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Equation Dump for Magnetism!

F=qVXB F=ILXB Motion of Point Charges: A particle of mass m and charge q moving with speed v in a plane perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field moves in a circular orbit. The period and frequency of this circular motion are independent of the radius of the orbit and of the speed of the particle. Newton's 2nd law: qvB=m((v^2)/r) Cyclotron period: T= 2(pi)m/(qB) Cyclotron Frequency: f= 1/T = (qB)/(2(pi)m) Velocity Selector: consists of corssed electric and magnetic fields so that the

bdavis

bdavis

Empire state building physics

i have always been curious how it would be to drop an object from the top of the empire state building. It is obviously a long way down but exactly how fast would an object be traveling once it hit the ground? If i were to drop a golf ball for example, how fast would that travel? Well we can do this using my knowledge of one dimensional motion, a key physics concept. Acceleration due to gravity is -9.81 m/s for any object no matter the mass. Using our kinematic equations we can find out the

bdavis

bdavis

Conservation of momentum in Rubber bands!!

Believe it or not, rubber bands display the law of conservation of momentum very clearly. When a rubber band is pulled back by a person applying a force to it, it doesn't have any momentum because the velocity of the rubber band is zero. So when the rubber band is released, it gains velocity and therefore has momentum. So then how would this action demonstrate conservation of momentum? Well, the rubber band causes the person who released it to experience a recoil force. Since the rubber ban

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bdavis

Dive Vs. Cannonball!

What our dear friend charles merie eckert never mentioned in his series of swimming blog posts was the difference between a cannonball and an actual dive. When asked to visually show another person the difference between a cannonball and a dive, virtually anyone can demonstrate that. But when asked to explain what makes a cannon ball produce a bigger splash than a dive, few people can provide a sufficient response. The reason a cannonball produces a bigger splash than a dive is a greater amou

bdavis

bdavis

Equation Dump!

So lately, our physics C teacher has been making us to equation dumps at the beginning of each class. He would give us 4 minutes to write down as many equations as we could, thus seeing how much we had already memorized and how prepared we were for the upcoming exam. To put down as many equations in those 4 minutes not only requires raw knowledge but also strategy involving.... wait for it... PHYSICS!!!:apple: So, the goal in those 4 minutes was to write down 50 equations. That means you wou

bdavis

bdavis

Skiing!

One activity i love to do is ski. I love the exhilarating feeling of going really fast down a steep incline. But in order to attain a fast speed, one must have good form to minimize AIR RESISTANCE. If someone were to go down a steep trail with their torso revealed with their arms extented out, they will reveal a ton of surface area and thus, the air will have more to make contact with. In turn, that person will not go as fast as they possibly could. But if someone has good form that can m

bdavis

bdavis

Year in review and off to College

Our year has come to an end. College is in the near future and rapidly approaching with each passing hour. At the beginning of the year, I walked into physics c excited but not really sure what to expect nor was I sure how difficult the material would be. As the year progressed, I realized that the tests were hard and I needed to study harder than I ever needed to before. After I failed two out of the first four tests, I was motivated to do well on the next one. The first rotational exam ca

bdavis

bdavis

physics of body building!

Many people might not think it but the meat-heads who body build conduct physics related actions everyday when they go to the gym. The weights they lift are objects that apply a force to the muscles that are targeted in different exercises. Newton's second law, net force= mass x acceleration (F=ma) shows that force is equal to the mass times the acceleration. So the weights that people lift when they work out have a mass that is accelerated by gravity to produce the force overcome by muscle m

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bdavis

Shocking!

Last year, i was blow-drying my little sister's hair and when i put the blow-dryer into the outlet, i got shocked. When i inserted the plug into the outlet, i accidentally put my finger too close to where the circuit was completed. I then realized that i completed a circuit when i plugged in the hair dryer. I did a little more research. I found out that the voltage of an outlet in a home is 120 Volts. Then i did research to find out the resistance in the blow-dryer. The blow-dryer i used h

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bdavis

4th quarter in Review

In light of the end of school, I want to review how my 4th quarter has been. My third quarter was slightly less than stellar taking into account my previous accomplishments and I feel like that was the “swift kick in the a**” that I needed to get right back on track. From then on in the 4th quarter, I turned things around, studied hard for my AP classes and did well on my exams. After that I focused on my other non- AP classes and increased my grades considerably. In physics, we started the

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bdavis

physics of being a mechanic

In our everyday world, mechanics that work with cars in autoshops work with a physics concept that we all know and love: Torque! Cars are working machines that are assembled by many parts and those parts are held together by bolts and screws and lug nuts. Tools such as wrenches and pliers allow mechanics to secure parts by putting the nuts and bolts on the car. Torque is equal to the applied force times the radius or length from the fulcrum of the object. (T= Fr) To ensure that a l

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bdavis

Kerbal Space Program!

