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Momentumous

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  1. Momentumous
    Now, don't get me wrong, I truly appreciate the genius of this handsome devil's creation, and honestly I'm not too educated in all the details. However, part of what makes fiction so great is being able to imagine it being feasible ..and that's not so easy when you have even a basic understanding of physics. Honestly, every experience I've had watching a superman movie starts of fantastic, and then gets interrupted by some obnoxious little inconceivable detail that drives me insane and ruins the rest of the movie.

    For one, at least in the movies I've seen, Superman gets his strength because he's from a planet with a much higher gravitational constant. Nice physics-y touch. So this means even as a baby, to be able to move at all he's got some sort of much stronger muscle. With the structure of the human body considered, I really don't see how this is feasible without these muscles being pretty darn heavy. How do his adopted parents just pick him up like it's nothing? Baby or not this kid's gotta be heavy! But then, there's the fantasy factor, I suppose there might be some new biological thing going on there.

    So what about flying. Is this magic, or just an extension of his strength? I can't really argue against magic, and I honestly don't know what the intention there is, but there's no way it's an extension of super-human strength. I can see immense leaps that are so huge that perhaps they mimic flying, but he wouldn't be able to bend his path and what-not simply by will of mind.
    What's more, how does the guy leave the ground without a mark half the time? I mean, the force to leap as high in the air as fast as he does would be pretty darn significant! Sure, he slams in the ground for dramatic effect all the time, but I think his take off would have a little more bravado as well. I mean, think about it. One second he's on the ground and couple seconds later he's hundreds of feet in the air? I'd say that'd put a crack in any concrete...

    And what about catching the tumbling damsel in distress! This is the man of steel we're talking about here; and a super macho man at that! So a macho-man without superhuman strength tends to have pretty dense muscles... meaning the harder you hit him the more it hurts you as well. Superman is indestructable to an extent, so I'm certainly not going to argue that catching someone would do him any damage, but what about the person he's catching?! Someone falling stories and stories down (in many cases easily hitting terminal velocity), and he just swoops in and catches them feet from their imminent death. If you ask me, they should have just met death again in a new manner. For one, that's not NEARLY enough time for a sufficient impulse to be even close to feasibly safe. You'd take all of the person's momentum and jerk them in a completely new direction almost instantaneously... that's a death by broken everything I'd say. Furthermore, if the change in direction didn't kill you, you were caught by two steely arms. At that kind of speed, that'd break quite a few bones by my judgment... so death by broken everything x 2!

    I could go on, really, but the more I write the more annoying they get. I suppose it's time to let the classic rest. Maybe the new superman movies won't be so flawed!
  2. Momentumous
    Please note, these are simply my top ten from a limited-extensive research, so don't judge. Also they're not necessarily in order.

    1) A particle "here" can effect one on the other side of the universe

    2) All the matter that makes up the human race could fit in a sugar cube (think about how much empty space is in an atom and you'll be marginally less shocked)

    3) If the sun were made out of bananas, it would be just as hot (High pressure what-nots)

    4)The effect of relativity made an astronaut a fraction of a second younger when he returned to earth after 747 days in space

    5) The first ten feet of the ocean hold as much heat as the Earth's entire atmosphere.

    6) The highest temperature ever reached on earth was 4 trillion degrees Celsius. This was in quark-gluon plasma at Brookhaven RHIC

    7) Sound travels at a speed of around 767 miles per hour

    8) Water can work against gravity, moving up narrow tubes in a process called capillary action.

    9) Light can bend matter

    10) Other solar systems are so far away, some would see the Earth (due to the speed of light) as it was when dinosaurs roamed. By extension, we could theoretically look far enough in the universe to see the beginning of time

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6546462/The-10-weirdest-physics-facts-from-relativity-to-quantum-physics.html
    http://www.sciensational.com/physics.html
    http://physics-lovers.blogspot.com/2010/02/interesting-facts-of-physics.html
    http://www.livescience.com/12910-twisted-physics-top-findings.html
    http://web.mit.edu/uwip/facts.html

    (these links either explain a fact posted further or list more interesting facts)
  4. Momentumous
    Physics plays a huge roll in skiing--and yes, I've posted about such before, but a 3 day ski trip really struck some new physics relations home.

    Revelation one:
    When turning, bending the knees into the turn, and standing up out of the turn actually makes the turn far more efficent and more fun. Part of the efficiency is simply Newton's law--every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction. By bending, you're thus using your body weight to turn more forcefully with the aid of the shape and design of the ski. Depending on the circumstances of your turn, bending your knees can also flex the skis themselves partially, making them pop back to their normal shape and thus aiding the turn.

