there? In 1895, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed a structure known as a space elevator. Such a structure would begin on Earth and stretch all the way out into outer space. But wouldn't it crumble under its own weight? Normally yes, but this isn't your average game of Jenga. A structure in orbit experiences an apparent centrifugal force that increases the farther out in space an object gets. How and why demands a separate blog post, but given that parameter, a structure as tall as a space elevator would be able to support its own weight because the top section would experience a net force outward that cancels out the gravity that would cause the structure to topple. Therefore, it would theoretically be possible to create a space elevator. Unfortunately, there would still be a ton of forces involved, making most materials useless. However, scientists have postulated that carbon nanotubes might be strong enough to be used in such a project. Even so, the space elevator is a long ways away, but should it come to fruition, it would make transporting packages into space immensely less expensive. Plus, it would probably look awesome.        

  2. IVIR
    Latest Entry

    This past weekend, I saw a giant game of Jenga at MIT. Literally. The blocks were nearly 2x4s, and the structure was taller than I am. While I did not stay to watch, it is interesting to think about a few of the different strategies that I remember from my childhood days. First of all, I used to believe that the faster you pulled the object out, the less chance a collapse would occur. While I'm not sure of my logic behind this reasoning, I most likely imagined that hopefully the structure just wouldn't have time to collapse if I pulled it fast enough (Yeah, I know). However, after the block is removed, whether quick or slow, the structure will still have the exact same properties regardless of speed. Another theory may be to reduce friction, but it is important to note that the frictional force does not rely on velocity, it relies on the normal force. The one factor that does effect the result of the turn is how straight you are able to pull the block out. By pulling the block straight out, you are minimizing the normal force, but if you tilt to one side or another, you are increasing the normal force and creating a larger frictional force. 

    Another concept of the game Jenga is torque. Since torque is F x r and the r in most jenga games is relatively small, the structure can often withstand the removal of blocks that may have seemed impossible. The middle block is at the center of the fulcrum, so the r would be 0, allowing players to theoretically remove all of the outside blocks while keeping a cross pattern in the middle. This is much easier said than done due to the friction caused by uneven pulls (an even perfect pulls as the wood has a large surface area) and the fact that even a small breeze can cause enough torque in the other direction to knock the tower down. A horizontal breeze may have a small force, but since the center point is technically the ground in this plane, the r would be as tall as the tower. 

    Hopefully, the physics of Jenga could help people improve their gameplay, but to be honest, isn't the best part watching it all fall? 

     

  3. srossi14
    Latest Entry

    Did anyone else watch that show Minute to Win it? As I was trying to think of something the write my last physics blog post about I thought of one task in particular that contestants were asked to complete. The game was called “Tipsy.” To win, the contestant had to balance three soda cans on their edge by drinking some of the soda to the perfect level. The reason that this task is possible is because of physics and center of gravity. As the amount of soda in the can decreases, the center of gravity of the tilted can shifts as the weight of the can changes due to less liquid, and eventually it is able to align with the vertical line up from the balanced edge of the can. So I was going to just attach a video of the "blueprint" for the task but I found a video of a bunch of college students getting real hype about it so I decided to include that instead:)

     

     

     

  4. zlessard
    Latest Entry

    I Googled "how much force is in a single keystroke" and I'm going to trust a source that says 12.9 N. This will help me in my overall (obviously hypothetical) analysis.

    Since this is my final blog post of the year I wanted to sort of wrap it up as well as possible and somehow tie in all of my other blogs. Using an online "character counter", I found out that there are a combined 50,015 characters across my 29 other blog posts, which have an array of topics ranging from pole vaulting to doomsday to Monte Alban. Not accounting for any backspacing, 50,015 is an accurate count of all of the characters I've put into these blogs. Utilizing the accepted force of a keystroke as being 12.9 N, that means I applied an accumulative 645,193.5 N to my keyboard for the purpose of these blogs. That's over 145,000 lbs of force, which seems like far too high of a number but I'm going to accept it regardless for the purpose of making this more interesting. I now wonder what type of things I could accomplish utilizing this much force that does not involve analyzing the physics behind a bladeless fan or a Mexican resturaunt.

