Reflection

During this unit, I believe that I was a combination of both a procedural learner and a committed learner. I think this because I understood what I needed to do to receive a good grade in this course but I also committed what we learned to long term memory. I have to say that I didn't have much difficulty during this unit. All of the concepts were pretty clear and easy for me to grasp. I studied by redoing homework problems and going over any problems I struggled with multiple times until I fully understood it and knew that I could do the same with a similar problem. I did take advantage of the time that we had in class. Out of class I did my homework, and occasionally mention inertia when something reminded me of it. I predict that i did well on the unit test. I knew all of the formulas and i felt comfortable answering the questions and I felt confident in my answers. All your your feedback was pretty positive about all the work have I done. To me, this mean that I should continue working with the same diligence as I did during this unit. I got better at using the formulas we learned and how to properly adjust them in order to fit the problem. I would give myself a 4 effort grade for this unit. I feel like I put a lot of effort into this class. I participated in class and also did all of my work outside of class. I aimed to be productive, and I feel like I achieved at that. I am looking forward to the next unit.

Unit Summary # 1

During this unit of physics, we have learned a lot. We have learned the main concepts of all the following: Newton's first law (inertia), net force/equilibrium, velocity, acceleration, and graphing.

>> Newtons First Law:

Newton's first law states that an object at rest (or motion) will stay in motion (or rest) unless acted upon by an outside force. 

The picture above shows something that one could do to show inertia in action. When the person pulls the piece of paper, they are acting as an outside force. You may think that the coin will move with the paper, but silly you. Though there is  a force on the paper, there is not a force acting on the coin. So,when the paper moves, the coin will not change positions, thus, falling down into the cup. We have tested and learned about many other examples like this one, like pulling a table cloth from under your dishes, or leaving a cup on your trunk. They all have a similar explanation to the example shown above. 

>> Equilibrium and Net Force:

In this section, we learned what both net force and equilibrium are, as well as how to calculate the net force on an object. 

In the image above, the little blue box has a net force of 0N. Force is measured in Newtons (N) which is equivalent to about 1/4 of a pound. We can figure this out by subtracting the force from one side by the force on the parallel side. To find net force you must add or subtract parallel forces, otherwise it is not a correct net force. When an objects net force equals zero, the object has achieved a state of equilibrium. An object has reached an equilibrium either when it is at rest or in constant motion. If the force on one side of an object is greater than the parallel force, the net force will not equal zero. Also, if you were to try to push a box that was 5kg and a box that was 50kg, you would have to use greater force on the 50kg box. This is not because it is heavier, but because it has a larger mass, which means there are more atoms to make move in one direction. 

>>Speed and Velocity:

Speed is how far an object travels in a set amount of time. You may think that speed is the same thing as velocity. I did, but it isn't. The big difference is that velocity is direction specific, meaning that the velocity will change if the direction of the object changes. So, though you can drive at a constant speed, if you change direction, you will not be traveling at a constant velocity. Velocity changes also when an object accelerates, or accelerates in the opposite direction (slows down). 

To find an objects velocity, you must know distance the object has traveled, and how long it has traveled. The equation to find velocity is 

velocity=distance/time

You can also plug in the values and move around the equation to fit the specific problem.

>> Acceleration:

Acceleration is the rate at which an object's speed is increasing. Acceleration can be calculated by using the following equation

acceleration= change in velocity/time

The acceleration of an object can be increasing, decreasing, or constant. 

In example A, the acceleration will be constant. In B, the acceleration is increasing and in the final example, C the acceleration is decreasing.

When writing acceleration as units, it must be written as m/s^2.

Another important formula to know that applies to acceleration is 

distance=1/2(acceleration)time^2

This equation is used to calculate the distance that an object has traveled when the given acceleration is constant. 

>>Graphing:

We are able to use the acceleration data we collect as points on a graph by using time as our X coordinates and velocity as our Y coordinates. You can put these points into Excel, and go through the steps to calculate a line of best fit. The equation of a line is actually very similar to one of the equations that we use. 

Equation of a line: y=mx+b

Formula for distance with constant acceleration:d=1/2at^2

In this class, the b value is so close to zero that we do not use it. In the equations, m(slope) is 1/2a and x is interchangeable with t^2. By using the equation of the line, we are able to calculate the acceleration of an object. 

For a further explanation of what you need to know about graphing, here is a video that my group and I made:

YAY PHYSICS!!!

Hovercraft Lab

>> Riding a hovercraft feels different than any other thing I have ridden before. If anything, riding a sled is similar to the feeling, but you don't have to be on a slope in order to ride it. You move at a constant speed making it unlike ride a skateboard, car, bike, scooter, etc. If you have never ridden a hovercraft before, it is a little intimidating. The loud noise is somewhat off putting, but the ride is completely worth it. Make sure the people who are stopping you are reliable, because if they don't stop you, the next wall will.


>> The hovercraft was originally at rest, until an outside force (the two people pushing) made it move. Once it started moving, it had little resistance with the ground, allowing it to continue to move with little outside force slowing it down. While it was moving it was at an equilibrium, and while it was starting and stopping it had a net force because it had outside forces acting upon it. 

>> The acceleration depended on how hard the person was pushed.

>> Once the hovercraft reached an equilibrium, it had a constant velocity. 

>> Some members were harder to start and stop because they have a larger mass. A larger mass means that there is a larger number of total atoms that the outside force has to make move/stop. Thus, members of our class with a larger mass were harder to start and stop. 

Inertia Resource

>> Why was this video helpful?
     
I found this video to be helpful because it showed Newton's First Law in action. Newton's First Law states that an object in motion or rest will stay in motion or rest, respectively unless acted upon by an outside(unbalanced) force. The egg was the object that wanted to stay at rest, so even though the pie pan and toilet paper roll were moved, the egg just wanted to keep doing what it was doing, staying still. This video was a simple way of capturing inertia in action.