Plug Your Ears

For the extra credit Physics Carol, I am in a group with Tori and Jasmine. Tori and jasmine will be singing while I attempt to play the recorder. It will not go well. The lyrics are:

O come all ye willing
To learn of physics filling
Of forces and velocity, plus FBDs
Action Reaction
Opposite in direction
Bug hits the windshield and windshield hits bug
Gravity in free fall
It affects us all
9.8 m slash s squared - a rate that makes us scared

Velocity and Speed
Different types of motion
Speed is only magnitude
Velocity needs direction
From this arises
Projectile motion
X and Y components
With distance and position

But because I am playing the recorder, my music looks more like this:

Time Machine 2

In the latest unit of my enthralling and fascinating physics class, I learned about FBDs, how to sum and identify the forces acting on an object; how to determine the mass, weight and acceleration of an object using the equation F=ma, and Newton's first, second, and third laws of motion. FBDs, or free body diagrams, are representations of an object and all of the forces acting on an object. FBDs are extremely useful when trying to find the sum of the forces in the x or y axis. The sum of the forces is found using sigma, and the sum of the forces always equals zero when an object is in equilibrium (when the object is at rest or has a constant velocity). To find out the mass, acceleration, of force of an object, you set force equal to mass times acceleration, solve for the missing component, and plug in the numbers. Newton's first law states that an object at rest will tend to stay at rest, and an object in motion will tend to stay in motion, or that something sitting still will stay sitting still until you move it. The second law says that the acceleration of an object directly pertains to the net force of the object, and the object's mass. So, the heavier something is, the harder it's going to be for you to move it. The third, and last, law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or that every time you hit something, it's going to hurt.

The part of this unit that I thought was most difficult was solving for the sum of the forces of an object on an inclined plane. The orientation made it harder for me to figure out which forces belonged in which axis, but I somehow made it through thanks to my awe inspiring problem solving skills. To solve this problem, I rotated the page with the FBD on it. That made it much simpler to determine which axis the forces were in. Figuring out the x and y components of gravity was also difficult, because you use sin instead of cos to determine the x value, and you use cos instead of sin to determine the y value.

Flying Things

In the unit I'm reflecting on, Mrs. Gende's physics class learned about vectors and projectile motion. We learned how to find any missing parts of a vector triangle using SOH CAH TOA, how to label vectors, how to resolve a vector into its x and y components using cos and sin, how to add vectors, how to find resultants using the square roots of the squares of the x and y components, and how to find any part of a projectile's motion using various formulas. Projectile motion is when a projectile is moving (duh). Projectiles have motion horizontally and vertically, the vertical velocity being positive or negative gravity. The horizontal velocity of a projectile remains constant, and the initial y velocity is always zero. Obviously, we learned a lot. And with learning comes misunderstanding. I found several of these concepts hard to grasp at first, mainly finding the time of projectile motions, because the answer has to be multiplied by two sometimes, but other times it doesn't. Which is confusing. I managed to figure out my issues with this using logic. The time being multiplied by two depends on how far the projectile is travelling (x or y).

When you usually learn things in science or math you think, 'I'm never going to need this ever.' But with vectors and projectile motion its different. The world is rife with examples of projectile motion and vectors. Now you can find the velocity of the gun Horatio uses during your favorite episode of CSI:Miami, find the range of the basketball you just threw, find the angle the of the cannon that cannon artists are being launched out of, or your friend's height using only a meter stick and a piece of string. So, knowledge of projectile motion and vectors will get you far in life.

Acceleration

In Physics, we have been working with acceleration and other elements of kinematic formulas. In order to force our minds to understand these elements in a fun way, Mrs. Gende asked us to create a Tagxedo showing some important words when dealing with kinematics, and make a Pixton cartoon explaining an important part of kinematics. I chose to explain acceleration. Acceleration is a vector quantity, with both magnitude and force, which is defined as being the change in velocity over time. Velocity is also a vector quantity, so I guess acceleration is sort of a double vector. Or not. In any case, acceleration is found by dividing velocity, m/s, by time, s, thus giving us units of m/s^2.

Success in Physics

In order to be successful in Honors Physics this year, I plan to follow the steps to being a good student.


First, I will arrive to class on time with my materials; a calculator, ruler, pencil, paper, and, of course, my fabulous textbooks. The class requires that I bring my materials, because even if you shouldn't bring a knife to a gun fight, a knife is still a lot better than nothing. Bringing my materials will help me learn along with the class, instead of using all of my free time to copy (boring) notes. I also plan on using my class time wisely, even if it means not doing stuff I'd rather do, like decorating my calculator or sleeping. Using my class time wisely will also mean I can do stuff in my free time (see above).


I will read the material assigned to us by the wonderful Mrs. Gende, as well as using the links that were so thoughtfully compiled by the same charming Mrs. Gende. The links and notes are a treasure trove of knowledge waiting at my fingertips, and anyone would be insane not to use it, because, after all, knowledge is power. And I'm going to need an astronomical amount of will power to finish my homework.


Using the information; such as the website, the textbooks, and the class wiki, is the obvious next step. After all, if our illustrious teacher felt the need to give us access to these resources, it's probably a good idea to use them. I can use the website to keep up with the homework that was assigned in class. Keeping up with assignments is a crucial part of being a good student, because you won't know what you're is talking about, otherwise. And nobody likes a liar. Make up work is also an essential task which everyone should be able to take care of by themselves, by talking to Mrs. Gende when you plan to miss a class, or when you've been sick. Now, after you've done all of the homework and make up work, you should make sure you understand by yourself, or what do you plan on doing during a test? Calling your parents and asking for help?


While you're following all of these steps you'll probably learn something, like the basic symbols and vocabulary we use every day during class. If you don't notice that you can't understand anything on the homework or classwork, then there's probably something wrong with you. The bottom line is, learn the symbols and vocabulary. And while you're at it you might want to figure out how to work your graphing calculator, and how to solve the problems. If you've learned the vocab and symbols and how to use a calculator, but you still can't solve the problems use the four-step rule, which states that there are four steps to every problem. The four steps to every problem are 1. Data and unknown, 2. equation, 3. substitute, and 4. check. Data and unknown is when you write down what you know (data), and what you don't know and need to find out (unknown). You should also check and see if you need to change any of the units, because this is the time to do so. Equation is when you write and equation and solve it. Substituting is when you substitute any new values you have found for their counterparts in the equation. Number four is pretty obvious. You check the answer. Great, so now that you can solve problems, you have to graph them. Make your graph look good, with appropriate labels and scale and using a ruler (if necessary), because not even the best teacher in the world could grade something they can't read. Unless they give you 100% just to be nice.*Hint Hint*


Now, you need to be organized because, otherwise you can't find your beautifully made graphs, and you might even forget materials, which would break the very first rule. That's quite a setback. Constant assessment (read- pop quizzes) is another eventually that you should be prepared for, not that Mrs. Gende is sadistic or anything. Now that you're taking a pop quiz every day and are extremely organized, you should also become self sufficient. Because Mrs. Gende is busy helping everyone who's not self sufficient. Even though we're all supposed to be. And if the self sufficiency isn't working for you, you should seek help through communication, because even though Honors Physics students and teachers are smart, they're still not telepathic.