    Revelation two:
    Too much wax is a bad thing. After every ski trip good ski care mandates that you wax your skis. This is to help mildly smooth out any small scrapes and to thus make the flat surface smoother, thus creating less friction. However, too much wax can have the opposite effect seeing as wax is...well, sticky, and has a far higher coefficient of friction than the actual material skis are made out of. So if you don't want your skis to catch in snow so much, make sure you wiped off the wax well.

    Revelation three:
    Using the edges is a good idea. Beginners often learn to ski in wedge form, which means they use the outside edge of both skis and basically just plow through the snow. Though this works, its working completely against the design of the ski and isn't exactly efficient. If you ski in parallel thus using an outside and inside edge of the ski, the sharp part cuts into the snow in the curved shape of the ski. This in fact means that (thanks to physics!) using edges allows the skis to do half the work for you! And lets be frank, less work in one slope means more slopes to come! Efficiency is our friend
  5. Momentumous
    Upon thinking about dinner, I was pondering what I could possibly blog about, when I saw some pasta...

    Truly there's a lot of physics involved in cooking. Pasta is a pristine example! Spaghetti initially comes in a solid, brittle form. However, when it's heated up in boiling water, it becomes flexible. This flexibility is due to the increased speed of the molecules in the solid. Clearly its not made into a liquid, but it is similar in that the molecules are slightly more free too move. It also becomes more flexible because of the water it absorbs. The water is a liquid and thus the molecules move far more freely by nature.

    Thus, your pasta made edible thanks to physics!
  6. Momentumous
    I've been pondering this for a while and be it because I haven't really looked at equations nor truly tried applying equations in creative ways, I've stumbled across a relationship I can't seem to figure out (maybe someone could answer it with a blog? {I'm such a nice person}).

    So I have a volvo s60, and for its size, its a pretty hefty car. Being so massive, my dad has often preached what a splendid winter car it is, as its weight increases friction and thus provides better traction in bad weather.
    However a car of a greater mass has greater momentum, which should make it harder to stop the car once it's in motion.
    So I suppose my question is, is there a way to relate momentum's impact on velocity to frictional impact on velocity when referring to an object of constant mass? Theoretically if the two are somehow related, wouldn't there be an optimum mass for maximizing traction while minimizing momentum?
  7. Momentumous
    For some of us, taking the lovely AP-C Physics course was simply to have that shiny passing grade to rub in the face of colleges and use to squeeze out some money from them--a "hey look I'm s-m-r-t!" badge if you will. Nearly everyone in the class thought about it economically when considering taking it; taking it in highschool is FAR cheaper than in college, and allows more focus on new materials, maybe it'll draw some scholarships, help get a job ect. But physics goes beyond that. Here's a list of some majors requiring a noteworthy amount of physics:

    Acoustics
    Aeronautical Engineer
    Agricultural Engineer
    Air Traffic Controller
    Airline Pilot
    Archaeologist
    Architect
    Astronomer
    Audio Engineer
    Broadcasting
    Cartographer
    Chartered Surveyor
    Civil Engineer
    Climatologist
    Clinical Scientist
    Computing
    Designer
    Doctor
    Electrical Engineer
    Energy
    Engineering
    Environment
    Environmental Scientist
    Forensic Scientist
    Gas Engineer
    Geologist
    Health Services
    Journalist
    Laboratory Technician
    Marine Engineering
    Mathematician
    Mechanical Engineer
    Medical Physicist
    Meteorologist
    Naval Architect
    Naval Career
    Nuclear Scientist
    Oceanographer
    Operational Research
    Patent Agent
    Patent Examiner
    Pharmacist
    Radiation Protection
    Radiographer
    Scientific Officer (Government)
    Space and Remote Sensing
    Teacher
    Transport
    Water Management

    And here's a list of some of the best paying careers:

    1. Doctors/surgeons
    2. Orthodontists/dentists
    3. Cheif executive officer
    4. Petroleum engineer
    5. Lawyer
    6. Architectural and engineer manigers
    7. Natural science manager
    8. Marketing manager
    9. Computer info. systems manager
    10. Industrial-organizational psychologist
    11. Financial manager
    12. Airline pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers
    13. Sales manager
    14. Air traffic controller
    15. Pharmacist

    Note the frequent overlaps? That's because physics is essential in a world of technological dependency and progression. So not only will physics save you money now, but it could very potentially make you plenty in the future!
  8. Momentumous
    I don't know about you, but I'm always interested in quirky little facts that can be used to go up to someone smarter than you and say "hey, I know something you don't know!" So to aid you all in this admirable endeavor, watch this video!


