Blogpost #16

What did I learn in physics this semester? Well.......physics? Haha, that's the obvious answer, I guess. In first quarter, we learned all about 1D and 2D kinematics (the study of motion). Later, we also learned about Newton's three laws of motion, momentum, and energy. Aside from the actual physics, I learned other things as well. I learned that it is best not to procrastinate on anything for class, like PAs, labs, or take home tests. Occasionally throughout the semester, I found myself procrastinating, and all it brought was stress. It's always best to try to start homework early, especially because Mr. Blake usually gives it to us a while in advance. Also, I learned how to better collaborate with people in my class, which we had to do a lot this semester for group labs. Finally, I learned that learning physics isn't that bad, especially because everything we learn is pretty much applicable to some aspect of real life. Also, it can be easy to understand since we're able to see real examples, such as dropping a bowling ball on the ground (that's always fun :). All in all, I learned a lot in physics this semester, and I'm looking forward to getting this final done and starting next semester fresh.

Blogpost #15

This week we learned about energy. My roommate is shown above, standing on her bed. She is about 62 kilograms, and the bed is about 0.5 meters above the ground. I can determine her gravitational potential energy by using this information. The formula is PEg=mgh, which is mass times gravity times height. Therefore, her potential energy is 62 kg(0.5 meters)(10 m/s2), which comes out to 310 Joules. If she fell to the ground, her potential energy would gradually change to kinetic energy. However, when she stopped at the ground, her potential energy would be 0 J. 

Blogpost #14

This week, we had an egg drop experiment in which we had to create a device that would protect a regular sized egg from an approximately four story drop to cement. Creating a good device depended heavily upon the basic aspects of physics. Impulse, air friction, force, and mass all had to be taken into account. The video above depicts the device created by my partner and me being thrown off of Akahi Dining Hall. We wrapped the egg in a strip of tempur pedic mattress and placed it in an empty jar, along with cotton balls. We then placed the sealed jar in a ziploc filled with more cotton balls and surrounded by bubble wrap. Our idea was that all our materials would absorb most the impact of the device colliding with the ground, which would keep the egg safe. We had to be sure that it wouldn't bounce too, because that would put more force on the egg. In the end, our egg survived. 

Blogpost #13

This weekend, my dorm went camping. So, I brought shampoo and conditioner in two identical (except in color) containers. However, the bottle containing conditioner (the one on the right)has more mass because there is a lot more conditioner in it, as opposed to the bottle containing shampoo. If I were to roll both bottles down a hill at the same velocity, the conditioner bottle would have a greater momentum. This can be deduced because the equation for momentum is momentum = mass times velocity, or p=mv. Since the conditioner bottle has a greater mass, its momentum would be greater than the shampoo bottle. 

Blogpost #12

The picture above depict two skateboards, with no wheels. Whoops. Anyway, let's pretend there are wheels on the skateboards. They are identical in every way except in that the second one has a mass (15 lbs) on it. If the first skateboard were to roll towards the second (at rest), then after the collision, the first would stop and the second would roll slowly in the same direction the first was moving in. This would be an inelastic collision because they would not stick together when they met. This would be similar to the experiment we conducted this week in our lab. 

Blogpost #11

The unit we're focusing on now mainly focuses upon momentum. Linear momentum is defined as the product of the mass m and velocity v of an object. To put it simply, momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of a specific object. This picture depicts two apples, the one on the left slightly smaller than the one on the right. If these two apples were to be rolled at the same velocity, the momenta of the apples would be different from one another because they differ in mass. 

Blogpost #10

This week, we continued with the physics unit dealing with forces. The picture depicts my lanyard. Basically, my ID is hanging from a string, which demonstrates tension. Tension is, simply put, a force due to a string. If a free body diagram were to be drawn from this picture. There would be an arrow going up, labeled T for tension, and an arrow of equal length going down, labeled mg, for weight. 

Blogpost #9

This week we learned about forces and how to draw free body diagrams. In essence, a force is a just push or a pull. Depicted in the picture above are two books, one on top of the other, both on a bed. There would be two free body diagrams for this picture. The first would be for the America's History book, on top. From its center, there would be a arrow (a vector) down, labeled mg, or weight. An arrow of the same size would be drawn upwards and labeled N, for normal force (aka "support force" or the force perpendicular to the surface that the object's on). The Precalculus book would have an arrow drawn up, labeled N. And two arrows drawn down (both of equal size), labelled m1g and m2g (which would represent the weight of both books). 

Blogpost #8

This week we talked about Newton's Laws of Motion. The first law, also known as the "Law of Inertia" states that objects at rest will tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside unbalanced force. Therefore, this can of Pringles will stay at rest on my desk unless another force acts upon it, like if I push it over. Also, if I eat chips from it, its mass will be lowered. Therefore, its inertia (its capability to continue in the states that it's in in) will decrease as well. Knowing this, it would be easier to push the can down. 