    I could:

    Break 230 backboards (see blog no. 29)

    Throw a football very far

    Probably jump pretty high

    Write 28 blog posts and have enough left over force to perfectly emulate the biting force of an adult Great White Shark

    Push the ground really hard and pretend that the dent was caused by 32 1/4 Ford Explorers being stacked on top of each other. 

     

    As you can see, if I could somehow have concentrated all of the force that I put into the creation of these blogs into a single motion, then I could have pulled off some of the most incredible feats in the history of mankind. But alas, the people are left with 30 thoughtful, well crafted and occasionally humorous blog posts that will some day be hanging in a digital art gallery. Oh what could have been...

    :geek:

  5. ZZ
    Latest Entry

    The other day I was watching a soccer game, West Ham United vs Arsenal FC. I know I do blogs on soccer all the time but it's because I am just so fascinated by the things these players are able to do, hence why they are professionals. One of the players, Andy Carroll scored a bicycle kick, where a player flips himself/herself upside down with their foot in the air and kicking it over their head (sometimes referred to as an "overhead kick"). While this one was good, it reminded me of one from several years ago that another professional, Wayne Rooney performed in a game. Here's the video:

    While this goal may still have you in awe (this happens maybe once every several years by the way), I'd like to start talking about the physics. So it all started with the crosser, Nani, who crossed the ball in at about 22 mph (the speed of an average cross). This speed of the ball means the reaction window for Rooney was microscopic, even to just put the ball on target - much less the upper corner of the net. A half second too quick or too slow and this bicycle kick will end up on the blooper section of sportcenter. Upon timing the jump, Rooney is in the air for about 3/4 of a second, meaning the margin for error is quite small. Rooney's foot has also been measured to be 1.80 meters above the ground (5'9") which is about the same height as Rooney. So you might ask, what is the advantage of doing this if he could've headed the ball instead? While this is normally what players do in this scenario, a header simply wouldn't have provided the same force (and thus acceleration) on the ball. This is because of the net torque on the ball. With a header, one really only uses a little less than half of their body to cock back and snap into the header to deliver a net force upon it. However, with a bicycle kick the whole body is involved. Since the body in midair experiences no outside forces, it acts as if it were a rotating object, where both halves of the body contribute to a clockwise motion to allow a well powered kick.

    In addition, you will notice that he kicks one leg first and then the other. This has to do with momentum. as he generates momentum in one direction, this allows him to change the motion with the other leg and allow a greater velocity with his kicking leg before it makes contact with the ball. 

    All in all this stands as one of the best premier league goals of all time, ask anybody. It's really cool now to understand how Rooney did this (I know I never could):notfair:

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    One of the most exciting things about learning physics is that we get to start to try to answer "why" questions: why is the sky blue? why does the Sun rise in the East? 

    Learning new and modern physics can be thrilling because of the explanatory power of the theories we read about and the experiments that have been done, but sometimes we should return to these "why" questions and really examine what it means to answer a "why."  One of my favorite physicists to read and learn from is Richard Feynman, and here's his take on why questions. He challenges us to consider how we answer a why question, and what implications this might have for us as students of physics. Enjoy!

  6. Phyzx

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    L8on
    Latest Entry

    I'm a big fan of Lego. I wouldn't quite call myself an enthusiast, but I do enjoy a good build every once in a while. I remember when I was little I would always try to build these massive structures and would wonder why they would fall apart. Now I see that It's because of my awful engineering. I would create an immaculate creation with weak pivot points, allowing its natural torque to attack all of the little points I left unguarded, until eventually it would crumble. Or worse yet snap, sending Lego pieces everywhere. The Lego pieces will have fought so hard to remain in place, and once the connection is severed, all of that built up energy goes directly into sending little bricks flying all over the place for you to find months later when you're cleaning behind the couch even though you know for a fact that the Legos never actually left you room and how did they even end up down here... Anyway, here's a Lego particle accelerator...