  9. Momentumous
    Does anyone else feel it too? End of the year syndrome... it's kinda like senioritis, except anyone can get it. Essentially what it means is a complete and total lack of motivation to do anything whatsoever. I don't know about you, but it's hitting me hard right now, with 5 days left of school and numerous projects not yet completed.
    So lets remind ourselves why we like physics, shall we?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Zf1f3-JYs

    Because physics is everywhere, and it can be funny!
    But most importantly, because it tells us how much peter griffin weighs.
  10. Momentumous
    In summary, essentially the sky appears dark to us because the universe is expanding. When the stars we look at are farther away, they're moving away from us faster. The faster the star moves away, the more red they appear. After they reach a certain distance away from us, the stars become infrared. Essentially the sun is the only star close enough to us to emit on the visible spectrum and diffuse through the atmosphere.

    I thought this was very interesting. With a background in physics, a lot of questions tend to pop up that someone without such a background would take for granted. The sky being dark at night, with soooo many stars as bright or brighter than the sun out there, was always of mild interest to me. Hope you enjoy!
  11. Momentumous
    Over the past few weeks, I've gotten to know Kerbal Space Program quite well. I can honestly say it's quite the addicting game, but if you don't do any research, it can get very frustrating. Personally, I'm a trial and error kind of gal. When being completely honest, I almost never actually calculate the physics behind everything going on in KSP, I just make behemoth rockets and see if they do what I want them too. As a result, I've probably had more crash landings and test flights than there are grains of sand on the beach. If we were to look at the actual physics, there's so much going on in building a rocket and taking it to the moon, it's not even funny.
    For starters, there's weight and drag force to consider when designing the rocket. The more weight on the rocket, the more powerful an engine you need. You also need more liquid fuel to get places with heavier rockets, however liquid fuel actually weighs quite a bit itself. You can see how it can get complicated to actually calculate the right fuel-weight proportions. The other major thing in design to look for is aerodynamics. That $50 piece that smoothly transitions from smaller to larger pieces is probably the biggest bang for your buck in the entire game; the added drag force without can easily be enough to pull apart your rocket into multiple pieces, or simply make it never lift off the ground.
    Then, once you've figured out all the thrust needed from an engine to lift up your behemoth to get it to actually move, you have to actually be able to fly the thing. One simple error in staging can completely blow up the entire mission, and if your not paying attention, you could have blow thousands of kerbencian dollars on a rocket you blew up because you forgot to turn down the throttle a smidge.
    And then, once you get out of the atmosphere, you have to worry about gravitational forces. Furthermore, if you're actually trying to get somewhere, there's all sorts of messing with orbits that has to happen, not to mention transfering orbits from one gravitational pull to another.

    Really the physics behind this game is astounding. Just thinking about it all is enough to make any mind whirl, not to mention calculating them!
  12. Momentumous
    Recently I've acquired skullcandy over-ear headphones that have many noise canceling qualities. Still, I find myself wishing I could afford the Bose. Without any doubt, the Bose Noise Cancelling headphones are the best of their kind.
    With this in mind, I though it worth the research to figure out why.
    As with nearly anything, there's actually quite a bit of physics involved in optimizing sound quality. For starters, to make headphones in general involves coils and magnets and a whole slew of physics. Optimizing the sounds quality is a little more simple in theory (though not necessarily in practice).
    Bose headphones in particular actually have sensors designed to pick up outside sound waves and create counter waves to negate these sounds and optimize what you're listening to. It's also important to ensure that the headphone rests that go over your ears are large enough to make a seal of sorts, thus making it harder for sound to get out or in where it's not wanted. The material the headphones are made out of is crucial as well. Bose puts lots of research into finding the best material to insulate sound waves and direct the desired noises to your ear. Of course Bose doesn't publish much on all the calculations behind this, but it's pretty easy to see how quickly this can involved elaborate physics problems.
    I don't know about you, but I'm determined to own a pair someday!
    http://worldwide.bose.com/axa/en_au/web/noise_cancelling_technology/page.html
  13. Momentumous
    I've mention in a previous post how poorly magic and physics mix. That being said, there are many variations on how magic works depending on what fiction you're referring to. In most fictions I've seen, practicing magic tends to simply require a lot of mental focus and memorizing a few words. This concept is entirely impossible in the real world if the fundamental laws of physics hold true. Energy can't be created or destroyed, simply changed. Magic tends to make things move with no physical cause, thus making it impossible.
    Some fictions, however, take a more plausible route. I've read a few books where in fact it takes just as much energy to do something with magic as it would to get up and do it yourself--thus making the only major convenience of magic that you can do things faster. In this theory, you could attempt to do something with magic and end up essentially committing suicide because you tried to do something that you simply don't have enough strength to do.
    By far this is the most plausible theory I've ever heard. For one it doesn't mess quite so much with our laws of physics. Energy created by your body is still being used to make something happen, thus energy is still conserved. This means that essentially the magic wielder is using their mind to direct energy in less-than-conventional ways.
    True, it's still pretty far-fetched. Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic, but I'd still like to think it's possible. As it stands, humans on average only use 10% of their brain for sitting and thinking, who knows what'd be possible if we could find a way to have constant access to the other 90%, no matter what the activity!
  14. Momentumous
    Of all the tv shows we watch, each and every one retains varying levels of accuracy with respect to physics. Here's my personal reflection on the accuracy of some shows I watch:

