Physics Photo

Madrid, Spain: Summer 2008

I took this picture a couple of summers ago while touring the Spanish country side with close family friends. I was struck by the beauty of nature and felt the need to share it with the world. When looking at this photo one can see the sky, a mountain, a little bit of a road, a wooden crate, some trees, a cloud and countless other things. One also sees an assortment of colors. Blue, green, tan and so on are all represented in various shades through-out this picture. Color can be thought of as a psychological or a physiological response to specific frequencies of light waves as they reach the eye. When that light wave reaches the object the wave can either be absorbed, converting the energy to heat, the light wave could be transmitted by the object or lastly it could be reflected by the object. All of these former options are what create color which is seen in my picture of the eloquence and serenity that we call the proud Spanish country side.

Einstein

"It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I stay with problems longer ."
I completely agree with this quote. This quote proves to me that Einstein was intelligent on several different levels. Acknowledging that anyone that is willing to work as hard as he does can be just as successful. It also shows a lot about his personality. He must not be pompous or feel that he is better than the next guy. It also shows diligence of how hard he worked to accomplish all that he did. 
Also, I feel that this statement more accurately describes why people have various strengths. One of my main strengths is Spanish and not physics, however, my classmate Chris's strength would definitely be physics. I know for a fact that he spends more time on it then I do and he does well in it for that reason. Me on the other hand, I tend to focus more on my Spanish studies and that is apparent through my Spanish grade. Overall I believe that this quote means that you will do well with what you are passionate about- be it physics, Spanish or history.

Bobsleighing and physics

In the link below, you will be redirected to a glogster that accurately displays what bobsleighing is and how it works. By viewing this glog you will have a deeper understanding of how physics is intertwined in everything.


Bobsleigh Digital Tool

Energy Reflection

Part A:

In the Energy Unit I have learned that energy is never created but just reused. Because of that, in one system there will always be the same amount of energy. For example, when someone bungee jumps the system would be the earth, the bungee jumper, and the bungee cord. Before the bungee jumper jumps, quantitatively he has 4 units of gravitational potential energy (Eg) and after he jumps, and is hanging by the cord, he could have 1 unit of Eg, 2 units of elastic energies (Eel), and 1 unit of internal energy (Eint). The most difficult thing about understanding the conservation of energy would definitely be being able to plug in equations with other equations and knowing what to substitute. I am studying all of the equations because being able to quantitatively solve the equations, it is important to know  what substitutes for what. I am working really hard to learn all of them before the test. The one that I usually get mixed up is when to use co-sine in the work equations. I just need to remember that when the force (F) and the distance (x) are parallel to eachother you use the equation W=Fx but when they are not parallel but rather at an angle of eachother you use the equation W=Fxcosθ. However I have found reading the problems in this unit a lot more straightforward than in the previous units. Overall, I think that the most important thing to walk away with is that there will always be the same amount of energy in a system. It is a good way to check yourself because no matter what the initial energy will equal the final energy but just in different forms. The energy can transfer to one form or another by moving, being at a height, or preforms work. If it is moving it has kinetic energy (Ek), if it has height it has potential gravitational energy (Eg) and if it a force is being applied to a distance it is doing work, another type of energy. 

Part B:

Over this unit I realized that everything we do uses energy. No matter what you do you will always use energy which I personally find to be amazing. Physics really is everywhere, who would've thought it? One common example among teenagers is car crashes. While a car is moving it has kinetic energy but lets say they hit a wall. All of the energy becomes internal.

Seatbelt FBD and equations

 Here is the FBD for the person on the seat of a car.

sum of the Fy= Fn(bottom)- Fg = 0

sum of the Fx= Fseatbelt - Fn(seatbelt) = ma

Fn(seatbelt) is the seat belt on the person and Fseatbelt is the force of the seat belt. 

Fn(seatbelt) would not equal Fseatbelt because the person does actually go forward a little but after a very short distance the person stops.

Safety first

Here is a short comic that gives an example of why you should wear a seat belt. In the comic the car was going 40 m/hr down Midway when all of the sudden a car pulled out in front of them. Unfortunately, they crashed without even having time to put on the brakes.  The man was wearing his seat belt so as their car hit the other car his seat belt kept him from continuing to move forward, staying relatively unharmed. The woman however was not as lucky, she was not wearing her seat belt. Newton's First Law says, an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Since the woman was moving as a separate object she continued to move despite the fact that the car had stopped.The man wore his seat belt so when the car stopped the seat belt locked creating the unbalanced force that is required to stop an object that is in motion. In the end the woman sadly did not survive the crash. Only if she had put on her seat belt...

Always buckle up

Ever since you were little you would always hear your mom say "Buckle up!". It has become like second nature to me, as soon as I get into the car I put my seat belt on even if we are just going around the corner. But how does wearing a gray belt across your lap and chest help save you when a car is coming straight at you? Well, the purpose of a seat belt is that it will stop you when the car stops because unless acted upon by an unbalanced force an object in motion will stay in motion and just because the car stopped doesn't mean that you did. If you weren't wearing a seat belt and the car suddenly stops, due to inertia your body would continue to move forward. This could be potentially fatal. You could end up going through the windshield continuing onto the pavement. Wearing a seat belt reduces the impact force of the crash on you. By no means am I saying it won't hurt, because it will hurt, but it won't hurt as bad. In fact, according to the website on the physics behind seatbelts, if you are wearing a seat belt the impact force is about one fifth of the amount it would have been without a seat belt. So maybe your mom was right and you really should always wear your seat belt!

Attribution