Lifting Weights and Rotational Inertia

In physics we are now studying Rotaional and circular motions. I learned that theres a difference btw circular motion and rotational motion. Circular motion has a axis outside the object and a rotational has an axis within the object. The coolest thing about this concept is the rotaional inertia which is the property of an object to resist changes in its Rotational motion. It depends on two things; its mass and the distribution of the mass. For example, this weekend my sister wanted to prove that she was strong so I told her to hold to rotate the bar two different ways and she'll prove to be smart as well. So she held the bar in the middle and rotated it up and down. Then she held the bar at its ends and rotated it. I asked her which one was harder and she said the one in the middle but i told her it has more rotational inertia. Haha and she was like "ok" in a confused way. Then i told her she'll learn about it a couple years from now. hahaha Anyways, ill upload her pictures later bc my internet wasn't working on the weekend.=)

There are so much concepts to physics it seems endless to knowing everything. We are currently learning about energy and work. There are two different energies that we are studying now and they are potential energy and kinetic energy. This past weekend i was sick at home with the stomach flu and watch alot of tv because thats pretty much all i could do. I flipped through the channels and came across an amusement park channel. The first thing that popped in my mind was physics. Potential energy is an elevated position that is measured by multiplying its weight and height together. Kinetic energy involves movement and is calculated by multiplying 1/2its mass by its speed squared. Unlike potential energy, kinetic moves only in a positive direction. The roller coaster i saw had both potential and kinetic energy because it moved up and back down. Sorry i dont have a picture from the tv so i couldnt load one up. So i related watching things on tv to what i learn in physics.=) Heres a pic of a roller coaster from the internet.

Newtons 3rd Law and Basketball

This past weekend was the boys basketball state championships and it was intense. Our boys made it all the way to semis but fell short to Kahuku which was a heartbreaker.Anyways related to physics is Newtons 3rd law how if one object pushes against another, that object pushes back. During the basketball game, the boys always take jump shots and as the player pushes the ball up to shoot, the ball is pushing back on the players hands. At the same time, the bball player is pushing down on the earth and the earth is pushing up on the player. These are only a few of the actions that occur during a basketball game. Everywhere whether we notice it or not physics is present! (Here's a picture of the post 3rd place game with Kela Marciel.)

This past weekend it rained alot and i just began driving again. Because of my injury, i couldnt drive. Anyway, as i was driving to the soccer boys states, i got stuck in a lot of traffic because people were speeding and got into a multicar accident. This reminded me of what i learned in physics that if an object pushes another, the other object is pushing against it. The force is the same but the mass of one object may be larger and therefore the forces never cancel each other out. Throughout the whole weekend, I witnessed 3 car accidents. This isn't a good thing when i just started drving again, but i was aware of my surrounding and my SPEED limit because i know if i speed i could be in one of these accidents! I don't have a picture of one of these accidents but here's the cool soccer pics i took at the game that made me see all the accidents. Cool pics yah!=) congrats boys!

This semester we started off learning about acceleration, velocity and speed. Acceleration is measured by the change of velocity divided by the time it took. And speed and velocity are both measured by the distance traveled by the time traveled. The only difference between the two is that the velocity measures the direction of which the object travels. Well every since i've been driving I've had a first hand chance to change my velocity, speed, and acceleration of my car. I always thought that you could only accelerate by speeding up, but i never knew there was decreasing acceleration. The more i drive, the more i pay attention to the physics behind it now that I know it. I remember last week when my friends and I were driving to the basketball game, someone yelled. "Hey stop speeding!" and my classmate replied back, "I'm not speeding, I'm accelerating." Onlyif you know physics, you know whats the difference.=) Here is a pic of me and my little sister before we went in the car with my friends.

Corrected Lenses

Contact lenses are sooooo cool! Without them, or perscription glasses, i would be in trouble. I wouldn't be able to drive!!! If i don't wear one or the other i can't see very well. Everything is blurry! Im what people call near sided, meaning i can see close. My corrected lenses allow me to see things in the distances by having converging lenses. The difference between converging and diverging lens are that in a converging lens, the inside or middle is thicker than the outside or edges. With my contacts or glasses, i'm given the vision to see way better! In time, my eyes will grow weaker and my vision will worsen therefore my perscription will need to be altered. As long as we have the technology for corrected lenses, people will be able to see and enjoy life ten times better. I love physics, i never knew lenses were considered physics.
(pics to be added very soon)

Mirrors and Reflections

Every morning when i get ready for school i look at myself in the mirror to see if i look decent enough to attend school. My room has two big mirror-closet sliding doors that reflect images. Depending on where im standing i can view the objects in front of the mirror. A reflection has both an incident ray and a reflected ray. In the law of reflection, the incident ray=the reflected ray. When you have a mirror, the object and its image, which is behind the mirror, are exactly the same distance from the mirror. Although the mirrors i have in my room are huge, i only need a mirror which is half my height to be able to see myself fully. For example, i am 63 inches tall, therefore i need a mirror that in 31.5 inches. Mirrors and reflections have more to it then you think!
(pic to be added, camera broken)