After we took the AP physics C test, we began to experiment with a computer game known as the Kerbal Space Program. In this game, creatures called Kerbals inhabit a planet named Kerbin (surprisingly similar to Earth) and we had to fulfill many missions related to space travel. I really enjoy the Kerbal space program because at the same time it is a fun experience and it incorporates a lot of physics topics such as the incorporation of gravity and air resistance. It also introduces Orbital mov

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bdavis

Industrial catapults

We recently built catapults as a project assigned by our physics teacher. Our goal for this project was to maximize the distance of the projectile, which in this case was a softball. We either had the choice of building a catapult or a trebuche but we decided to build a catapult. Using our knowledge of two dimensional motion, we set out to build a catapult that would launch the projectile at the optimal angle with the most applied force. We placed a wooden beam on our catapult at the spot th

bdavis

bdavis

Driving on the highway

There are many sharp turns we encounter when we drive at high speeds on the highways. And even just driving straight down a highway, cars can lose control and accidents can happen. Friction is a concept and a force that plays a huge role in keeping cars on the road. The coefficient of kinetic friction, Meu, is what measures the ratio of the force of friction and the normal force of the object on that surface. It can help us find the maximum speed at which the car can stay stable on the road

bdavis

bdavis

Physics of Planting a flower

Now it may seem like I am running out of ideas but planting a flower incorporates an important physics concept. When removing a flower from its packaging, a proper amount of force must be applied. If too much force is applied when removing a flower from its packaging, then it will therefore accelerate too much and the roots at the bottom of the package will separate, killing the innocent flower. When actually planting the flower, after digging an appropriate sized hole, you don’t need to sho

bdavis

bdavis

maximizing pitching speed

As a baseball player well below average height, I need to maximize every aspect of my game to be the best player I can possibly be. One aspect I have tirelessly worked on is my arm strength and throwing mechanics in order to maximize the velocity of throwing a baseball. Velocity is equal to displacement divided by time. Therefore, if there was more displacement over the same period of time, the velocity would be greater. I throw over the top which means that i have more of a windmill throwin

bdavis

bdavis

Equation Dump for electric potential and potential energy

du= -F(dl) dv=(du/q) dv=(-E)(dl) delta V= -integral (E)(dl) U=qV 1eV=1.6X10^-19 U=K(q1)(Q2)/r V=KQ/Square root((x^2) + a^2)) (V=0 at abs(X) = infinity For a spherical shell of charge: V= KQ/r, r>R (V=0 at r=infinity) V=KQ/R r For an infinite line charge V= 2k(lamda)ln(R_ref/R) for (V=0 at r=R_ref) Charge on a Nonspherical conductor: On a conductor of arbitraty shape, the surface charge density, (sigma), is greatest at points where the radius of curvature is smallest. Dielectric

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bdavis

baseball drill: catch with the wall

One of the simplest baseball drills that only requires one person, a glove, a ball and a wall exhibits one of the basic yet essential physics concepts: Newtons third law. Newton's third law states that if something applies a force on an object, that object will apply a force of equal magnitude in the opposite direction. So when training for baseball, someone can throw a baseball against a wall with a certain force and the ball will come off the wall with the initial magnitude it first hit t

bdavis

bdavis

physics blog post #1

I am very interested in physics and in learning how different things work in the world around us. i class we learned the dot product and cross product and applied them briefly to kinematics in our first day of that unit. Although those are two very new concepts to me relating to vector math, i am interested in grasping the new concepts and applying them to my growing knowledge of physics. i wanted to take physics to gain more knowledge about what this area of science has to offer. i am v

bdavis

bdavis

Physics of a curveball!

I am a man who loves baseball and when i figured out that physics plays a huge role in pitching, i got excited. Physics is exhibited very well in curveballs. A curveball is a pitch that was named for its movement; it curves on its path towards home plate as it reaches the batter. The pitcher grips the ball on the side just over one of the seems and when he throws it, he flicks his wrist hard creating the ball to spin sideways as it travels forward towards the plate. As it shows in the diag

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bdavis

world series fun!

So the world series for baseball happened not too long ago and something amazing happened. Hunter pence, an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, broke his bat when swinging at a pitch but his bat hit the ball three times after he made initial contact. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOkbQVsIk_0 The ball made contact with the bat initially a few inches above the handle where he was holding it. In the video, you could see that the bat bent out as it was breaking and began to bend t

bdavis

bdavis

Physics of karate chopping!

Ever since i saw my first Jackie chan movie (which i cannot remember off the top of my head), i have always been curious how a man, not especially strong and bulky with the muscles most football players possess, can break a cinder block in half with his bare hands. I previously thought that the cinder block would be too strong for even the most muscular man to even crack it let alone break it. In this video, the person had two thick bricks stacked on top of each other and he broke bot

bdavis

bdavis

Goals for the rest of the year

We are now entering our last quarter as seniors in high school. I want to rebound from an uncharacteristically bad academic performance in the third quarter and finish strong in the last quarter. This is now a prime time to start reviewing for the AP test that is looming in the very near future. I for one am quite a bit nervous but I have a plan to follow that will get me prepared for the day of the test: 1. do 1 blog post a week 2. Read text book a little bit each night 3. do webassigns a

bdavis

bdavis

physics of a mowhawk!

The varsity cross country team decided to get mowhawks to get pumped up for thier sectional race this past saturday. As a member of the cross country team i got one as well. Most of our runners had long enough hair to spike it and create very large and excentuated mowhawks. I didn't have enough hair to do that so i got the sides of my hair shaved off and my mowhawk looks like a drag strip right down the middle of my head. This type of mowhawk has some very unique properties. As a runner, i

bdavis

bdavis

momentum headaches!

In my soccer game yesterday, I experienced quite a collision. Not with anyone person. I collided with the ball. In soccer, each player is allowed only to use their feet, their body and their head, not their arms or hands. Hands and arms may not come in contact with the ball. Yesterday, I had a few head balls that demonstrate the concept of conservation of momentum. A teammate of mine kicked the ball from the sideline and I redirected it with my head towards the goal. The glancing blow off

bdavis

bdavis

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