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MyloXyloto

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Everything posted by MyloXyloto

  1. Hey, do you know whose birthday it is? It is the one, the only, Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss! He was born 241years ago today! Since Gauss' Law helps us solve problems with cylindrical, spherical, and planar symmetry, I thought it would only be right to wish him a happy birthday! Thanks Gauss!
  2. I'd like to dedicate this blog post to the person who has gotten me through this year. You know who you are. Do you annoy me sometimes? Absolutely. Do I annoy you sometimes? I sure hope so. All jokes aside, we do make a good team. We work well together because neither one of us is a follower. We are both independent, which is helpful when one of us is missing something. If you miss something, there's a good chance I caught it, and I'll point it out. If I miss something, there's a good chance you caught it and you'll point it out. We don't leave each other in the dark. If one of us doesn't understand something, we explain it to each other until it makes sense. If one of us is having a rough day or week, the other steps it up and does what they can to help make something more manageable. Do we get of topic? Let's not lie to ourselves, of course we do. However, we also know when we really need to crack down and get a lot done. It may have taken us awhile to get there, but we did. We are close enough that we aren't afraid to tell each other to shut up and work when we need to. We also aren't afraid to be wrong. We know that no one is perfect, especially in this class. We don't judge each other for making a mistake, we know we'll make more and more, and that's okay. Overall, you make things more enjoyable, even when I say you don't. It was great to take on such a challenge with you and support each other along the way, while of course making lots of jokes. I couldn't have asked for a better lab partner. We're partners in crime (I mean physics). Thanks for a great year.
  3. I think I've done enough violin blogs, so how about my other instrument? That's right, ukulele. And yes, I actually play it, I don't carry it around like an accessory and pretend like I know how to play. Like the violin, the ukulele is a string instrument, so the sound comes from vibrating strings. Unlike a guitar or violin, the strings of a ukulele are made of nylon, which gives it that distinct ukulele sound. Both the length and the tension of the string determine what note it plays. When tuning, if the string is flat, you tighten it to tune it. This increases the tension and frequency. If it's sharp, loosen the string. How loud the ukulele is depends on how hard you strum. The harder you strum, the higher the amplitude of the vibrating strings, resulting in higher volume. The noise also comes from the sound of the vibrating strings echoing in the hollow chamber in the body of the ukulele. If there were no chamber, the ukulele would not produce much sound. Enjoy this picture of my ukulele with my violins on top of a piano. I'm bad at piano by the way.
  4. At this point, we have finished mechanics, and we are starting to finish up electricity and magnetism. Each of these courses had it's own set of challenges. However, with mechanics, even when I didn't fully understand something, I could still sort of visualize it and try to make sense out of it. Mechanics definitely felt more straight forward and understandable than electricity and magnetism, except dealing with drag forces is still very difficult. With electricity and magnetism, my main struggle has been not being able to just see how everything works. Things don't really click with me like they often did in mechanics. This is why I would say I've had more trouble with this course than mechanics. I can't see things the same way. When it comes time to review for both exams, I'll have to keep this in mind, and maybe dedicate a little more time to electricity and magnetism just to make sure I understand what I need to in order to be successful.
  5. This spring break, I traveled to London with some other students. Over the week, I took tons of beautiful pictures of the city and surrounding area. However, that's not what I'm going to share with you. Sorry. (Not really) Here's a story instead. I went into a bookstore with a few of my friends while visiting Windsor. I was looking for something specific, and once I found it, I wandered around the store waiting for the others to finish up. I should have known that I couldn't even escape physics while on vacation in another country. I looked at this one shelf of books, and a bunch of them were physics books! No, I did not buy any of them. However, sometimes I do feel like reading something like this would not be a bad idea. I felt like it was a sign like "hey Erika! It's physics, remember me? Yeah you still need to finish your blog posts, so you should probably do that soon. K bye."
