Momentum

recently in physics we have been learning about momentum.  Momentum is  a function of the mass of an object multiplied by its velocity.  Therefore the heavier an object is and the faster it is moving the greater its momentum.  i noticed this the other day wen for conditioning we were throwing medicine balls.  I noticed that the heavier the ball the greater the force of impact was when i caught it.  I  also noticed that the ball when thrown harder had more force.  These conclusions all made sense to me but the lightbulb really clicked wen i noticed that when a lighter ball was thrown faster it had an impulse equal to that of the slower heavier ball.  

Elevators

Today while riding in the elevator i noticed a real world application of an Atwood machine.  Since the lab we did using an atwood machine to "dilute" gravity i have noticed their applications in the real world.  Also i have noticed that elevators put energy into a system and therefore do work.  They do work because when they raise you they increase your gravitational potential energy.  the amount of work they do is equal to the height they raise you, this is then multiplied by the force it take for u to be raised.  the value that then results from this is the amount of work done.  But because an elevator is an atwood machine some of this weight is offset by the counterweights.  

End of 1st Quarter

This Quarter has been pretty fun overall.  I enjoy coming to physics knowing that there are hardly any dull moments in class.  Yet i still have some reservations about the class. I'm still adjusting to this whole online assignment sheet and I'm finding it a bit unnerving because i often forget to check the homework.  Also there are some other issues. I've realized that i must study for tests more diligently  and take special care on the multiple choice part.  I's also finding it rather difficult this year to balance my workload from all my classes and i haven't yet found a successful way to organize my thoughts.  Overall i enjoy most of my teachers this year and i place Physics as one of my favorite classes.

Newton's Second Law

This weekend while i was driving i had a physics epiphany.  I drove two very different cars this weekend, one was my Mom's large white Honda Odyssey van and the other was my Volkswagon Passat sedan.  I noticed that while both cars have engines with almost identical horsepower it takes much longer for the van to reach freeway speeds compared to the sedan.  i found that the reason for this was that the sedan is a much smaller car, thus weighing less.  Due to the formula F=ma the van which has significantly more mass takes more force in order to accelerate at the same rate as the smaller sedan.  This thought struck me as i was driving up the H2 freeway and noticed i had to press on the gas alot harder in the van than in the sedan.

Ryder Cup Physics

This weekend I spent a fairly decent amount of time watching golf.  The Ryder Cup is a three day competition that turns Golf, an individual sport, into a team sport.  The tournament pits the European team against the Americans.  Each team is made up of the 12 best golfers they have to offer.  The Americans entered this week without Tiger Woods and as a result were considered heavy underdogs.  But they managed to win and do so convincingly.  Throughout the tournament i noticed that the golf ball when put into motion by the club head travels a parabolic path like any other projectile.

Another thing i not

iced is that each club has a different loft, allowing the player to hit it a different distance while swinging at the same tempo.  I have found that this works because the higher the loft the shorter the club goes because its vertical velocity is different from a club with less loft.  The club with higher loft sends the ball in the air with a higher trajectory while the one with a

 lower loft has a lower trajectory. I recognized that in order to hit the ball the correct distances a golfer must analyze the physics correctly and pick the club with the correct loft.  

Journal 1

One of the sports highlights of the summer for me was watching Team USA basketball. With NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade leading the team, obtaining the gold medal appeared to be a formality. Players like LeBron James have superhuman leaping abilities that allow him to explode off the ground and accelerate toward the rim at a rapid rate. Acceleration is the the change of velocity over a defined period of time. LeBron has a vertical leap of about 44 inches and he reaches the peak of his jump in around .25 secs. At this rate his average acceleration is about 176 in/sec2. This superhuman acceleration helped Team USA achieve the gold medal and helped restore USA as the dominant force in world basketball.