    The Big Bang Theory:
    The big bang theory is a hilarious comedy relating to the lives of social awkward phsyicists. We don't have any problems with someone leaping too far out of a window or something blowing up when it shouldn't because... well that stuff doesn't happen in the big bang theory. Noteably, however, is all the physics they talk about. The directors of the show truly put a lot of research into making sure things are accurate. Every single equation you see on white boards in the background are real, and everything they talk about (though I doubt the actors actually do them) are real physics concepts and researches. Funny, and realistic? I think yes!

    Myth Busters:
    This one is pretty obvious. The whole concept of the show is to use phsyics to disprove or prove common place misconceptions or wives tales. In fact the whole concept of the show is kind of how I'm currently treating all the shows being reviewed. I approve.

    Merlin:
    Merlin is a show in a magical world about (you guessed it) Merlin, a warlock who is destined to protect the King Arthur. Considering the magical nature of the world they live in, it's hard to say what is or isn't accurate. Physics and magic are concepts that don't mix well. Particularly since magic often seems to create and destroy matter and energy without putting any effort into it--which goes against the most basic and fundamental concepts of physics. So it's truly hard to judge the accuracy of a show like Merlin. But if we disregard the impossibility of magic and still look at the physics, Merlin is actually pretty plausible. It's not too hard to keep it physics-ly plausible, it's pretty easy to stay accurate when you're only worrying about things that can happen in the medieval ages. Overall, with disregard to magic, Merlin gets my approval!
  15. Momentumous

    The Bumble Bee

    By Momentumous,

    I've always just kind of assumed nature optimized the way all things are formed for what they're designed to do. Apparently, however, this is not the case.

    Though it's a myth that bumble bees shouldn't be able to fly with their rather small wings and rather large body, the way in which they do fly is incredibly inefficient. Essentially they move around the air through sheer brute force. Not only are their wings unsynchronized, but the way in which they flap i makes it impossible for air flow to aid the bee in traveling through the air more easily.
    Its huge thorax combined with the high energy necture diet allow for the necessary force to create thrust with such tiny wings for such a heavy body. It's speculated that this brute-force method was developed so that bumble bees can maneuver through the air more easily, sacrificing overall flying efficiency, or as a result of the already wide body of the bee.
    More on this can be found at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090507194511.htm
  16. Momentumous
    There was a lot of picture taking going on today, and considering it being a noteable passion of mine, I figured it's a good thing to ponder the physics of.

    Photography is derived from the greek words "photos" meaning light, and "graphos" meaning writing. Writing with light. Aptly named, as light is the largest component of any good photograph. Every camera has exposures and f-stops that corollate with apperatures and shutterspeeds. Each of these are tools to control how much light is allowed to be exposed on the film or SD card. I don't think I know enough about SD cards to be able to confidently say how they work, but I'm sure they're incredibly similar to film, which I know more about.

    Flims starts out as a sheet of chemically soaked material. These chemicals are designed to interact with light. The lense focuses and directs light from the outside world onto the film, where the reaction (once developed) takes place to mirror the image. This works for both black and white as well as color flim. Everything we see is simply a reflection of light, be it brightness and darkness or any shade of color.

    There's really an incredible amount of physics involved in photography. In fact, a lot of physics takes effect in simply staging and setting up pictures (diffusing light, velocities, the speed of light, reflections ect), however I won't get to into that. When you know as much as I do about photography, talking about everything you can do with it can take more time than anyone would care to read, particularly when you're looking at all the physics behind it as well!

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