     

     

  7. If someone asks why physics is so important, tell them that the world just wouldn't work without it. Not the way we know it at least. As this is my final post of the year, I thought it'd be a cool idea to talk about what the world would be like if certain parts of physics didn't exist. In a previous post, I discussed the difficulty that would come with living in a world without friction, and I also mentioned how without electrostatic force, objects would phase right through each other. It would also mean current electricity would not exist, but what would that matter if we couldn't even use it. If gravity didn't exist, objects would keep moving until they hit something, and everything in space would just drift endlessly in one direction. Which means the earth could potentially drift into another planet or a star, which wouldn't be good. Without magnets, we'd have to find different ways to generate electricity or make power, and compasses would have never been invented, so navigation wouldn't be as easy. So yeah, physics is pretty important, unless you prefer a world that doesn't work. It's what makes our world possible.

  8. AKMcdonald
    Latest Entry

    What is senioritis? As Juniors we all hear about it, we even claim by the end of the year that we have been contaminated by this disease. But not until senior year do we realize that we only had a small touch of this so called senioritis and left untreated over the summer days just worsened these symptoms. Senior year requires more and more responsibility and gives us the most freedom we have experienced in our 16 years. Balancing everything from school to volunteering to sports to college and life it can be over whelming. With all this responsibility doesn’t feel like there is freedom. In search for a break and our so called freedom we in a way shut down and become lazy and only do things we want to do instead of care for our new responsibility. Once it hits us that we need to get back onto the merry go round that never stops, it is hard to get back into the swing of things. There life is a reflection of newton’s law that states, an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon an outside force. Object = us the humans, rest= ignoring our responsibilities, outside force= realization of this so call merry go round. Also to understand life we must understand Freedom=Responsibility

  9. tjpapaleo
    Latest Entry

    So, I was watching The Flash awhile ago and they were dealing with particle accelerators. As you know, Flash was created by a particle accelerator explosion that caused him to transform into a man with super speed. I know that doesn't actually but what is in a particle accelerator? What is a particle accelerator? A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to shoot charged particles to almost the speed of light, while containing them in beams. Particle accelerators have made big discovers, especially in medicine. They have been used for finding x-rays as well as the discover of a neutron. As of today, there are 10,000 scientists using particle accelerators for x-rays for research in physics, chemistry, biology, etc. Basically they are used for research purposes. That's all for now on particle accelerators. Tune in next time for more physics. 

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  10. Not that long ago I came up with a fun project idea when I was bored. I had some spare speakers laying around and felt like a fun thing to do would to add them to my current speaker system to help fill the room with sound better. To do this I drilled small holes in the back of my current computer speakers and then connected some wire in parallel, I then ran this wire through the ceiling and then soldered the leads to the speakers. By connecting them in parallel I reduced the resistance of the circuit but I also increased the current, thanks Ohms law! I thought this was all good, but then my dad brought up a good point, would the increase in current cause the amp in the speakers to blow. To my luck it seems like it all worked out fine as a few weeks later the speakers are working just as they were before. Another bit of physics that helped me in this project is magnetism. At the back of all speakers there is a sizable magnet used to vibrate the membrane and create the frequency of the music.  I used this magnet as a form of mounting, I have ceiling tiles in this room so I just stuck the speakers to the ceiling where the metal was in the ceiling and I was done!

  11. A partial derivative uses this nice formula. (f)/(x), where f:R^2->R is lim h->0 (f(x+h,y)-f(x,y))/h. Physics is everywhere, waiting, watching. 

