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mathgeek15

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Blog Entries posted by mathgeek15

  1. mathgeek15
    Its after midnight and I'm tired. So here are some cartoons about Schrodinger's Cat, which I have been thinking about a lot lately for some reason...

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]651[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]653[/ATTACH]

    Cartoon #1: "We may, or may not, have cloned Schrodinger's cat"
    Cartoon @2: "Being simultaneously dead and alive in the box gave me an incredible perspective over the "life, the universe, and everything". And I am here to tell it to the world!"
  2. mathgeek15
    Ok, to be completely honest I came up with this idea thanks to Mr. Fullerton and Goalkeeper0.
    Anyways, whenever someone talks about Faraday's Cage, I think about that scene in Sorcerer's Apprentice. Not only is it a funny movie, but it's got physics in it. Not to mention Nicholas Cage (hahaha Nicholas Cage, Faraday's Cage, no pun intended). What's not to love? So here's a clip from the movie, which is a great and really cool example of Faraday's Cage. Enjoy the Show!


  3. mathgeek15
    First off, before I even begin, I just got to say that it was really stupid of me to wait to do all my blog posts in the last few days. While I have come up with some really good ones, it's just so much at once. Back onto the topic, I am sitting in my living room watching television and my feet are FREEZING. My mom and my sister both have fuzzy socks, slippers, robes, and blankets to keep them warm, and I've got popsicle feet. However, other than my feet, I feel quite comfortable. So now I am going to explain the physics behind cold feet, and not the commitment issues kind.
    Thermodynamics is the heart of this situation, where the answer to our cold feet stands (haha feet joke). First of all, the rate of heat transfer and therefore the amount of heat transferred is described in the equation H= (kAT)/L where L is the thickness of the material barrier, in this case clothing, muscle, and skin; k is the thermal conductivity of the material, A is the area of the barrier, so basically the body; and finally T is the temperature difference between the different environments, so the temperature of the human body minus the temperature of of the outer air. Since my mother likes to keep the heating bill down, the temperature is quite cold, casing the heat transfer rate to be high going from my body to the air.
    In comes biology. Because the heat of your body is being transferred to the cold air, your body circulates more blood around the core of your body to keep the vital organs warm. Unfortunately, that means cold piggies.
    So now you know why the first thing you run for is a nice fuzzy pair of socks on a cold night. Stay warm!
  4. mathgeek15
    So as most of you know the election is just a few days away! YAAYYYYYY!!!!! Just kidding. I for the most part don't pay too much attention to politics, but sometimes I find the topics interesting. I, however, do not find this years election very interesting. Too much bad mouthing and he said he said to ruin each other's reputation and poll numbers. Because for the most part I do not care for either candidate, I have decided to use physics to create an equation to help people like me choose a president. Now, friction is a big problem in politics, something that Obama seems to have experienced more than any other president that I know of. I know Jackson did, but he covered his opposers in lubricant and that solved his friction problem. Then there is the amount of energy in the president. Some presidents have all potentials, others have all kinetic, and some have a little bit of both. Therefore, using these variables we can create an equation to determine the "worthiness" of the candidate:
    E(final)= K + U +W(Friction). This equation will tell you how much the candidate can possibly do. However, a very important factor for the decision making process of the nation's president is that we want K > U. The greater the K, the better, however, we probably do not want all kinetic energy simply because if the president is all kinetic, he's not thinking as much about what else he could be doing that could be even better. I'll let you guys calculate Obama and Romney's energy, and feel free to let me know whose is better, but make sure to also state the comparison of kinetic and potential energy. Happy Election Calculating!
  5. mathgeek15
    As my second to last blog post ever (for a grade, you can't get rid of me that easy!!!), I thought I should simply talk about how physics is in everything we do. so Here are some summer activity examples most people would not think of:
    Playing on the playground (teeter totter, slides, swings, etc)
    Computers/ video games
    Cell Phones
    Flying a kite
    Water gun wars
    Swimming
    Driving
    Packaging for college (Force required to pull/carry it, increasing mass)
    Baking/ throwing cupcakes
    Sports (Baseball, football, soccer... btw you have to be playing not watching sports)
    Shopping (carrying shopping bags, the production of the clothes)
    Sleeping (See The Physics of Sleeping)