  6. During my vacation in Florida, I also visited the Kennedy Space Center. While I was there, I got to take a bus tour, see a spaceship, see the space shuttle Atlantis up close, and try a launch simulation. Throughout the day, I kept thinking to myself, "hmm. I should really write a blog post about this visit. But what exactly do I write about?". Well, I think I found something. While we were there, my mom asked me, "so, does this get you?". Yes, it does. My visit to Kennedy reminded me of what people are capable of when they put their brains to the test. It also reminded me why I'm in this class and why I'm going to college as a physics major next year. I want to be able to apply my knowledge in my life. I want to help us continue to explore what we don't know and make new discoveries. Who knows what the future may hold?
  7. I could call myself a roller coaster enthusiast. I recently visited Disney World, and one of my absolute favorite rides is the Aerosmith Rock 'n Roller Coaster. This roller coaster ride is very unique. In order to see why, I'll first talk about how most other roller coasters work. Most roller coasters start by slowly going up one big hill (which is always the tallest). As it goes up to the top, it gains potential energy, which is converted to kinetic energy as it goes down the hill. This gives it its speed and momentum for the whole ride. However, the Rock 'n Roller Coaster works differently. Instead of a slow start filled with anticipation going up a hill, the roller coaster goes from 0 to 57mph in less than 2.8 seconds; that's an acceleration of about 25.48m/s^2! This gives the Rock 'n Roller Coaster the momentum it needs for the ride full of hills, loops, and music! And by the way, the ride takes a picture in those initial 2.8 seconds!
  8. Last weekend at an honors interview at Roberts, I got to take a look in some of their physics labs. they had some fun things set up for us to check out. One thing was in a section called "physics and music". Sounds perfect for me, right? They had a bunch of wine glasses filled with different amounts of water. When you dipped your finger in some water and rubbed it around the edge of the glass, a specific note could be heard. However, if your finger isn't wet, it doesn't work. Why? Turns out, it is because there is too much friction between the finger and the glass when the finger is dry. When the finger is wet, there is minimal friction, which allows the glass to vibrate, which produces the note. The amount of water in the glass determines how high or low pitched the note is. If you try this experiment, try placing a ping pong ball in the glass. The ping pong ball will make the vibrations visible because it will move on top of the water as the glass vibrates.
  9. I relate to this. Let's make our last semester a good one!
  10. I prefer not to use earbuds when listening to music, I have some solid speakers in my room and I like that a lot better.
  11. I used to jump rope all the time when I was in recess at school. It actually took me a long time to learn, which is why all my friends were boys in first grade!
  12. We're halfway thereeee! (Cue the Big Time Rush song! ...anybody?... no?... ok.)
  13. Wow... definitely not the cheapest way to travel!
  14. It's amazing that I never would have thought about this... but now I know!
  15. Didn't know you played guitar! I know for the violin you are supposed to restring it more often than I ever do. Three out of the four strings on the instrument are the same strings that were on it when I bought it years ago! The E string (the highest string on a violin) broke twice though so that has obviously been replaced.
  16. It's amazing you even remember this activity! Impressive Also I love the pun
  17. Good job guys! We made it through half of our senior year! Not only that, but we also made it through mechanics, and now it's time for electricity and magnetism. For me, this quarter is when I started to figure things out, but I also had added challenges. I started to get the hang of the time management involved with this class. I was able to start planning better what I would get done when, as well as figuring things out with my partner in class. Of course, I am not perfect yet, as we can see from the fact that I have done most of my blogs this week. Next quarter, I will definitely try to stay on top of doing one a week, and I mean it this time! Honestly, these are fun for me because I also enjoy writing. I'm hoping the rest of the year will be a little easier for me because some of the added stresses are going away. This quarter was also all about applying to colleges. I applied to 8 schools and have gotten acceptance letters from 5 of them. I'm just waiting for 3 that I will hear from in March because I could not apply early action. I've also been invited to participate in multiple honors programs, and a couple of them required me to miss a day of school or a couple rehearsals to come interview. At this point, these things are finishing up, and this semester I will be able to focus more on high school!
