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ncharles

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  1. ncharles
    The newest thing these days in the world of sports is artificial grass--or turf. Many professional teams, and even high schools like our own, are installing turf in order to reduce the maitnence  required to maintain a sports field. There are two main differences between grass and turf: bounce and friction. First id bounce; Compared to grass, turf has a higher coefficient of restitution which means that, off the bounce, the ball will retain more of its speed ultimately speeding up the game as a whole. This will force players to have better reactions in order to judge the ball at a faster speed. Also, the friction between the ball and turf is less than the friction between the ball and grass. This, also, dramatically increases the speed of play because the ball moves faster as a whole. Players would need to more accurately weigh their passes in order to achieve success as they do on grass. Ultimately, turf increase the speed of play which is part of the reason it is making a revolution in the soccer world.
  2. ncharles
    As an avid saxophonist myself, i have never really thought about how and why a saxophone worked as it does. However, after great thought and research, i have found that the sound produced is due to three main parts of the saxophone: the mouthpiece, the holes along the body of the saxophone and the bell. The most important part of creating a great sound is the mouthpiece. When the musician blows air into the mouthpiece, it causes the reed to oscillate between the mouthpiece being open and closed. This oscillation of the reed creates sound waves when i vibrates. The note created is based on the amount of holed closed by the musician, when more holes are closed it lengthens the sound wave and created a lower tone. When playing a alto saxophone with all the holes closed, it plays a Bb3 which has a wavelength of 25 inches (.635m) and speed of 344.5 m/s. By using the equation v=fλ we can find that the frequency of this note is 271 Hz. Finally, the part of the instrument that amplifies the sound is the bell. The bell disperses the sound waves into all directions to fill the room the saxophone is being played in. This gives it a bright sound and overall improves the music played.
  3. ncharles
    Billiards (aka pool) is a common sport in which the competitors try to knock their balls (either stripes or solids) into cups around the outside of the table. They use a Pool Cue to hit the Cue ball into other balls which will cause them to move in certain directions and ultimately into the cup. This sport is different than others because it SCREAMS physics: collisions, angels of incidence and reflection, friction and many other concepts are what this sport revolves around. First off, when the cue ball collides with other balls (assuming perfectly elastic collisions) momentum is conserved. This comes into play when the competitor is judging the amount of speed necessary to complete a shot. The more speed the cue ball has at impact will mean that the speed of the ball it hits will also increase. Another shot to perfect in billiards with the bounce shot. More often than not, the balls are not perfectly lined up to get the best shot possible.....so, the competitor needs to utilize the walls and bounce the ball off the wall in order to hit the target ball. When judging the angle to bounce the ball at, the competition must know that what ever angle the ball hits the wall with is the same angle it will bounce off with (angle of incidence=angle of reflection). Finally, frictions plays a very important role in the collision of the cue stick and the cue ball. Professional pool players put spin on the cue ball in order to make it do different things to give them an advantage. Often, the player will put chalk of the end of the pool cue to increase the friction between the sick and the ball which will increase the amount of spin on the ball and with more spin comes better results. So next time you play pool, think of the physics behind it.

  4. ncharles
    At any amusement park, there is always at least one roller coaster; its make makes the park. However when people ride it they don't actually think about how it works and the physics behind it. First of all, the first hill is the biggest in order to accumulate enough energy to get through the whole thing. And after that, gravity and the conversation of energy take the lead. Although present, the friction between the cart and the track is very little and doesn't change much. Because of this, at any point on the ride, the sum of the potential energy and kinetic energy is equal; whether going up, down or even around a loop. So the next time you ride a roller coaster think about how its all gravity after the first hill!
  5. ncharles

