Blog Sbutler93

The fun 3D game that we all love has 3 basic components that rule over it and make up the PHYSICS OF MINECRAFT. We had talked before about the game during class and after my recent Star Wars post I decided to go in and explore not only a classic but one of our old school favorite games and how the game runs. In order to then satisfy Mr. Fullerton I went through the internet and found all the information I needed to tell you about the Physics behind the game. We can see in the game three basic kinds of physics that are implemented in the everyday game play: the movement of objects (land, weapons), the movement of fluids, and the electrical signals of Redstone which can than create circuits and electrical devices.

1. Movement of Land, weapons, people, objects....etc

For this first component you can describe the overall category as the movement of entities. As we search and break down the information we find that entities are labeled to be players, vehicles (boats, minecarts..), dropped items(weapons, food...), projectiles(snowballs, eggs, arrows, fireballs...), and than the classic falling sand and gravel.

This category describes to us how gravity and other forces move about solid objects within the world. Just by playing the game it is obvious to us that gravity has been implemented within the game and we can see from the falling of leaves, players jumping, the arc on arrows, the dropping of items, the falling of sand/gravel, and from all of this we have a sense of gravity but as this is a classic game we can see some obvious flaws that occur. One such phenomenon that occurs is how blocks can float in space without blocks under them. If you build a block on top of two other blocks, than destroy those two other blocks, that top block will not fall but it will stay as you can see as you cut down trees. If you cut away at a tree from the bottom the entire tree will not fall, but instead it will float in space as you continue to chop away at it. Also only sand and gravel are affected by gravity. We can see that while underground mining for goods that if you hit away at coal or at stone nothing but the minerals will fall down and you can collect them, but if you break some rock and there is sand above the sand will drop like water and smash into you.

So the properties held by these solid objects which do apply to physical laws, include that all of these objects have a volume. Whether it be a block of leaves, bark, stone, or an arrow or sheep these solid objects have a volume that no other object can than take a hold of. It is shown that most objects are made by 3D blocks and that two solid objects cannot occupy the same space at one time. Also these solid objects have positions, velocities, and rotations. Positions constitute the same principles as these solids having specific volumes and thus specific locations in the world. The moving objects such as people, arrows, sand and gravel follow gravity in their motion. We can see that there is a gravity effect on all of these objects which pulls them to the ground, that from this force there is an arc on an arrow or how you can't jump up and than fly. Also we see how objects in the game stay in motion until opposed. An arrow won't stop moving till it hits the target or the ground, such as a the sand won't stop falling until it hits the solid ground.

We can see that solid objects can not pass through other solid objects because of the ideas behind volume and position, and also water moves objects around. We can see that any of these solid objects are affected by the flow and current of fluids such as water or lava. In the game when you fall into a river, waterfall, or a flow of lava(on peaceful) you will be pushed along and carried with the stream and current due to the unbalanced force pushing against you. Obviously though we can see some flaws within this though. If you are at the bottom of a waterfall than your character can defy gravity and swim vertically up the waterfall, traveling up steam, against the current, and vertically upward all things which are not only hard but some impossible to do.

2. Movement of Fluids

For the most part fluids follow the basic laws of reality but in some circumstances we can see that fluids in the game go against the natural laws we have in place. Fluid like the solid substances is affected by gravity and will flow downstream and pick up velocity the steeper the slope is. It can be walked through and you can occupy the same space as a box of water or lava occupies, and there is a flow and current in the water based on to where the water flow that affects the character and pushes them into a certain direction.

With water we can also see the flaws. As shown earlier you can swim upstream even when the water is flowing straight down vertically. Also water and lava do not have definite volumes that at some point can max out. Water and lava can continuously grow and expand through empty space to no end. If one block of water is placed than its initial volume can grow continuously, say 19 blocks, that one block of water than has a volume 19x its original and under certain conditions can still grow and expand out word. Unfortunately in the real world this isn't possible at some point water can not grow anymore and its original volume can not just grow and change. Also if there is a waterfall you can use solids to block the water. If you place a rock in a space of water the rock will than take up that volume of space in the game and the water either adapts out word or it just disappears decreasing the volume (which is itself not possible) if you keep doing this process for a waterfall in a cave eventually you can block off all water. If you than though break that last block you placed water will again not flow out but the water has in fact completely disappeared. Instead of condensing the water where the volume would remain constant just stuffed in a smaller space, the volume of that cube of water disappears from the world and when you block all of it off that entire water source is than gone forever.

