ErikaRussell
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Finally the weather begins to warm up which mean it's time for flip flops! As I walked through the commons the other day wearing my flip flops, I noticed how slippery the tile floor was... luckily I did not fall! Then I thought about wearing flip flops in the winter and how often I would fall due to the slippery ice, not to mention my feet would be very cold. I came to understand just how important friction is in the winter because, without it, we would be sliding and falling all over the place. The soles of winter shoes, for example, tend to be very grippy and have lots of ridges in them. These ridges provide the shoes with a less likely chance to fall over on the ice because they create more friction. Also, there are snow tires many people buy for their cars during the winter because the roads get very icy and these tires provide more friction between the car wheels and the ices, which will prevent the car from potentially getting into an accident. Good thing car tires manufacturers as well as shoe companies took into consideration all the physics that goes into creating more friction because otherwise people would be falling and getting into car accidents more frequently. And on the bright side, we don't need to worry about this for a while since spring has finally arrived!
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Time to go to the Movies
ErikaRussell commented on ariannatorpey's blog entry in ariannatorpey's Blog
Such a good movie!!!!!!! -
In physics class the other day, we learned about the Doppler effect which, at first, I immediately thought of the news when the weatherman talks about their technology. Mr. Fullerton then told us that the Doppler effect can be applied in other situations as well. The Doppler effect is a shift in wave's observed frequency due to relative motion between the source of the wave and the observer of the wave. When told what the Doppler effect is I thought of the time I went to the St. Patty's Day Parade and heard all of the cars honk their horns. As I stood in the same spot the whole time, the vehicle would approach me and it sounded as though the car's horn was much louder than it was when it was coming towards me, and once again as it drove away from me, I seemed to hear a lower pitch. In reality, this is simply the Doppler effect in motion as the waves have a fixed speed in a given medium and as waves are emitted, the moving car makes the observer (me) encounter wave fronts at shifting frequencies. So although the car sounds as thought the pitch is getting much higher, it really stays the same which is explained by the Doppler effect.
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Coincidence...? I think not.
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It is quite interesting isn't it?
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For lacrosse, our coach encourages people to jump rope in order to get "fast feet." As I was jump roping, I realized all of the physics that plays a role in this. I thought about how we are in the waves unit and I was creating a standing wave as I did my exercise. Afterwards, I wanted to calculate my velocity as I was jumping so I estimated that it took me 2 seconds for the rope to go around one time, and the distance of the rope was about 4 meters long. Using the equation velocity= distance/time, I could calculate that my velocity was 2m/s. Also, the force of gravity plays a role in jump roping as well. Gravity allows people to come straight back down after they have jumped into the air... which makes for a very strenuous exercise if done for even just a few minutes. There is physics to be found all over the place!!
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While going to another country is very exciting, the plane ride to get there is not. On the way to my trip to Italy, I had to sit through a 7 hour flight which is by far the longest flight I had ever been on before. And as I wasn't sleeping or trying to find some way to get comfortable on the stuffy plane, I thought about all the physics that goes into flying a plane. As I thought for a little while, I realized I could not really come to many conclusions at a regents physics level, but I could think about the concepts we have learned and apply them to the very little that I actually do know about planes. In moves, I've seen a window of a plane be punched out and I found that quite fascinating and I came to the conclusion that the reason why things would get sucked out of that opening is because the airplane is pressurized to allow people to survive at very high altitudes. The construction of the plane which makes it so people can survive at these altitudes would make it so that opening a window would cause a massive rush of air that would suck out anything that is not securely fastened... This could include body parts and all sorts of fun things. While there is so much physics that goes into airplanes, there is so much more to learn and discover!!!
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Over spring break, I went on a vacation to Italy with many other of my classmates. As we arrived at the first hotel, I noticed that the one section of the lobby would echo as people talked. When looking back on it, I know understand that it was sound waves that were bouncing off the wall and coming back to my ears in a matter of less than a second which is very amazing considering the distances that some of these sound waves have to travel. In my case, the sound wave only had to travel around 7.6 meters which is equivalent to 25 feet. With this approximate measurement, I am able to measure the exact time it took for the sound wave to travel back to me again. I can find this out by using the equation time= distance/velocity. In this case, the velocity will be 331 meters per second because that is the speed of sound in air at STP. So. using the equation, 7.6meters divided by 331m/s equals 0.02 seconds, an incredible speed that is not noticeable to the human ear.
