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.