  12. jwdiehl88
    Latest Entry

    A simple snap-back mousetrap is a clever machine. With just a few parts (a wooden base, a spring, a metal bar, and a trigger mechanism) it can do its job quickly and efficiently.  When a mousetrap is set, the spring in the center is compressed, becoming a source full of potential energy. This energy is being stored, not used, but as soon as the trap is released, it is converted to kinetic energy (the energy of motion) that propels the snapper arm forward.  This is a perfect example of conservation of energy.  It takes an amount of force to set the mousetrap and when the trap is triggered, it creates a force onto the mouse that triggered it.  

    the levers of a mousetrap

  13. OcktoByte
    Latest Entry

    This post will delve less into video games and more into science fiction. Holograms are often shown in sci-fi movies and tv to show futuristic technology. Holograms are usually depicted as images created purely by light. Currently, we have digital projectors, able to display a color image on a flat surface. However, most holograms in pop culture have a 3d image. This would be difficult to accomplish realistically, since in order to create a 3 dimensional image, the light would need something to refract off of. The same way that a laser pointer will show a line through smoke or fog, but only shows a dot through the air. Creating a 3d hologram would require that light be refracted in specific regions in order to create an image. Figuring out a way to do this for a moving image, especially at a high framerate, would be difficult. I hope that one day technology advances to a point where I can see this happen.

  14. Hey y'all,

    Chris, a student at Cornell, wakes up at 8:59am for his 9:05 class. If the class is 1.5 km away, at what constant velocity does he need to travel in order to make it to class at 9:05? Neglect air resistance.

  15. Well its been real Physics C.  Here I am, sitting here, writing my last blog post of high school (and maybe forever).  This class has been a huge undertaking, but also something that I am glad I attempted.  Although the work has been hard and I am far from even coming close to mastering some of these complex concepts, my time with Physics has been amazing and enlightening.  It has opened me up to a totally new way of seeing things, and I cant wait until I can put what I've learned into use while I study to become an Architect.  Without a doubt I will be taking Physics in College, but anything past mechanics I can just leave to the engineers (hey Skylor and Justin ;))  With that said, I know the knowledge I have gained in all aspects of Physics will forever help me through all professional (and maybe some personal) challenges.

     I just hope and pray that whatever physics god may be out there will here these last few simple requests:

    1.  May the downward force of all of my dorm supplies be much less than the maximum possible opposing force of that ratty box I dug out of my garage.

    2.  Also, when all that crap does come falling out of the bottom of the box,  please make sure I'm not halfway up the stairs in front of a group of upperclassmen.

    3. And if both of those things do end up happening, please oh please make sure the friction provided by that shirt that got under my feet from the box is enough to keep my feet static on the step.

    4. And lastly, please keep any torque on my UCL below 70 ft-lbs - that would be great.

    But for real, I am so excited to see what the rest of this year of physics has in store for me and for the adventures that are bound to follow.

  16. If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

    When a ball hits the ground or an axe hits a tree, we can hear a noise signaling this collision. Obviously, sound waves are produced, but where exactly do they come from? 

    When two objects collide, one of two things can happen: an elastic or inelastic collision. In the case of elastic, no kinetic energy is lost. Inelastic, however, involves a loss of kinetic energy. Where does it go?

    Part of it goes to heat, but another part of it causes the sound waves to be produced because they need energy. When two objects collide, the molecules of the object vibrate a little, which in turn vibrates the air molecules, creating a longitudinal wave. 

    So, if a tree falls, it does make a sound because the laws of physics don't stop just because there isn't a human to watch it. 

  17. Hey Mr. Fullerton and anyone whos reading this, its been a pleasure grinding this year. Hope you enjoy this great video and maybe even chuckle a bit. 

     

  18. When a person swings a baseball bat and hit a ball with a wooden bat rather than a aluminum bat, it will generally not travel nearly as far. Why is this? This is a concept of momentum on the baseball field. The biggest reason for the ability for a person to hit a ball further with an aluminum bat is because when they do, they are able to swing the accelerate the bat to higher speeds than if they were to use a wooden bat. Momentum is directly proportional to velocity therefore the faster the swing of the bat the further the ball with travel in most cases.