Quarter 1 Extra Credit

Blogpost #7

Remember my roommate, Kanoe, from last week's blogpost? Well she decided to be such a great person and be in this week's picture as well. She randomly decided that she was going to throw an orange up and down and walk across the room for no apparent reason. Every time she tossed the orange up, she was able to catch it even though she was walking. She was able to do this because in the section we're dealing with now, 2-D Kinematics, an important rule is that axes are independent. So, what happens on the x axis stays on the x, and what happens on the y axis stays on the y. Kanoe's horizontal (x) path was constant, while the orange was going fast, slow, stop, slow, fast in the air (y). Therefore, Kanoe was able to continually catch the orange because of the aforementioned rule that axes are independent.

Blogpost #6

This week's unit has to do with vectors. A vector is a mathematical quantity with both magnitude (size and unit) and direction. This picture depicts me throwing a paper airplane to my roommate, Kanoe. The magnitude of the airplane's path would be about three meters. I'm not exactly sure of the degrees of the exact direction, but I'm guessing that the general direction is north. If Kanoe were to throw the plane back to me, it would not be an equivalent vector. Even though the magnitude would be the same, the airplane would not maintain the same direction, therefore the two vectors (airplane's flight path) would not be equivalent. 

Blogpost #5

Today I had PSAT Team (what a fun way to spend my Sunday, right?). We had one ten minute break, and when I walked outside it was drizzling. However, you can't really see the raindrops depicted in the picture, sorry about that. Anyway, I figured if I knew the initial velocity of a raindrop, I would be able to calculate the distance between the cloud from which it fell and the ground. I could do this using the formula d=1/2at^2+V0t. I could plug in acceleration, which would be 9.8 meters per seconds squared (if I indicated that downwards is the positive direction, and the time it took for it to fall. Then I would be able to determine distance.

Blogpost #4

First of all, I'm really sorry this picture didn't come out very nice. Actually, it's really bad because you have to strain you eyes to see what I'm talking about, but bear with me, please. So I was looking out my dorm room window because I heard this really annoying sound. Turns out some guy had scaled the palm tree outside my window and was chopping down the fronds. This was really weird because I didn't see a ladder or anything. Anyway, I figured it would be possible for me to calculate the velocity of a falling frond just before it hit the ground (if I had the initial velocity). I could use the formula Vf=Vi+at. The man was cutting the fronds down with a machete, so their initial free-fall velocity was probably above 0 m/s (if downwards was indicated as the positive direction). The acceleration would be gravity, or 9.8 m/s2. Then I could time the number of seconds it took the frond to fall. After plugging in the numbers, I would be able to calculate its final velocity. *Note that the in the picture, you can basically just see the pile of palm fronds on the ground. 

Blogpost #3

 This week I decided to discuss velocity. So I couldn't exactly get a picture with a moving car, so let's just pretend this car is moving. Velocity is a measurement of how fast and in which direction an object is moving. When determining velocity, it is important to indicate positive and negative direction. Let's say that moving to the right is positive and the left is negative. Therefore, the first car's velocity would be positive, since it's moving in the previously indicated positive direction, and the second one's would be written with a negative number. 

Blogpost #2

This week's unit was all about kinematics, the study of motion. All around us, there is some kind of movement taking place--a car speeding past, a leaf falling from the tree outside, or a person (whom we'll call Kekela) jogging, as depicted in these pictures.Distance is the total path length of something. The distance of Kekela's running path is about 5 meters, 2.5 meters from her starting point to the door and 2.5 meters running back. The term displacement describes how far something goes in relation to its starting point. Therefore, Kekela's displacement  would be 0 meters because she ended up at her initial position. 

Blogpost #1

So I was sitting in my dorm room wondering what picture I could use to relate to physics. Mr. Blake said to just look around, so I glanced out my window and saw the same view I've seen everyday since school started. After I thought about it though, I realized something outside that was really simple and related to our lesson, which had to deal with units and relationships. I figured that as the wind speed increases, so does the movement of the trees outside. This means that they are directly proportional to one another. Similarly, as the wind speed decreases, the movement of the trees decreases as well. This picture depicts the trees blowing in the wind. 

Post #1

Hey, my name's Shelly Preza. I've been a boarder at Kamehameha since 7th grade, and I come from the island of Lanai. When I'm home, I really like to go to the beach, go hiking, or quading. Freshmen year, I took biology and thought it made a lot of sense in relation to real life. Last year I had chemistry with Ms. Higa, which was...interesting. Although I didn't totally enjoy every aspect of the classes, I did alright with both of them. Currently, I'm in Honors Pre Calculus. This year I hope to learn to be more interested in science and learn things that can apply to things I see everyday. On another note, hula is something that really defines me as a person. I've been dancing for about eight years now, and I've travelled a lot because of hula, including to Japan and Kauai. For the past two years, I've been lucky enough to participate in Ho'ike. Needless to say, hula is a major part of my life.