    Stage Curtains

    By ncharles,

    If you have ever went to see a concert, play, musical or any other performance on a stage, it is very likely that there were curtains involved. Tonight, i was partly responsible for the curtains at the IHS Talent show. The contraption that allows the curtains to move across the stage is a simple pulley system using two pulleys and a rope in-between. When the rope is pulled in one direction, it creates a torque on the pulley and causes it to spin. This spinning either opens or closes the curtain (depending the direction pulled). This contraption is also very common with close-able curtains in your home. And this is a very simple example but i realized thats some of the most simple things help the most!
  6. ncharles
    On thing that i would love to do in my life time is go skydiving. Fro what i understand there are three main parts to a skydive: free-fall, decent by parachute and touchdown. During free-fall, you re acceleration toward the earth at a rate of 9.81 meters per second per second.  This just means that every second, you increase your velocity by 9.81 meters per second. However, due to air resistance, there is a maximum velocity that you reach because once you reach that velocity the drag force is equal to the force of gravity with causes a balance of force and therefor no acceleration. Second is the decent by parachute. When you first open your parachute, you slow way down because air resistance is greatly increased due to the parachute...which is its job. When the parachute is out, the rage force is equal to the force of gravity with allows you to fall at a constant speed. Then finally, touchdown. When landing back put earth, it would be smart to tuck and roll rather than just land. The reason for this is that if you do this you act sort of like a spring and don't take all the force at once but take it little by little. This will prevent injury and make your skydiving experience a lot more fun.
  7. ncharles

    The Physics of "Sweat"

    By ncharles,

    Many people may be familiar with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football) and possibly the FIFA video game put out by EA Sports also. To the average person, the video game FIFA may seem dumb or boring, however, as an avid FIFA player myself, i experience a very exciting roller coaster of emotions when i play. There are many techniques to play FIFA that will all lead to success; but the technique that is the most effective and efficient is called "Sweat". The goal (pun completely intended) of this technique is to cross the ball from the sideline and head it in to score a goal, however it is more complex than that. First off, the user must find a suitable player to run down the sideline with. The only attribute that this player must possess is pace. There are two components pf pace: acceleration and speed. The acceleration, as we all know, is the rate at which an object gains speed. If the player of choice has a greater acceleration than the opponents player, your player will be able to cover the same amount of ground in a shorter time which will allow your player to create a gap between him and the opponent. Speed is also very important in order to maintain the gap created and not be easily caught by the opponent; these two attributes combined prepare for the second step: the cross. There is a lot that goes into the perfect cross. First the player must rotate their hips with a very high angular speed in order to send the ball in the correct direction. Second, the player must kick the ball with the right force and at the right angle to place it just in-front of the player that is aiming to head the ball to score a goal. Finally, arguably the most important step to the process of "Sweat" is the header. The model header is 6'3" or greater in hight and VERY strong. This makes it easy for them to head the ball because they do not need to jump as high to reach the ball at the maximum height possible. Also, the player heading the ball must mentally time the header in order to redirect the ball a full 90 degrees to get it on target. This requires a very fast turn of the head, similar the the rotation of the hips on the cross, with a very high angular speed. After the header happens, the goalie will have no time to react and the the ball will go in the goal without a doubt.
  8. ncharles

    Shaking trees

    By ncharles,

    Have you ever looked out of the window on a windy day and noticed that only the tops of the trees are shaking? The answer is most likely yes but you probably haven't thought of why this happens. The wind in general applies a force on the tree witch is what causes the tree to move, however, the tree can withstand some force and keep sturdy. As the force of the wind is applied further and further up the tree, the torque in being increased because the length of the "lever arm" is being increased. The maximum torque at the very top of the tree passes the threshold force that the tree can withstand and causes motion at the top of the tree! 
  9. ncharles
    As i watch the Denver Broncos play the New England Patriots in the semi-finals of the road to the Super Bowl, I have realized at how important the position of the quarterback is. Inorder to be successful, the quarterback must have keen senses and know the basics of physics. When looking deep to an open receiver, the quarterback is able to subconsciously analye three main components to the throw...the angle, speed and timing (a classic example of projectile motion). The quarterback must know exactly what angle to throw the ball at in order to loft it perfectly into the path of the wide receiver. A fluctuation of a mere 5 degrees could be the difference between a touchdown and a turnover. Second is the speed. The quarterback must be able to throw the ball with enough speed to get it to the hand of the receiver without throwing it too far and over throwing the receiver. Also, if they speed it to small, the defense will easily intercept the ball and possibly score. Finally, arguably the most important aspect of throwing a deep ball is timing. If the quarterback throws the ball a second or two too early or too late, it will miss the target receiver and result in an incomplete pass. 
  10. ncharles