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Next to eating, sleeping is the best thing and as I think about it, there is so much physics involved! As I am very relaxed when I sleep, I never thought about how much my bed supports me. According to Newton's 3rd Law, I actually push down on my bed with the same magnitude that it pushes me with but it we exert a force on each other in opposite direction. When I get into bed at night, I like to jump in my bed, and that applies a stronger force on my bed. This applies to Newton's 2nd Law of Motion because when I apply this greater force onto my bed, my bed has more acceleration until it springs back. Even when doing nothing, physics is always involved.
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As of now, my trampoline is covered in snow, so since I cannot use it, I can think of all the ways that physics is involved in jumping on my trampoline. Newton's 3rd Law is a large part of jumping on my trampoline because the law states that all forces come in pairs. For example, when I jump up and down, I push down on my trampoline with the same magnitude but opposite direction that is pushes me up with. This allows me to accelerate upward and the higher I go, the more I push down on the trampoline and it pushes back on me. Friction is also involved in jumping on a trampoline since there is not much to keep me from slipping. If I misplace my feet in any way, it is likely that I will fall do to the lack of friction that is between my feet and the trampoline.
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My dog, Lola, loves to play with her toys and her favorite one is a miniature soccer ball. As I was playing with her, I noticed many examples of Newton's 1st Law of Motion. When I roll the ball to her, she likes to pick it up and bring it back to me which demonstrates Newton's Law that an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. When Lola grabs some of her other toys, she likes us to tug on one side while her mouth pulls back on the other side. This demonstrates Newton's 3rd Law of Motion which states that all forces come in pairs. As I pull on the toy, Lola is pulling back on it with equal magnitude but opposite direction.
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Since eating is my favorite hobby, I noticed the amount of physics that is involved in eating. While eating a slice of pizza, I thought about how Newton's 3rd law of motion applied. As my teeth sink in to the cheese and pepperoni, they apply the same amount of force back on my teeth. This demonstrates Newton's 3rd Law of Motion which states that all forces come in pairs and if object 1 exerts a force on Object 2, then object 2 must exert a force back on object 1 which is equal and opposite in direction.
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Recently, I received my driver's license and when I thought about it, I realized how much physics is involved in driving. For instance, there is a lot of friction involved when driving, or lack of friction when the roads are icy. When the roads are icy and I press on the breaks, It takes my car longer to come to a complete stop since there is less friction between my tires and the road. Also, Newton's 3rd law of motion applies to driving since all forces come in pairs. When I press the gas pedal, my tires push against the ground and the ground pushes back, allowing me to accelerate forwards. There is so much physics every where in the world and it's incredible how much physics influences everyone's daily lives.
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Racing down the snowy, icy, hill, I notice all the physics involved. The reason I am able to quickly ski down the hill is due to friction, specifically, the nature of the surface. The wax on the bottom of my skis allows me to easily glide down because it is kinetic. Not only does the wax on the bottom of my skis influence my speed, but the ice on the mountain less friction, allowing me to travel at a fast speed as well. When I am going over snow, I do not go as fast as when I ski over ice because the nature of the surface is kinetic when there is ice. Although when skiing over snow, it is still kinetic and not static, I do not go as fast as I would on ice because the snow is not as smooth of a surface as the ice is. When I am riding up the ski lift to get to the top of the hill again, there is lots of physics involved there as well. When I am sitting on the chair lift, Newton's 3rd Law indicates that I am the chair is putting the same force back on me which is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. Once I get off of the ski lift, I push my ski poles into the ground which enables me to accelerate. According to Newton's 2nd Law, the more force I apply, the more acceleration I will have.
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As I bus tables at Parkside Diner, I realize all the physics involved. I pick up the heavy bus pan with all the dishes in it, which makes my hands hurt. This demonstrates Newton's 3rd Law since I pick up the heavy bus pan with my hands, the bus pan is applying the same force back on my hands because all forces come in pairs are both my hands and the bus pan are applying equal magnitudes in opposite directions. Also, the floor at Parkside tends to get very slippery when the waitresses accidentally spill drinks, and many times I nearly fall over because I the floor is so slippery. This demonstrates the lack of friction because there is almost no friction between the sole of my shoe and the floor with the water and drinks spilled all over it. When someone comes to clean up the wet floors, there is physics involved in that as well. The person cleaning up the mess uses a mop which he moves back and forth across the floor. As he puts more force on the mop, it will accelerate further. The less force he puts on the mop, the less acceleration which applies to Newton's 2nd Law of motion.