3.Redstone

Redstone is the mineral in the game used to create wires, circuits, and thus power in the world. Through redstone dedicated players (with no lives) can create large complex circuits that can open doors, turn on lights, activate mine carts, even create computers. Through the use of redstone circuits electricity is created in Minecraft and with that the possibilities within the world are expanded. Redstone is a mineral that is unique to the world and it has properties that are thus unique and allows it to create circuits and the flow of electricity which allows you to than do whatever you would like whether it be complex activities or simple lever mechanisms.

Physics can be found in any game and by diving in and exploring the world of Minecraft we can find the physics which control the world, and also how the world disobeys the concepts of reality as well.

The Large Hadron Collider is the worlds largest and highest energy particle accelerator, and located in Switzerland as told to us from the Valentines day special of the Big Bang Theory. In the episode Leonard wins a trip to Switzerland over Valentines day to visit the Collider, and than must deal with the drama that unfolds as Sheldon tries to take Penny's spot on the trip. After watching the episode my own interests over the Collider were peaked and so I went online to research it.

The LHC lies in a tunnel beneath the France-Swiss border near Geneva Switzerland. It is a machine made to and expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics helping us further understand the laws of nature. The machine is designed to collide opposing particle beams of protons or lead nuclei at certain energy levels. Built by the European Organization for the Nuclear Research the machine was made to test various predictions of high energy physics including the testing for the existence of the Higgs Boson (hypothetical massive elementary particle, only standard model particle that has not been yet observed, would explain the difference between the massless proton which mediates electromagnetism and the massive W and Z bosons which mediate the weak force) and other particles predicted by super-symmetry (a symmetry that relates elementary particles of one spin to other particles that differ by half a unit of spin). Over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries and hundreds of universities came together to collaborate and build this device. The device is currently up and running but only at half power, the device will be active for a certain time at half power for many years and is not expected to be at full power until 2014.

We all love the classic movies of Star Wars, if you don't love these movies than your probably too cool to be reading this blog, but if your like us in physics c you can see the glaring flaw that represent themselves throughout the movies. Star Wars is in a different galaxy but the same laws of physics should be universal so while watching the movies you can pick up on certain aspects that are in fact impossible.

1.) One of the most basic flaws we can see in the movies is that during the epic space battles we can hear not only blaster fire, but the explosions and droid sounds such as in the end of the 4th movie and the beginning of the 3rd. Space is a vacuum and sound cannot travel through a vacuum because it needs matter to propagate, so because of this basic fact we can see that in all of the Star Wars movies we should not be able to hear anything while they are in space. Whether it be the sound of a blaster, explosion, droid, or the whoosh as a ship flies by, in space there should be no sound.

2.) Another flaw concerning the space battles of Star Wars comes from the explosions that occur. Not only should there be no sound, but an explosion in space would produce a flaming blast because of oxygen within the ship, but that blast would last for less than a second, and would only be interpreted from the human eye as a flash of light before the vacuum of space would extinguish it. As a vacuum has no oxygen it is impossible to have a fire in space, so the explosion caused from the ships would last less than a second before they disappeared, and as we can see in movies such as Star Wars 3 or Star Wars 1 where a fire catches on the ship and lasts for multiple seconds, those instances are impossible.

3.) Lightsabers and blasters cannot actually be made of light and they cannot shot lasers. If a blaster shot a laser it would than be impossible for anyone to see or dodge the beam as it would travel so fast that it would be impossible for anyone to the the light move. Also in the space battles, in a vacuum the laser is invisible because there are no particles to scatter the beam making it visible. So these storm troopers can't actually be shooting lasers, and the light sabers cannot be made of light because light cannot deflect the blasts from these guns. Lightsabers if made of lasers would require an object as dense as a black hole to stop the laser and make it turn back in on itself forming the shape of a lightsaber and we can safely say that is impossible to carry around. We can see that if lightsabers were lasers such as what the guns claim to shoot, they then would not be able to deflect opposite laser beams shot at them. Also if lightsabers were indeed just projections of light shot out, than it is impossible that they would go and than stop after about 3 or 4 feet unless there was some object there to block or reflact the light. If they were just beams of light shot out than they would shot out far far far far far far longer distances than just 3 or 4 feet. Lightsabers were also said to possibly be made of a plasma substance. While it seems possible to control this plasma substance the heat from the condensed material would cook the hands of the user.

4.)In the Space battles we all admire how the ships go around flying, shooting at each other, turning, spinning, but in reality we can see that the turns and spins shown in Star Wars are in accurate if there were actually space ships flying around. We see throughout the movies how the space ships make banked turns, such as the Millennium Falcon. A banked turn is a turn or change in direction where the aircraft inclines towards the inside of the turn. We can see on earth how banked turns are needed because the fixed winged aircraft need the air pressure in order to operate but in the vacuum of space there would be no need to use banked turns. With this idea there is in no fact need for wings in space. Ships such as the Falcon would be in fact the design of space ships, not like that of the rebel fighters in the 4th, because as you are in space and there is no atmosphere there is no need for wings to help you turn or control the ship.