    Water Skiing

    By ncharles,

    Similar to tubing, another aquatic sport that i love to participate in is waterskiing. Something about gliding across the water gives me a sense of freedom that nothing else really does. Water skiing is a great example of physics too. Firstly are the turns. When a water skier decides to turn, they must angle their skis in such a way that makes them go where they want. Two main factors effect the turn: the angle and the force. The more of and angle the skier tilts the skis at the bigger and sharper the turn will be. However, skiers usually take long circular turns which require a much smaller angle. The "force" exerted by the person into the turn makes the turn faster or slower.  When the skier finishes their turn, they will next jump across the wake...a perfect example of projectile motion. The skier comes to the wake with a starting velocity that they must perfect: if too fast, they will over shoot the other side of the wake and if too slow they wont make it at all. Also, the make form a "ramp" of water at an angle to the surface of the water which the skier must also analyze to see how fast to go.
  11. ncharles
    Everyone inter life has shocked someone by rubbing their feet on the ground and then touching the other person. It is a classic trick often pulled in the winter. However many people don't know why or how this happens. Well the first step is rubbing your shocks, preferably wool, on the carpet. This causes your socks to "steal" electrons from the carpet and make your socks negatively charged. This is obviously not the state that the electrons want to be in so at any chance they can get they will jump over to another, more positively charged, object. So when you go to touch your friend, they are usually neutrally charged so to create and equilibrium, the electrons jump over to your friend causing it to shock them. This prank works better in the winter because with the winter come less humidity and less water vapor in the air. And we all know that electricity and water are never a good mix so the less humanity makes it easier for the electrons to travel from objet to object. 
  12. ncharles

    Pressure in Bottle

    By ncharles,

    I saw this video recently and thought it was a very cool experiment and not a normal application of physics. When the hot air in the bootle begins to cool down, it create a vacuum in the bottle and applies a force on the water up through the straw. This force gradually goes to zero and the pressure inside and outside the bottle begin to equal each other. Maybe you should try this at home! 
     
  13. ncharles

    Tubing

    By ncharles,

    As this year comes to a close, the activities of summer are finding their way into my head more and more each day. One of my favorite things to do is go tubing. Besides an exciting water ride, tubing is a great example of physics is the real world. The boat pulling the tuber is an example of Newton's Third law: for ever action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The propellers on the boat push on the water which pushes back on the boat to propel it forward. The rope that connects the tuber to the boat must be a very strong rope due to the high amounts of tension it must withstand. Finally comes the tuber. There are two main friction points that make tubing great: between the water and the tube and between the tube and the person. The small amount of friction between the tube and the water allow the tube to go fast glide on the water. The friction between the person and the tube allow the person to stay on but it isn't large enough to make it easy for the person to stay on. 
  14. ncharles
    Here in the North East, skiing and snowboarding is popular activity that many people participate in. However, most people don't think about the gobs of physics behind gliding or falling down the hill. For the more skilled skiers and snowboarders, the experience of tumbling down the slope is not very present in their time on the mountain. So, the main physics behind their ride is friction and gravity. Obviously, gravity allows them to move and accelerate down the mountain. However, what many people don't think about is friction. Although very small, the friction between the bottom of the board and the snow actually plays a large roll in the speed of the person. The main factor to decreasing the friction is coating the bottom of the board in wax. This makes the board ever smoother and decreases the coefficient of friction between the snow. Without this, the board has a tendency to reach a maximum velocity and not speed up after that, which for people who want to go very fast, is not appealing. So next time you go hit the slopes, make sure you wax you skis or board to go as fast as possible.
  15. ncharles

    Zip-Lines

    By ncharles,

    Something i have always wanted to do is go on a zip-line in a forest or down a hill. However, what i did not think about are the many applications of physics in zip lining. The most obvious the use of gravity to propel you down the line. Gravity will act down on you at the center of you mass and accelerate you in a wild ride of fun. The zip-line actually works by putting a contraption on the line that has multiple wheels in it. The line is notched in the wheels and a low amount of friction allows the wheels to spin very fast while traveling down the wire (pulled by the force of gravity). At he end of the zip-line the most common way to stop is using a spring. The spring will be coiled around the wire so that when you hit it, it cushions your impact. The more you compress the spring the harder it will push back on you which insures that you will not hit the wall/tree/post it is attached to.
  16. ncharles

