LAST PHYSICS BLOG

As the AP Test nears us, so too does the end of our year in physics. Boy, I have learned from all the many Doc!'s around the world of how much physics impacts our daily lives. This past weekend, instead of taking the APUSH exam, I spent the past couple days on Kona, Hawaii at the HHSAA Tennis State Championships. Although knocked off in the quarterfinals, I enjoyed myself as much as possible. During one period, there was a day-long rain delay, leaving us stuck in our condos with nothing to do. After washing the dishes and taking out the trash, DOC! spoke to us on the phone and told Braxton how to create fire! At that instant, I too had a revelation (on my own without any DOC! this time). Instead of staying cramped up in the condos, we got the spare trash bags and slid on the grass outside our condo. Because of the reduced coefficient of friction produced by the rain, as well as putting on the trash bags, we utilized the ever constant acceleration of gravity as well as our own initial velocity to slide down the grassy hills. Oh boy did we have fun as well as learn a lot about physics. Lesson of the year: After a year of physics, revelations just come naturally without any Doc! appearing before you. Good luck to all in the AP Physics B exam! High FIVES to all!

Physics Ph-ountain!

Ahh... the joys of going to school on the weekends. As the AP Physics B Exam looms in front of us, the days of preparation are key to getting that high-5. On Sunday, as I sat infront of the Seto Hall fountain waiting for Doc! to arrive for my multiple choice exam, I could not help but notice all the physics that must be involved in all of that. But this time, as I pondered, waiting for the epiphany, not any Doc! showed up to me, but rather the REAL DOC! approached me this week. He didnt' say much to be except to ask if I was ready. Haha. It was more of a self-revelation this week. The fountain in front of Weinberg, properly titled "Autumn Leaves" probably utilizes Bernoulli's princple of fluid mechanics as well as the the Continuity equation to create such projectile motions with the water. By utilizing pressure and density, the water is able to be velocitized out to create the fountain. As it is pumped up from the bottom, the pressure and decrease in area of the pipe increased the velocity. Wow. And better yet, the water follows kinematics in a projectile motion where the x and y velocities are independent of each other. The madness! I can only hope that all of this will help me on the exam. Happy Studying to all taking APs and good luck! Lesson of the week: Study hard, get a 5!

Orchestra Frenzie!

Ahh. Another weekend has gone by so fast. On Saturday, Orchestras V and IV had their final concert of the year. As with tradition, the final song was played simultaneously while each senior's name was said to thank them for their many years of contribution to the performing arts. Who better to have read these names then DOC! himself!. When Doc! was introduced, it got me thinking of how much physics is related to playing a string instrument. AHA! There was no epiphany this time, just good ol' DOC! staring right back at me, giving me the same look he does when I ask him stupid questions. Playing a string instrument utilizes physics and creating frequencies through various tensions on the string. On a string, when tension on the string is increased, while mass and stays the same and length is shortened, the velocity of the sound wave increased. Because velocity increased, frequency increased as well. AMAZING! Hence, when you put a finger down when playing the violin, the length of the string decreased, allowing velocity to increase. This allows a musician to play various notes. Knowing physics, we can successfully play our pieces with precision as well as beauty and grace. What a way to end the orchestra season, and how fitting it is to have DOC! read off the senior's names. Because without physics, we wouldn't know what to do with our violins. Lesson of the week: Physics can turn you into Yo-Yo Ma.

Go for the Gold!

During the family fair week, there was definitely a lot to do and many attractions to see. As I took a stroll around the fair grounds, the hailed Futsal Tournament caught my attention. I took a while to observe how the game was play. It was essentially soccer, but at a feverent, quick pace on a much small playing feeling. I was surpised at how much physics was involved in the game of Futsal. That's when Futsal DOC! came to me and told me about how soccer utilizes collisions. In theses inelastic collision, energy is transfered from the foot to the ball, allowing it to create a projectile motion and kick into the goal. It was amazing how talented these players where with their collisions and how precisely they were able to handle the ball. Knowing about collisions must allow you to know how hard to kick the ball. Conservation of momentum was also involved whre the velocity of the foot was transfered in the collision into the momentum of the ball! Lesson of the Week: Physics allows you to truly Go for the Gold!

Masterful Projectile

As another Sunday past quickly, I spent the early part of the morning watching the PGA's most coveted and treasured tradition of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Seeking the green jacket, I watched as Tiger Woods attempted to push for the lead, but in the end Trevor Immelman held on to capture the title. Throughout the entire broadcast I was amazed at how well these people could play golf. Then it hit me, all golf takes is simple knowledge of Physics and you're set. That's when Augusta DOC! came to me and told me that when you drive the golf ball, you just need to know simple kinematics in order to predict where it will land. Wow, the projectile of these balls flying in the air were just simple kinematics. From the amount of energy that you store in your swing, due to the conservation of momentum and energy, when the club hits the ball, energy and momentum is transfered to the ball which allows it to fly. The flight of the ball is a projectile motion. Of course Augusta DOC! pointed out that the this is a lot more complicated than it looks, and that the projectile becomes difficult to figure out as you add in factors of wind and spin on the ball. But all in all, physics is all around the game of golf. No wonder Tiger Woods is so dominant in the golf world, he's a smart dude who must know a thing or two about golf. Lesson of the week: Physics can make you a PGA pro one day.

DOC! = EINSTEIN

As the fourth quarter begins, I cannot help but realize how much we have learned in physics over the year. Another sunday has passed again, but all I can think about is that time we saw the statue of DOC! in Washington DC! amazing. Near the memorials is a statue commemorating the great german scientist Einstein. As we sat in friendly Einstein lap to take a picture with such a famous dude, an electron, seemingly coming out of the photoelectric effect cam and spoke to me. No, it wasn't DOC! this time, it was The Ghost of Einstein!. He explained how back in the day, DOC! taught him all he knew about physics. Just like on the statue, Einstein helped with the theory of relativity with the mass energy equivalence equation E=mc^2. Einstein was also noted for the photoelectric effect. Wow. Such a cool dude was right here in Washington DC. A great product of DOC!'s teaching, the Einstein statue had a tablet with all of his famous equations as well as a floor surrounding him is a star map. Lesson of this week: People who are statues must be pretty darn famous.

iTUNES!

Ahh what a sunday it has been. After spending most of the weekend out and about, I finally found some time to relax, put on my headphones, and listen to some of my favorite tunes. GAH! But this times iTunes wasn't working, I had to resort to the use of good old CDs. How in the world do these things work, they're not digitalized like my iPod. Suddenly out of no where, Diffraction DOC! appeared and poof!. Using his diffraction magic, he explained to me the simple physics of how such old school CD's work. Each CD contains man lands and pits. The CD player uses a laser to read the different land and pits. When the laser beams are all on the pits or the lands, constructive interference occurs, however when some of the beam is on a pit and other part is on a land, then the constructive interference occurs. The laser then reads these 1s and 0s and reads it as the music that you hear. WOW. Diffraction DOC! really does know his tunes. DVDs work the same way, except the lands and pits are closer together and more tightly fit, allowing it to store much more information. THIS IS AMAZING. It's a shame all of this outdated now that APPLE as revolutionized music listening. Lesson of the week: CDs are rocking, but a little outdated.