    And there is so much more! So as we all enjoy our last summer before we all go to college, think about how physics is used in everything that we do.
  6. mathgeek15
    As promised, I looked into how fast the Batmobile would go on a frictionless plane instead of the roads of Gotham. To compare the difference, I used everyone's loving friend, Energy.
    uk= .8
    aB= 60 mph in 2.4 seconds (after some conversions....)= 11.17 m/s
    mB= 4500 lbs (FYI, I was wrong, a tank weighs 135,000 lbs)

    F-Ff= mBa
    mBaB- ukmBg= mBa
    (4500) (11.17) - .8(4500) (9.8)= 4500a
    a= 10.376 m/s
    They may not look like a big difference; well, its not in the short distance.

    x= 1 mile= 1609.34 m
    x= .5at2
    t2= 2x/a
    t2= 2(1609.34)/ (10.376)
    t2= 310.2
    t= 17.65 s
    vs.
    t2= 2x/a
    t2= 2(1609.34)/ (11.17)
    t2= 287.999
    t= 16.97 s
    So, obviously, when it comes to short distances, the friction on the car is almost negligible. However, if Superman decided to play a prank on Batman (his attempt to be funny), he could put the Batmobile in space, where the car can infinitely accelerate without friction, where the Batmobile will become the Batrocket. Let's hope the brakes are working.
  7. mathgeek15
    Ok, I gotta admit, that last blog post stunk like my dog's farts. In fact, other than the physics of faradays cage, they all have been pretty bad. Well, I am going to tell you what the best and the worst have in the blog posts.
    The best:
    Humor is a good thing. Physics at times can be rather boring, and if you couple it with some humor, it can be more entertaining for the viewers.
    Have it on an interesting topic. Let's face it, a bad topic is a bad blog.
    Connect to the "real world." Dont just talk about school and physics class, but connect it to the outside world. It gives the blogs a sense of meaning.
    Ad finally, Make it meaningful. I know lots of you are only trying to get these done at the last second, but if you are just randomly posting things hoping to get credit, the post is going to be a dud, except on those rare occasions where it turns out amazing (aka the physics of faraday's cage).

    The Worst:
    Dry. There's no spice, no excitement. If you simply have a dry subject, try adding in colors or fun faces. It adds character and draws the eye.
    No Physics. Yes, the are times where the blog posts are simply people rambling. Come on, weve all done it (the physics of tetris by me, not mrmuffinman). Make something up, find some connection, just put physics in it! ***Warning: lame physics is better than no physics, but still won;t do well
    Bore-fest. As sad as it is there are certain topics that people dont care about, like my independent study. Not that I blame people....

    I think the most important part of making a blog post is to be excited for it!!! Put a little of yourself into the blog posts, just like in English voice is key.
    Well, I hope I have helped make you all better bloggers!!! Ready, Set, Blog!
  8. mathgeek15
    Ok, so I totally got this blog idea from denverbroncos, though after thinking about it the two reseaches are not the same like I thought (my bad). Anyways I decided to do this anyways because its uber-physicsy and funny. Basically, Penny wants to learn what Leonard does for a living, and Sheldon's teaching her. This is gonna be interesting...

  9. mathgeek15
    As many people know I plan to go to college for civil engineering. Whenever I tell people this, they always ask me what exactly civil engineering is. So, to kill two birds with one stone, I'm going to explain via blog post!

    So basically, to put it in simplest terms, civil engineering is the physics of structures.... sort of. Civil engineering, like engineering in general, has many many many different sections within it. For example, there's structural, geotechnical, materials, construction, transportation, water resources, sewerage, and so much more. Even environmental engineering is considered a subset of civil engineering, although personally I think they should just give environmental its own group, but that will probably happen in the near future with the increase in demand for alternative energy. I am interested in structural engineering, which includes anything from homes to bridges.

    As a structural engineer, I would be in charge of a variety of things. The dictionary definition is an engineer who "analyzes, designs, plans, and researches the structural components and systems." So during a project, I would need to work with other engineering professions and architects constantly to create a design and during the construction of the project.
    Civil engineers use trigonometry a lot because almost all structures involve trusses, but as for physics there are several "units" that can be used. For example:
    Dynamics: Newton's laws, free body diagrams. The purpose of free body diagrams is actually to find the force on each beam of a truss (not to make our lives miserable)
    Linear Momentum: Center of mass, this is used a lot for I beams and of beam types.
    Finally Rotational Momentum: Torque. Torque has everything to do with trusses because you what static equilibrium in all structures. How safe would you feel if the building shook every time there was a gust of wind? I would be very scared.