  18. I have always wanted to see the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis. I've dreamed of travelling somewhere like Alaska or Finland to see them. In fact, there is a hotel in Finland with glass igloos so the vacationers can see the northern lights from their room. How cool is that?! Aurora Borealis mainly occur in high longitudes, but what exactly causes them? Turns out, it's from charged particles from the sun being expelled into space. The particles then come in contact with Earth's magnetic field. Then the Earth directs the charge to the poles and they collide with gas particles. Here's the hotel with glass igloos too... And more northern lights pictures because I love them!
  19. Here's a riddle for you guys: what's at the end of a rainbow? I'll get back to that at the end. So, rainbows. As we all probably know, rainbows are not objects that can be approached. They are an optical illusion caused by water droplets viewed a certain angle from a source of light, most likely the sun. There may appear to be a person under a rainbow from where you are observing it, but that person just sees the rainbow from a different distance. A rainbow is caused by light being refracted in a droplet of water like rain or mist. It is reflected inside in the back of the droplet, then refracted again. In a primary rainbow, the color red is on the outside, and violet is on the inside, but in a double rainbow, the colors are reversed in the second rainbow. There really aren't any distinct bands in a rainbow, they are a continuous spectrum of color. Any bands we see are a result of human color vision. Anyway, back to my first question. What's at the end of a rainbow? And the answer is... a W.
  20. I'll let you in on a little secret: I am a terrible dancer. Dancing has always been my weakness when it comes to doing shows, and I typically try to make up for it with singing and acting. When I see good dancers do it so effortlessly, I am extremely jealous. This crossed my mind because I actually have to go to dance rehearsal soon (and this is where I say everyone please come to IHS's production of The Music Man March 15-18). Anyway, time for the physics. As you have probably guessed, there is a lot of physics involved with dancing. When dancing and moving in a constant direction, you are creating momentum. The momentum is determined by your mass and how fast you're moving. If you develop more strength and can move more quickly, you will increase your momentum. When it comes to dance turns, torque is very important. For example, in some turns, you extend and retract your leg, which changes your rotational inertia. When the leg is extended, rotational inertia increases and you slow down in your spin. When the leg is retracted, rotational inertia decreases and your spin gets faster. Unfortunately, understanding the physics does not make me any more graceful or a better dancer.
  21. Woah! Erika's doing a blog post that's not music related, crazy! Fun fact, I used to take archery, and I want to start again. With my favorite part of the year in gym approaching, I'd like to talk about some of the physics involved in archery, specifically the bow. The most important part is the force and energy exerted when pulling back the arrow and letting it go. Unlike what some may think, when pulling the arrow back, you are not stretching the string. What you are actually doing is changing the shape of the bow, giving it potential energy. This allows the bow to act as a spring. If you do more work pulling back the arrow, more energy can be transferred to the arrow in motion. This is why many people prefer compound bows. The pulleys allow for the person to do more work with less physical effort.
  22. I know you guys are probably wondering how many music related blog posts I could possibly come up with, and the answer is... a lot. For those of you who do not know yet, I am planning on going to college as a physics major and music minor, so anytime I can bring these two subjects together is a great time for me! On that note (hehe, music pun), as a musician and physics student, I thought I would share with you some physicists who are also musicians! Albert Einstein played violin! (just like me woah!) Diane de Kerckhove: jazz singer and songwriter Brian May: lead guitar for Queen Brian Cox played keyboard Woody Paul: vocalist and fiddler Werner Heisenberg played piano Also, Jonny Buckland, the guitarist of Coldplay (my favorite band!), studied astronomy and math in college! So hey, I guess physics and music aren't such different fields after all!
  23. What distinguishes music from noise is actually mathematical form. I find this funny because most musicians I know are afraid of math and claim to be terrible at it. Noise and music are a mixture of sound waves, but music is considered "ordered sound" while noise is considered "disordered sound". Music can be separated into different frequencies, some having a more dominant sound, which makes music sound more pleasant. This is not the case for noise. However, not all music sounds pleasant. In order to convey certain emotions in music, dissonance, a disruption of harmonic sounds, is used. This can be heard often in movies, as it is used to create suspense or uneasiness. Dissonance does not have that pretty musical sound, but when used strategically, it really adds to music.
  24. Yo same! that happens with me too
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