  19. Launch Time: 10:37 am

    Team Members Present: Jason Stack, Marcus Nicholas and Michael Kennedy were all present for this launch.

    Play-by-Play: Initially the rocket was created using the parts listed in the pre-flight briefing. The rocket was launched from Kerbin and angled in order to successfully travel outside of Kerbin's atmosphere. The rocket was then directed into orbit around Kerbin. Kerbin was orbited a few times. The rocket was then returned back to Kerbin by using a maneuver that brought the rocket back into Kerbin's atmosphere. The bottom engines were released, then the second engines, leaving only the pod left. The pod descended to 1,000 meters above Kerbin and then the parachute was deployed. The pod landed safely on Kerbin. 
     

    Photographs: dsd.pngdsds.pngscreenshot0.pngscreenshot11.pngscreenshot12.pngscreenshot2.pngscreenshot3.pngscreenshot4.pngscreenshot5.pngscreenshot6.pngscreenshot8.pngscreenshot9.png

    Time-of-Flight: 4 hours and 5 minutes

    Summary: Our flight was a great success. We planned to accomplish all initial milestones, including a successful manned orbit and a successful Kerbal EVA. All of these desired milestones were accomplished. Our spaceship and Kerbal manning the ship returned safely to Kerbin after successfully reaching orbit around Kerbin. By reaching a manned orbit around Kerbin, all the initial milestones were accomplished by this launch. 

    Opportunities / Learnings: Establishing what the launch goals are and designing the rocket accordingly is very important. Failure to do so will result in an inability to accomplish any milestones.

    Strategies / Project Timeline: After this accomplishment, our next goal is to reach orbit around the moon and land on the moon. 

    Milestone Awards Presented: 

    • Launch to 10 km - $10,000
    • Manned launch to 10 km - $20,000
    • Manned launch to 50 km - $30,000
    • Achieving stable orbit - $40,000
    • Achieving stable manned orbit - $50,000
    • First Kerbal EVA - $60,000

    Available Funds: $257,818

  20. In the last decade, the uprise of mobile devices with touchscreens has been prominent, and there are 2 main types of touchscreens. The first, and cheaper style, is known as resistive, which uses 2 separated films that when come in contact they allow current to flow. This is what is used to determine the location of the touch, as wherever the current is flowing is where the user is currently touching. The issue with this system is that it requires physical movement of the plates, meaning it can be triggered by anything pushing it together, also if it's layers are no longer even they can touch if nothing is pushing on them, causing unwanted actions. The solution to these issues is the more complicated design, known as capacitive touch. This uses a system of 4 capacitors on each corner, and when the touch occurs, based on how the capacitance changes, the computer system can determine the position of the touch. This is exceptionally useful for avoiding accidental touches, and for creating a much more durable touch surface. Also, it enables much more precision and ease of use to the user, as they don't have to physically move anything, and so there is less to go wrong. The disadvantage of this is that water and anything else conductive greatly reduces the accuracy and usability of such a touch screen, as it messes with the currents. Thanks to this kind of technology, it is much easier for us to use our mobile devices with ease and precision.

  21. Sampapaleo12
    Latest Entry

    Double domino's are relatively hard to explain so you should watch the video to get a good idea of what it is. 

    This is possible because the bricks are very wide. when the bricks fall, they lay on top of the one before it. the last brick in the sequence does not have anything to lay on so it falls to the floor. this causes the brick that is laying on it to fall as well and the next brick to fall and so on. This happens only when the bricks are placed a certain distance away from each other. this distance cant be too close or the bricks will just rest on top of each other. this distance also cant be too far away or the bricks will lay flat on the floor after hitting. Untitled.thumb.png.ba95da2ff1d630a31fa1bd6d9466c4c2.png

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