5.) Another issue we see in these movies are the asteroids. As shown in the 5th movie as they escape Hoth the crew, Chewie Han Lea and the droids, fly into a asteroid field in order to escape their pursuers. We can see that due to physics these large asteroids should not be able to float together without crashing into each other. The field cannot contain such huge asteroids that just fly around because in reality they would fall into each other continuously ramming each other till they break down and the field is made up of smaller pieces of rock floating around large boulders. Also Han and Lea exit the ship within an asteroid, within a creature, not only is there no way a worm of some sort could exist in space living in an asteroid, there is also no way Han, Lea, and Chewie could exit the Falcon without putting on full space suits and expect not to explode in space's vacuum.

Along with these five flaws we can see many more in the Star Wars franchise but the list can go on and on. There are certain concepts in the movies such as light speed and hyper drive which are impossible, but the movies play off the fact that we just don't have the technology now that can produce them thus they cannot be totally dis proven. The ideas and concepts above though are known facts about physics, space, and how the universe works and thus glaring errors in the Star Wars movie franchise.

Batters know from experience that there is a sweet spot on the bat, about 17 cm from the end of the barrel, where the shock of the impact, felt by the hands, is reduced to such an extent that the batter is almost unaware of the collision. At other impact points, the impact is usually felt as a sting or jarring of the hands and forearm, particularly if the impact occurs at a point well removed from the sweet spot. The sweet spot of a bat exists because bat vibrations are not excited significantly at that spot. The spot is close to the center of percussion (COP) for a freely supported bat, so it was thought at one time that the sweet spot might be associated with the COP. However, the COP shifts a long way toward the handle when a batter holds the handle, and plays only a minor role in the feel of the bat for an impact at the sweet spot.

Knowing about this sweet spot, and considering how the Yankees are better at baseball than any other team, we can see why the Yankees have league leaders in RBI’s and homeruns almost every year. When Teixeira has gone 7 seasons in a row hitting 30+ homeruns not only does it show the depth the Yankees have in their hitting line up, but it also tells us that it is not particularly how hard you hit the ball, but where on the bat it is hit. The physics of hitting a baseball are really easy as they come down to the fact that if you hit it at the right angle, or in the right direction, and you use enough force than it is a homerun, but if you use that same force and hit the ball at a bad angle than the ball will go nowhere.

We can see that while hitting it greatly depends on the angle that the ball is hit at, and then the force behind the bat, but along with that we can see that as shown in conservation of momentum equation that it is easier to hit a ball farther with a metal bat than with one of wood. A metal bat is much better at taking the force of the oncoming ball and diverting it in the opposite direction, it makes the collision much more elastic and because of that less energy is used and absorbed by the bat, and more by the ball. Just like how Cerminator recommends rubber for football, a metal bat strengthens the collision btw ball and bat, and sends the ball farther off. On the other hand a wooden bat absorbs more energy, it takes in more force from the ball and makes the collision not as elastic and because of that the force of the ball is completely converted into the opposite direction, and with that the ball is harder to hit out of the park. While that may be true we see that even using wooden bats, the yanks know what they are doing.

Whether they are hitting against Halladay, Lincecum, or Lee the Yankees use wooden bats to hit it out of the park. Whether it is Granderson, Cano, Rodriguez, Teixeria, or Swish the Yankees get the job done and are the best at it. All of them have power behind their swing, but the trick is to hit the ball at the correct angle, right on the sweet spot, so that it sends the ball right out of the park.

Energy Transfer during Running

When a person runs, their body must convert potential energy into kinetic energy. Potential energy is the energy stored within a system. Potential energy is used when the system uses kinetic energy to move in a horizontal direction.

In the human body, potential energy is stored in the form of chemical energy. The chemical energy comes from the food that a person consumes throughout the day. The body needs a certain amount of calories (the energy from food) in order to perform certain activities. If the runner has not consumed enough calories throughout their day, they will run out of potential energy and become tired. This is because the body is not very efficient at retaining energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can go elsewhere. As the person runs, most of their stored energy is released in the form of thermal energy. This is why people get hot and start to sweat when they do physical activity such as running. The body is heating up because it is literally burning the calories that it has consumed in order to keep moving in a horizontal direction. The runner will sweat, because sweating is the body's natural cooling mechanism. If the runner did not have the ability to sweat, the conversion of potential energy (the chemical energy) into kinetic energy which is released as thermal energy would cause the runner's body to overheat. The chemical energy that the runner consumes in the form of calories is also released in the form of sound energy. Every time the runner's foot hits the ground, energy is leaving the runner's body as sound waves emit from the impact of the runner's foot on the ground. Because energy is being released from the runner's body with every step they take, it is important for the runner to consume enough chemical energy in the form of calories prior to their run. The runner's body needs a substantial amount of calories as a reserve so that they will have more to burn as their potential energy is released throughout the run.

