The Race Part II

Alright, last week I wrote about a car race at my cousins house on Christmas and all that. Well, there were 8 competitiors and, with my supperior physics knowledge I got second place. The race was on a wheelchair ramp, and the first part was a race down and we had to knock down pins. The next one was a race up, but the car motors were really weak, so almost nobody could fight the force of gravity and accelerate up the ramp. So what most people did was back their car up and get a head start, so that the momentum would carry them as far up the ramp as possible. Momentum also played a role in knocking down the pins, with some ellastic collisions...yeah, remmeber those? What else...my cousins live in Waipahu, and some people were setting off those bigass firworks, the ones that go boom. That is like the sound wave travelling through the air, and it is so loud it feels like it knocks you over, thats because the waves make like fluctuations in the air, so it can startle someone. My mom didn't like those fireworks. Steelers GO(ing to the playoffs?)!

A Physical Christmas

Well, for every year on Christmas Day, me and my family go to my cousins' house for a party, and the past three years there was this competition they held. They would give all the people that came their presents about two weeks before, and it is this sort of kit that we have to build a car out of, and perform all these challenges. Like who has the fastest, strongest, can make a jump, knock down some things, etc. It's all in good fun, but it can get pretty INTENSE. I was planning out my car, and I know that it has everything to do with physics. I have to pick wether to put treads or rubber on the tires, which will effect the friction and traction. How heavy to make it, because that aso affects the speed and friction and momentum to make jumps and knock down things. Also how the engine transfers its energy to the wheels, because there are different configurations, some of which provide more power for going up slopes and plowing through obstacles. Since my uncle is an engineer, and my cousin is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Las Vegas, I need to use my physics knowledge to win this competition and bring home the gold. Listening to the Steelers right now...Go Steelers!

Here are some pics of my BEAST.

Flip-flip-flipadelphia

If you've ever owned a tv before, chances are you came across the channel FX. On that channel, there is a show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which I consider to be one of the top 5 funniest shows on tv. It is also one of the top 5 educational shows in terms of physics. That's right, I said it. In the season finale, you can watch a bunch here, they do this drinking game where they flip the cup, in an event called Flipadelphia. Anyways, it has a pretty catchy chant. But flipping the cup takes a lot of physics, as one of the characters find out. Hitting the cup from the bottom, the cup flips into the air, and lands opposite side down. We've already learned about kinematics and projectile motion, and this has to do with that, but it also has to do with air resistance and torque. The torque is what causes the cup to flip in midair, since you push the edge of the cup, which sends it into rotation. It then takes a projectile motion while rotating. Plus the cup is empty and plastic, so it catches a lot of air inside it. If all goes well the cup will flip. Yeah, who knew a drinking game could have so much physics? I would say "Go Steelers" at this point, but obviously it isn't working...

Sound Waves and Oscillation

This sunday the Iolani Bands 2, 3, and 4 have their Christmas concert where they play all their christmas songs. The only reason i thought to write about this was because Doc said that we're going to bring in instruments later to analzye sound waves or something. We haven't really gotten into it, but I remember enough from past classes to know about frequency. Like how tubas have lower notes than flutes because the soundwaves have longer preiods and smaller amplitudes. And usually, when I think about soundwaves, i think of that graph that looks like a bunch of waves, but in reality the sound waves go out of an instrument in like a circle, because sound waves are like ripples in a pool, they travel all around. So today, when you go to the concert, I'll be there too, you can hear all the different sound waves from all the different instruments, and also from the crowd going wild. YAHH!!! GO STEELERS! (fu.tracy)

Those things on the wall absorb the sound waves.

Be there...

Under Pressure

Happy Thanksgiving. Anyways, the only thing I do on Thanksgiving is play video games, eat, and watch some football. The last of the three NFL games on Thanksgiving was the Broncos vs the Giatns in Denver, the mile high city. Being in that altitude makes some players have those oxygen masks since the air is so thin since their altitude is higher. That also has some stuff to do with atmospheric pressure. Everything in the Earth's atmosphere is under atmospheric pressure, but depending upon where a person is located, the pressure varies. Even though most people think air is nothing, air has mass, which is why atmospheric pressure occurs since all the air is pushing down on you. So most people can't even notice it, but when they change altitude, sometimes their ears pop, which is because of the varying pressure outside and inside their body. That can be why ears pop, headaches occur, sinus pressure happens, and most of all atmospheric pressure, all because of air.

Going back in Physics

Well, this chapter we were talking about planetary gravitation and all that stuff, and I was all like "how am I supposed to write a blog about that?" So I'm not going to write a blog about that, I'm going to write about torque again. And the subject is Figure skating, since I was watching football, and accidentally went up a channel to figure skating. And as I watched it, the dude did one of those things where they curl up and spins super fast. And then to slow down, he put his arms and leg out and slow his spinning. Torque is how it works. If he were to spin with a large radius , he would go slower since the force would be the same, but the torque would be greater. If he compacts his body, the radius gets smaller, and the torque gets smaller, so he is able to spin faster. Exactly why, I'm not sure, but it has something to do with center of mass and gravity...Which reminds me, I have to do my problem set. (I'm not going to say it this time, Tracy).

"Triple salchow BEE-YOTCH"

Torque Dummies

As we started learning about torque in rotation and such with equlibrium and what not, I had a hard time thinking up stuff to talk about in this blog. After watching the Steelers lose today (total bs), I thought of football practice this week. Many teams have those football dummies all lined up on a sled, which they practice blocking. The thing about the blocking dummy is that it is all about torque.

See, if the lineman push the sled on one side, the sled will rotate since the torque makes it go one way. If the players all lineup on each dummy and push with equal force, the sled will not rotate and will just move forward. The reason is because of all the forces acting on the sled cancel out, since they are oposite of the center of rotation, so the sled has no net torque. Also, if a player pushes the middle dummy, there will be no rotation, since the radius from the center of rotation will be zero, so there won't be any torque. If, of course, the center of rotation is in the middle of the sled. So if the player lines up on the outermost dummy and pushes, the radius will be greater and there will be rotation. Of course, football sleds are only for practice, since in the game the opposing line won't have a center of rotation or be dummies. Hopefully the Steelers practice hard the rest of the season...Go Steelers!