Sunday, December 11, 2011

Life of Physics

This is our ornament Kimo the Hawaiian elf. Kimo can represent so much that we have learned this past semester of physics. In Unit 1, we learned about relationships. As Kimo works harder to created toys for Christmas, he completes the construction of more toys. This is a direct relationship. As the amount of work increased, so did the completion of toys. Then in Unit 2 we learned about kinematics. I learned that velocity (speed) is equal to distance/time. If Kimo walked from his elf dorm to the main workshop (a 100 meter distance) in 80 seconds, his velocity is 1.25 meters/second. Then in Unit 3 we learned about vectors and that a vector has magnitude and direction. From the workshop to the hot cocoa cafe, Kimo traveled 1.25 meters/second in the east direction. In Unit 4 we learned about force. Force is a basic push or pull. Net force is equal to mass/acceleration. Kimo's force as he jumped from the cocoa cafe to the sleepy pillow room was 9.8 m/s2 (gravity of the earth) x 43 kg (Kimo's mass). Kimo's net force as he was falling was 421.4 N (newtons, the unit of force). In Unit 5 we learned about momentum. Momentum is mass(velocity). Kimo's momentum as he ran from the pillow room back to the workshop was 43 kg (3 meters/second) which equals 129 kg m/s. Then finally in Unit 6, we learned about energy. As Kimo had run from the pillow room to the workshop, his kinetic energy = 1/2mv2 (squared). Kimo's kinetic energy was 1/2(43 kg)(3m/s)squared. This equals 193.5 Joules (unit of energy). As you can see, Kimo's day was filled with physics. As I have come to find out, so is mine. We live in a world of physics and it is only to our benefit that we learn more about the physics in our lives.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Club Season YAY!

These are my 2011-2012 Jammers 17 girls! This past weekend, we had our first practice with our new coach, Coach Daryl Kapis. There are multiple examples of physics during a single volleyball practice. In class, we learned that work is any change in energy or force x displacement. Simply grabbing a ball from the cart is work. We also learned that the energy of a position is potential energy. Gravitational potential energy is mass x gravity x height. For example, holding a volleyball before serving for myself would have the potential energy of 0.27 kg (weight of volleyball) x 9.8 m/s2 (gravity of earth) x 1.22 meters (height of ball). The volleyball would have an approximate gravitational potential energy of 3.23 Joules.