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Cheetay

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  1. Cheetay

    Physics of Pokemon

    By Cheetay,

    We all knew this would come eventually, from a person like myself. Personally, I love pokemon videogames- they're fun, entertaining, and you can do so many different things in them. Much better that the televisions shows, for sure.
    While I was pondering how to tie in my nerdy-ness into a physics post, I came up with this. Hopefully it's not too terrible

    So, to begin, let us dive into the game itself-- literally.

    Within this "small" (by the standards when it was first made, at least) pokemon Gold cartridge lies a mess of wires, chips, resisters, etc, and the battery that powers it.
    It's a complex circut, basically!
    When inserted into the game boy, a current is sent out into the game, reading all the information stored on it as the game loads up.
    Physics is why it works. Physics is the reason that the electrical currents move through the game, why the save data is read, and why you can even play it on the gamboy in the first place. End of story. Not a single videogame would work without physics.

    While playing the actual coded game, as well, physics is at work. In some games, logic doesn't seem to be at play- the physics of it doesn't match up. Pokemon games are actually fairly realistic, compared to some other video games. When you jump off the ledge, you fall down. When you throw the pokeball, it doesn't float into the sky- it continues on it's path and hits the pokemon. In some of the newer games, when crossing a log, you can fall off. I may be tired and rambling at this point, but that's because I can. In some games, like Harvest Moon, there is no logic. Crops growing in less than a month? Cows getting pregnent with a potion? Teleporting?

    I dare you to go and play one of your videogames and analize it. Is the physic within it logical, or not? Take some time to take in the world around you- none of it would be there without physics. It's just that important!
  2. Cheetay
    Through out my years as a trumpeter, I have fallen in love with my instrument. I really never gave much though as to why, or how, it plays the notes that it does. Now, with my knowledge of physics, it all makes perfect sense.
    The trumpet is a precise instrument; one dent, clog, or hole could ruin the beautiful sound that may come out of it. The trumpet is made up of multiple parts, each critical to its performance:

    When first learning to play the trumpet, the hardest part is learning how to buzz your lips in the correct way to get a clean sound, and then how to adjust the pitch as you play. This is sound waves at it's finest. By buzzing your lips (embouchure is the correct term), you cause the mouth piece to buzz, therefore sending a sound wave bouncing away through the air in the trumpet. The vibrations carry through the lead pipe until they reach the valves (refer back to the diagram). This is where something cool can happen; You can change the sound of the note by pushing down different valves. It's how you differentiate between a B, D, F, etc on the trumpet. This actually occurs because, with each valve pushed down, the path of the air is altered, becoming either longer or shorter to change the note. After that, the vibrations continue up until they reach the bell, and are diffracted off into the room to produce the music!

    There is also a way to change pitch without touching the valves, as well. By adjusting your embouchure- that is, your facial muscles or mouth- you can change the pitch to be higher or lower. This is what distinguishes the middle G, low C, middle C, and high E from one another, because all four of those notes are played opened valved (none being pressed). While it takes a while to get good enough to hit and slur up to high notes, like all else it just takes practice. The physics involved in the trumpet will make it happen if you can supply the vibration, pitch, and air flow.
    Putting all this together, you can do scales as simple as this:
    Or many other scales (sharps, minors, flats, etc).

    There is more I could rant about with the trumpet, but I have a dragging suspicion you are bored by now
    The trumpet is a beautiful example of Physics that, until this year, I really wasn't able to appreciate. I love my trumpet, yes, but it's awesome to be able to apply what I learned in order to TRULY understand why I can do what I can with my instrument.

    I'll just leave you with one more thing

  3. Cheetay
    My childhood, like many others, was spent watching many Disney Movies. One of my all time favorites was the Lion King- I never grew tired of it. One scene that always sticks in my mind is that once music number of young Simba and Nala and, of course, the scene of Mufasa's Death.


    (0:49-1:20)

    It can usually bring tears to even the toughest of teens, yes? As a child, this scene really never bothered me and, now, this sad scene seems to bother me so much more. Mufasa died a heroic, and untimedly, death by saving his only son.
    However, we should move onto the Physics now. How accurate is Mufasa's death, exactly? Could a fall from that height really kill an adult male lion? How far did he fall, anyway? It's very hard to tell but, after reviewing this scene many times I feel I can give a good shot at answering these questions.

    From what I can tell, Mufasa's fall lasted roughly 5 seconds (1:07-1:12ish), and started from rest before... Scar decided to be a jerk and condemn Mufasa to death.

    So, using the equation d=vit+(1/2)at2, knowing his falling time was 5 seconds, he started from rest, and acceleration due to gravity is 9.81m/s2; It can be estimated that Simba's father fell about 123 meters. While he seemes to be fairly high before he fell, I highly doubt that the the distance (vaguely seen at 0:50) was taller than the Statue of Liberty.

    Obviously, it makes sense why a Disney movie would over exaggerate the death of a character, and not care about making the Physics of a children's movie accurate. While real Lions are tough and resiliant, a fall like Mufasa's (even if less than 123meters) would still kill or severely injure an adult lion- not taking into account the stampeeding wildebeasts trampling.

    So, as expected, Disney's The Lion King takes little care in being realistic... It was still interesting to think about, however! And imagine how cool (at least, I think so) it would be if a childhood classic was actually completely accurate- in a physics sense (because animal's can't talk).
  4. Cheetay

    Physics of Archery

    By Cheetay,

    Most of us have, at some point, shot an arrow at something with a bow, correct? Whether it be for fun, for sport, or for gym. But why is Archery so hard for some, and so natural for others? Is it some lucky skill inherited from parents? Or simply some people are more skilled than others? I, personally, have yet to hear of a segment of DNA that creates a Robin Hood but... maybe it's possible.
    Or, perhaps the successful Archers have a good feel for Physics.


    Before you aim, you must first draw back the bow string. This is actually physics in itself- you're doing work by stretching out the already taunt string (which could be considered a spring, because it consists of many different fibers woven together which, ones drawn, hold potential energy waiting to be released). As you work to pull the 'spring' back, you can now take aim at the target: the distance, environment, and height of the target must be taken into effect.
    The farther away you are, the higher you should aim because gravity will, unfortunately, drag the arrow towards the ground once released. You could be a nerd and calculate the perfect angle to release the arrow at, but there's little fun in that.

    Once you make your aiming adjustments, you can finally release the string, thus, utilizing the potential energy it had stored. The taunter the sting, the more energy will be transfered into your arrow as it leaves its roost and flies- the more energy, the faster and more accurate your arrow will be!

    Dearly hope you have enjoyed my awkward and shoddy blog post/explaination

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