    First Physics Blog

    By ncharles,

    As you can guess, this is my first blog for the AP Physics C year (one of about 40). In my free time I dabble in the sports of soccer, basketball and tennis and although I am not the best or star player in any of the sports, I would consider my self consistent and fairly talented in them all.  During the scarce moments in my life during which I am not playing sports, I am either doing homework, playing FIFA on Xbox, or sitting on my phone using Snapchat, Twitter and/or Instagram.  I have four siblings (one brother and 3 step-sisters) of which I am the second youngest (I am also the youngest kid in my grade). My two older step-sisters are a sophomore and freshman in college and my brother is a freshman in college also; my younger step-sister is in 5th grade at Iroquois. Throughout my academic career i have gotten good grades and I will do everything in my power to keep it that way for senior year.  I enrolled in the AP Physics C class, because I did well and loved last years Physics with Mr. Powlin. I also wanted to go more in-depth to Physics than we did last year and I hope this class does that. The main thing i hope to get out of this class is to learn how to teach myself and prepare for college. Already I have changed my habits to accommodate for the demands of this class and others. I am very excited to go through this class with all my friends and do well on the AP. On the contrary, i am most anxious about the work load of the class combined with others, however this will only make me a better student and learner.
  17. ncharles

    Toy tops

    By ncharles,

    The spinning top, a toy found across many of the world's cultures is a great example of a few key physics principles. The first is the conservation of angular momentum: with no outside forces present, something spinning must keep spinning. Because a top balances upon a tiny point, the is a nearly negligible amount of friction, and it continues spinning for a long time, demonstrating the law. But as friction slows the top, it becomes unstable and starts to wobble, leading to another principle called "precession." When the top wobbles, its axis of rotation tips sideways, making an angle with the table. This angle allows the force of gravity to exert a "torque" on the top, putting additional spin on it, and this causes it to swing (or precess) outward in an arc, still spinning as it does so. In an effort to conserve its total angular momentum, the top precesses faster the slower it spins; this explains why tops typically lurch outward just as friction brings their spinning to a stop.
  18. ncharles

    Schlieren Imaging

    By ncharles,

    Schlieren Imaging is an optical technique which allows viewers to see physical changes in air which the human eye cannot detect. Like many other imaging techniques, Schlieren Imaging involves a few basic principles such as refraction (how light acts/bends as it changes medium), reflection (the act of light bouncing off of a reflective object such as a mirror), refractive index (the amount light bends as it passes into a certain material) and density (which affects refractive index). A Schlieren Imaging System allows one to see the different densities that light rays from a source pass through: even if not visible to the human eye. One of the most common ways of setting up a Schlieren Imaging System is the “z-style” (as shown in the attached diagram). This includes a single concave mirror, a light source, a knife edge or color filter, and a camera. As shown in the diagram, the light shines onto the mirror, which reflects and focuses the light to a single point onto the knife edge. The knife edge is used to block out light bent at a specific angle due to a density change in its path. This blocking of light creates a dark spot in the image or field of view which gives the image contrast and clarity, alowing you to be able to see the pocket of air of different density.

  19. ncharles
    A common activity that nearly any person ever could participate in is bowling. Whether you're a 35 year old professional, scoring 300 like its nothing or a 5 year old beginner using the bumpers, there still is one thing that always stays the same...physics. First of all, if you've ever stepped over the line while bowling, chances are you slipped and fell...why? The lane of the alley must have nearly no friction in order for the ball to maintain its initial speed, and to allow for better control of the ball and the application of spin. That brings us into spin. When a player apply spin to a ball the rotational inertia causes the direction of the ball to be altered based on the direction and amount of spin. Professionals look to make the ball travel in a near parabolic path in order to maximize the chance of getting a strike. 
  20. ncharles