    One of the final things a civil engineer could be responsible for is overseeing the construction, especially paying attention to the details when the project is being finalized. When I went on a shadowing day, I visited a site with a civil engineer, who kept talking to his partner about certain details that the construction workers screwed up, which irritated him a lot. Not only did I find that humorous, that moment I knew that civil engineering would be perfect for me.
  10. mathgeek15
    Hope everyone had fun on Halloween! I sure did. But after handing out about 12 bags of candy and eating some in the process, I began to wonder what is the physics behind eating too much candy. Obviously there is the dreaded "tummy ache", but thats biology, I want to know the physics!
    So this is how it works: When you consume sugar your body creates energy, lots of it. After eating so much candy after a while, you've got a lot of potential energy just dying to become kinetic energy. When the potential energy has reached its max, BAM!!! instant sugar high, every parents nightmare when the kid is all hyped up doing sprints around the coffee table screaming for more candy ( why, I don't even know) after eating all the halloween candy at once.
    Obviously once all that kinetic energy is used up there comes the sugar crash with a wiped out kid that is probably beginning to understand why his/ her parents told them not to. So biology steps in with the kid running to the bathroom, promising to never eat candy again, at least until Christmas.
    Word of the wise, dont OD on candy, It all fun and games until physics (and some biology) steps in.
    Happy Halloween!:ghost:
  11. mathgeek15
    Oh my gosh I am crying on the inside. I was creating a really awesome blog post that everyone would love and I went to backspace a letter and it returned to the home blog page. I lost everything. So I am going to explain why when you are tired you do stupid things such as not save.

    According to scientists, during sleep your brain sorts through and stores information, replaces chemicals, and solves problem from the day. When you are tired, it's your body's way of saying, "AAAHHHH me tired." Just like when exercising any other muscle, after a certain amount of time that muscle becomes sore and cramped (headache), in desperate need of a break. However, instead of tightening up and not being able to move that muscle, the brain begins to make poor decisions, make mistakes, and neglect certain details. In addition, many people become more emotional due to lack of sleep, they also become hyper-alert in a negative way: aware of the problems youre facing, but not able to focus on any one topic. An interesting "fact" (i googled it so i could be wrong), but when tired your brain acts in a similar way to when you're tired, slower reaction rate, temperamental, and poor judgement. Another really cool "fact" is that your body/brain sends signals to go to sleep, which requires more energy to fight the urge, which makes you more tired.

    Long story short, give up and go to bed. Which is what I will do now... maybe. I apologize if i repeated myself or if the facts are false.
  12. mathgeek15
    I have been waiting to do this blog post for a long time, and I am excited to do this. I dont know about anyone else, but I like to keep track of my highest viewing blog posts and try to get the most as possible. After (semi) extensive research, I am ready to share my findings with you!!!!
    So, to start off, blog post views increases the same way as the learning curve, slow at first, then increases a a faster rate until the acclereation begins to slow down until it plateaus. However, the difference between the learning curve and the "blog curve" is thatthe blog curve never really plateaus because there are always new people entering the internet and this website, searching for an amusing blog post or specific information.
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]631[/ATTACH]
    So, last quarter when I did my blog posts I recorded the number of views I had after two weeks. I have now created different groups to dicuss the success of each blog post. Keep in mind that the numbers I use are from my blog posts only, so that can be different for other people. Here are my "catagories" based off the numbers:
    High viewers ( a hit): 100+
    Middle Range (a good blog): approx. 65-99
    Low viewers (Better luck next time): >65

    I figured this blog post is boring enough, so check my posts later for advice on creating blog posts. Have fun!
  13. mathgeek15

    Truss Challenge

    By mathgeek15,

    So as some of you know I am working on a independent study in statics. Well recently I was creating a problem packet for the Principles of Engineering class and one of the problems was NOT FRIENDLY. At first it's all like, oh yeah, this is simple, but as you go deeper into the mathematics of it, it gets messier and eviler (that is now a word). I did eventually get the answer thanks to my knowledge of physics, vectors and sign notation, which really was where the problem was. So now I change all the physics people out on APlusPhysics to solve the problem, and if you get it right, you get a:victorious: and maybe I'll make cupcakes..... Ready, Set, GO!!!
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]505[/ATTACH]
    Solve for all the forces on this truss
  14. mathgeek15

    First Blog...