Thermal energy is measured in calories. Calories are released from a given item as it burns. The amount of calories that are in something depends directly on the amount of chemical bonds that are broken and formed as it burns. For example, when a piece of wood burns, 3000 calories of thermal energy are released per gram. When an apple is burned however, it releases about 600 calories of thermal energy. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that there is more energy available from breaking the atomic bonds in wood than from breaking the atomic bonds in an apple.

One calorie is defined as the amount of thermal energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius. Calories burn very slowly in the human body, and as they do, kinetic energy becomes available to the runner. 1 calorie is the equivalent to 4.186 Joules of energy. So, the more calories that the runner consumes prior to running, the more energy they will have available to them throughout the run. The runner’s energy can also be measured in the form of watts, or electrical power. One calorie also translates to about 4.186 watts. So, if the runner has 500 calories available to them, they are capable of producing over 2000 watts of electrical power.

When the body uses the calories it has consumed, it is not very efficient at conserving this energy. As the leg muscles contract to propel the runner forward, about 75% of the chemical energy that the runner has consumed is lost due to the heat (thermal energy) that the body gives off as it converts it stores (potential) chemical energy into kinetic energy.

Kinetic energy is equal to one half of the runner's mass times their velocity squared (KE=1/2mv^2). So, if the runner has a mass of 60 kg and wants to run at a rate of 9m/s, they will use about 2,430 Joules of energy. The runner is not able to change their mass, but they can increase or decrease their use of kinetic energy by increasing or decreasing their velocity. If the runner has not consumed a lot of chemical energy throughout their day, it would be wise for them to decrease their velocity as to decrease their kinetic energy and therefore use less of their stored potential energy.

The power that the runner generates during their run depends on the amount of time it takes them to complete the run. If they decide to run a given distance, their power output will depend on how long it takes the runner to complete the given distance. The power of the runner can be calculated by dividing the amount of work that they do during the run by the amount of time it takes them to complete the run. (P=W/t). If the runner completes the run in a short amount of time, they will have a relatively large power output. If it takes them a long time to complete their run, the runner will not generate as much power. The amount of time that it takes the runner to complete the run depends on their velocity. An increased velocity will allow the runner to complete a given distance in less time. This will increase their power output, because they are doing the same amount of work as they would be doing if they ran the distance at a slower pace, but they will be completing the run in less time. Completing the run in less time requires the runner to expend more of their stored potential energy. So, when the runner decides to increase their velocity, they will increase their kinetic energy. They will also decrease the amount of time it takes them to complete the run, and therefore increase their power output. Because it requires more energy to produce a higher power output, the runner will need to consume more chemical energy (calories) in order to run at a higher velocity.

Before it was belived that planets could not orbit two suns, but it was found that planets are just as likely to orbit two suns then one. In the case when there are two stars a planet will orbit a combined center of mass between the stars. This can be seen in Star Wars 4, as Luke looks up into the sky and sees the two suns of tatooine. This is in fact possible, because a planet will either create a large orbit, or orbit the center of mass between the two stars.

When we discuss the center of mass of on object, we can think about how it applies to practical uses. We have already discussed basketball, but when it comes to track there are many different events that the center of mass can be discussed. Probably the most apparent, high jump. We all relatively know how someone goes out and high jumps, but with are advanced knowledge of physics, I thought we could discuss if they are accurately doing their best to move over the bar. The objective is obviously to take your mass and use the momentum of your jump to lift yourself up, and over the bar without touching the bar. Knowing this, do you beleive that jumpers effectively use physics to jump, or is there a better way in which they could possibly go higher.

So this week I was walking home one night from the school, it was late at night and it was snowing out, and with Max I was walking and watching the snow fall, and it made me think about the heavier objects falling faster lab. I began to question why the snow/hail will fall down slower then rain does.

When it is pouring outside you can hardly see the drops of rain because they are falling down so fast, it all looks like a blur, but even in a blizzard you can see individual snowflakes as they fall from the sky, as well as hail, and when there is only a light snow you can see them perfectly.

Why is it that snow falls so much slower then the rain? Does it have to deal with the weight and density of the rain being more than that of snow? Or is there some other factor which causes rain to pour, but snow only falls from the sky?

When we are jumping, say in kevin's back yard, why is it that we dont go higher than we actually do, when our impulse would be much higher than what it is? We jump only a certain hight alone, but at the weight we are, we should be pushed even higher in my opinion.