    Golf

    By ncharles,

    In my eyes, the sport that uses the principles of physics most simply is Golf. Kinematics and projectile motion are the biggest components of physics that are applied in golf due to the objective of hitting a ball into a small hole. First, the angle at which each club is tilted determines the total distance the ball will fly. A club with a very low angle of tilt, such as a driver, will cause the ball to fly the farthest. But the angle isn't the only factor to distance. Comparing a driver to an iron, the weight and size of the driver's head is greater in both cases. This means that the driver will hit the ball with more force (assumed the swing speed is the same). Another application of physics in golf is air resistance. If you have ever held a golf ball before, you would have surly noticed the dimples. These dimples actually decrease the effect that air resistance has on the ball and allow it to fly faster and further. This happens because the dimples decrease the surface area that the wind hits and causes smaller drag force on the ball.
  21. ncharles

    Popping Ears

    By ncharles,

    Have you ever experienced your ears popping before? Why does this happen? Well, you ear has a small pocket of air in it that, usually, has the same pressure as the outside air.  However, when you are on the takeoff or decent of a plane ride the atmospheric pressure of the air around you is constantly changing at a fairly fast rate. Inside your ear there is a small tube which is made for equalizing the pressure of the air in your ear and the air outside your ear. This opens when you swallow and often when it is opened you hear a pop; and that is the pop you hear. The bigger the difference in pressure the bigger the pop. So next time this happens to you, don't be scared...its completely normal!
  22. ncharles

    Kayaking: The Basics

    By ncharles,

    Almost everybody knows what kayaking and a majority of the population probably have kayaked before. However, like many other things in the world, people may have not thought of the physics of kayaking which is a perfect example of Newtons Third Law. While paddling, you are applying a force on the water by torque on the paddle. If you have ever experimented with paddling, if you hold further towards the end of the paddle, if is easier to go faster. However, if you choke up the the paddle alot you wont be ablle to go as fast because, due to the length of the "lever arm" being decreased, the torque applied to the water is much less. When you apply the force onto the water, by Newton's Third Law, the water applies an equal an opposite force on you (and the kayak) pushing you forward and allowing you to move.
  23. ncharles

    When Pen Meets Paper

    By ncharles,

    Nearly every person in the world will, at one point in their life, use a pen to record, solve of draw something on paper. However, no one stops to think how and why this luxury occurs. How does ink come out of the pen when writing but not while just sitting there? A few main factors determine the flow rate of the ink: the pulling power of the pores of the paper, the pulling power of the pen and the surface tension of the ink. The pores of the paper act like little mini hands that grab on to the surface of the ink at the tip of the pen; rougher paper will pull out ink more quickly, while smooth surfaces struggle to pull out ink.  Then, due to the surface tension of the ink, as some of the ink is pulled out, more comes with it. When the pen is not writing, there is nothing to pull the ink out so no ink flows out of the tip of the pen. Also, when the pen is moving, another factor that contributes to ink flow is the speed of the pen: when its moving faster, ink flows out at a faster rate. Now, when ever you write something, you will think about how you are actually making words.
  24. ncharles

    Snowshoes

    By ncharles,

    Have you ever had to walk through feel of snow and your feet just fall right through it? Well this has happened to me more times than i can count. Although i do not own a pair, the great invention of snow shoes were intact created to solve this simple problem. The problem without snow shoes is that your weight is distributed on such a small  area that the snow cannot hold you up and you can easily comports the snow. The purpose of snow shoes is to increase the area that your weight is being distributed on. This increase is weight distributions cases less force to be applied on each snowflake which would make it compress much less. 
  25. ncharles

    Planes

    By ncharles,

    A common way to spark ideas for this blog is to do cool stuff and have amazing experiences. And although flying in a plane is not such an “amazing” experience, it has sparked a couple ideas that I would like to share. As I was flying, I began to think “How exactly does a plane fly?”.  Newton’s Second Law popped in my mind thinking that we are obviously not accelerating in the y-plane so the force of the plane up must be equal to the weight of the plane (mass times the force of gravity) Although the weight of the plane would vary with our altitude, the change is rather negligible to the scale of forces we are talking about. And since we are in-fact moving in the x-plane the must be a force directed in the -x-plane to cause moving in the +x-plane. So I came to the conclusion that the engines in the plane must produce two forces, one up to counteract gravity and one back to actually cause the plane to move. I know this is a rather simple observation but it was something I had never thought of until now!

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