    By mathgeek15,

    Hey fellow physics people, this is my first blog!!!!

    So I am taking this independent study on statics (nonmoving objects such as buildings and bridges) and my first project is a poster on the truss unit for the Principles of Engineering class. I gotta say, physics B is definitely playing a part in this project like the ups= downs idea for equilibrium. But when I was planning the poster I couldnt remember the most simple things, like finding the moment first in order to find the torque on the different ends of the beams. Thankfully I have all my old notes from Principles of Engineering to guide me in finding the torque of the sides of the triangle/ truss example I created.

    The planning for the poster is all done now and I am currently making the triangle truss on photoshop. You would think that is easy, but with engineering drawings, you have to include the pin and roller, which is a bunch of triangles and circles and photoshop is sooo not being friendly with me.

    I sure hope this is physicsy enough for the extra credit points!!! (:
  15. mathgeek15

    Truss Design Research

    By mathgeek15,

    Hello Fellow Nerds! If anyone reads these blogs (why one would, I don't know), then they would know that I am doing an independent study on STATICS!!! Ooooh, excitement! Actually, I do find it quite interesting, and since I just finished the first part of the independent study, I am moving on to the research part, which I am SUPER excited for. I will be researching different designs commonly used for trusses/ bridges, learning why engineers use that specific shape in different scenarios. Those with a little bridge knowledge probably know about the three basic bridge types: suspension, beam, and arch. But there is so much more than that!!! One of my favorites is the bell truss, which is really cool looking. Since I am still in the beginning phase of my research, I don't know much more than that. I can't wait to learn how the different truss shapes influence the dispersion of the force!
    Here's a picture of the Bell truss[ATTACH=CONFIG]511[/ATTACH]
  16. mathgeek15
    Hey fellow physics peoples, obviously if you looked at the time I posted this I cant sleep. After sleeping for 12 hours saturday and with the robitussium "nighttime" nasal relief worn off, I am wide awake while the rest of the world (at least in this hemisphere) is asleep. Trying to find a way to amuse myself at 5:00 in the morning, I thought this would be the perfect time to do a physics blog post. YAY!!!!!
    So thanks to my cold my brain hasnt been fuctioning all that well, making it really hard for me to 1) get motivated to actually do homework and 2) to understand it. So I needed some help on the calculus homework. So I went over to a friends house for some help at 7:00 last night and I had taken some more robitussium, making me very sleepy. Thankfully, I have a very nice friend that was willing to make me coffee. So we're doing calculus and I just finished the mug of coffee she gave me, and being doped up on drugs and drowsiness I'm staring into the cup trying to figure out if its a shallow flat bottom or a deep cone shaped bottom. Well my friend is like, "what are you doing?" as I poke the bottom. Realizing that the bottom was just a reflection of the rim of the cup and that my face was in the small circle at the bottom of the cup, I go, "OMG the bottom of the cup is a convex mirror!!! Well, after that we had to see if i was right or not, but i cant seem to remember now if it was a convex or concave mirror, so if someone could tell me that would be cool. Definitely a mirror, smaller image, and right side up. Have fun!!
  17. mathgeek15
    Halloween has just passed, and as a horror film fanatic, I watched the classic Halloween (the original, of course, with Jamie Lee Curtis). At the end of the movie (WARNING: spoiler alert!), Mike Myers falls out the window after being shot multiple times in the chest. Every time I watch that part, I ask how in the world he could have survived? Well, I am going to use to use ol' faithful energy conservation to prove whether or not Mike Myers could have actually survived.
    Mike Myers fell out of a second story window, which the height would be about 12 ft, which is about 3.6576 m. Using conservation of energy, i can find the final velocity of Mike Myers.
    P= K
    mgh= .5mv2
    2gh=v2
    v2= 2(9.8)(3.6576)
    v2= 71.689
    v= 8.47 m/s
    The average human body can survive a fall with a velocity of 143 m/s. Obviously, Mike Myers had no problem surviving that fall, especially sicne he was just falling on nice soft grass. And, according to my horror film buddy, Mike Myers has no concept of pain, so the pain from the bullets never registered to him. Assuming that the doctor has had no prior experience with guns, he could have missed any vital organs, allowing Mike Myers to escape.
    Thanks to physics, the mystery is solved on how Mike Myers survived. Turns out he's not superhuman, just lucky that the doctor can't aim. For those who haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It's enjoyable and not scary. Go Energy!

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