WHY?! CAUSE IT'S THAT LARGE!

DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUH...DUH DUH. DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DAHHHHH! (Monday Night Football theme) Boy oh boy was I stoked for this weekend. Sadly it has come and gone like the wind beneath my wings (Doc! is the wind beneath my wings because he's my hero). After a fun-filled weekend of shopping, watching football, going to see August Rush with the coolest cellist in the world (LOL!), and eating turkey, I decided to water the yard. Seeing as how brown the grass was I decided to take some care in the nature of my own backyard. But wait, how in the world would I be able to reach all areas of such an expansive area of grass?! AHA, thats when that weekly epiphany came. The Home Depot DOC! was clearly trying to speak to me about proper home and gardening care. Use an advance sprinkler head in order to increase the velocity of the water coming out. Because AV=AV, as the water flows out of the hose and into the sprinkler device, the cross-sectional area of the sprinkler is smaller than that of the hose, so that velocity coming out of the sprinkler is much greater than that of the water inside the hose. Due to projectile motion, the greater the horizontal velocity, the farther distance away the water could reach. Sadly, I forgot how fast the water sprays and when I turned on the water, I forgot to get out of the way. (Fatal error) AHA! Why use a sprinkler?! CAUSE THE HOSE IS THAT LARGE! Thanks to Home Depot DOC! I could successfully water all of the grass in my backyard with as little effort as possible. THANKS Home Depot DOC!, if it weren't for you expertise and advice in Gardening, I would've never been able to see Devin Hester run back that punt return for a TD.

Doc! if you're reading this, because you never responded to my formal request to play mini golf, and due to other requirements of another agreement, I would like to formally ask you if you would like to be my date for Winterball. :)

SUPER SOAK THAT (Person)...Physics Style

My oh my has the week just flown by. Of course I was sitting at home, watching the Patriots totally obliterate the Bills. Man was it hot (temperature-wise) in my living room, and thats when I changed the channel to MTV. It just so happened that the song "Crank Dat" was playing and the lyrics happened to be talking about Super Soaking someone. Of course after hearing that I decided that was exactly what I needed, to use my SUPERSOAKER 50©(from 1996) and spray my dogs (for the LOLs). That's when that ever so weekly epiphany hit me! AHA! Not only is Clay Ozaki-Train a beast of nature, but the KB Toys®DOC! was trying to speak to me. How exactly do supersoakers super soak people who want to be supersoaked? That really is the question of the week. Well, KB Toys®DOC! explain that the SUPERSOAKER 50©(from 1996) worked because of Bernoulli's Principle. If pressure inside the water vessel was greater than the pressure at the nozzle, then velocity at the nozzle would be far greater than velocity in the vessel. AHA! That's why the harder you pump the SUPERSOAKER 50©(from 1996), the farther the water flies from the SUPERSOAKER 50©(from 1996) allowing you to supersoak people from a far greater range. Using simple kinematics to figure out the projectile motion (that is found on every test except the last one), I was successful in sneak attacking my dogs. Ahh, what satisfaction of wetting my sleeping, lazy dogs. Thanks KB Toys®DOC! without you, I would never be able to have this much fun on a sunday. Lesson of the week: Fish have an attention span of 8 seconds. DOC! I formally declare a supersoaking war on you effective 11/19/07. BEWARE!

BOB THE BALANCING BOY WONDER!

Boy has another Sunday come and past in a flash! BAM! Instead of studying for that physics test on sunday, I decided to indulge myself by fooling around and exploring the world beyond the textbook. We all know that Thanksgiving is approaching fast. Boy do I enjoy the food and company of family members, but most people don't see the preparation that comes beforehand. My mom, being the eager beaver she is, decided to start cleaning 2 weeks in advance. Sadly for me, I was forced to help hang up some new curtains. That's when it hit me (that weekly epiphany): the Great Pottery-Barn DOC! was trying to tell me not just to hang up the curtains, but to have fun with it at the same time! I decided to create a circus act and hang on the curtains (to test its durability of course!). Exploring the elements of balance I noticed that when I tried to hang on the curtains on the far left side, the bar would start to tip towards me rotating about the left hook. O MY! I could've fallen off my chair! Pottery-Barn DOC! told me that it was because I was changing net torque from 0 to some greater number! I was adding torque to the left side which already had curtains, which was greater than the weight of the curtains on the right side. O my. I guess hanging on the curtains was a bad idea after all! AHA! Then I decided that if I wanted to hang on the curtains, I would add equal torque to both sides of the rotating point, allowing me to keep net torque at 0 and have fun at the same time. "SUCCESS!" cried out Pottery-Barn DOC!. I felt proud. No only was I able to accomplish my chores while having fun, I was able to successfully advertise Pottery-Barn and its curtains in this blog! Lesson of the week: Always Have Fun with Curtains. DOC! I still formally challenge you to pool, you must take this offer soon before it disappears!


TORQUE FTW!

Strategizing At the Cross Country State Championships

On November 2, I decided to indulge myself and running a lovely 3-mile race on a hilly golf course in Kapalua, Maui. The course was full of rolling hills, steep-grade downhills and winding turns. The previous day, after waking up extremely early to take my physics test before the flight, we had flown in to review the course. In part of the course, we had to make a hairpin turn after coming off of a long downhill. Our coach asked us what we should do on the turn so that we would not have to slow down while also not "sliding out of the turn". AHA! Then it hit me. That oh so weekly physics epiphany. This time the running-guru-DOC! spoke to me by means of 8th Grade science teacher Mr. Heimerdinger. Instead of slowing down, use the slanted edge of the cart path to continue your speed through the turn. Why, by doing so, I would be able to maintain my speed through the curve. This is because a slant would increase my friction force and also allow the centripetal force to allow me to continue my acceleration through the turn without sliding out or having to slow down my speed. WOW! With the help of running-guru-DOC! I was able to go full-speed through the turn and pass several runners during the actual race. Even though my chest was burning and I was completely out of breath, I was able to let out a laugh at them for not using their physics knowledge to gain a better position of the race. Lesson of the week: Use physics to gain an advantage over your adversaries. DOC! if you read this, I'd like to personally thank you for helping out the cross country team at states (allow us to get 3rd place).