This is week two of unit 4 and we are studying forces, friction, and different scientific terms that have to do with Newtons Laws. In this picture I am trying to push a chair across the room so I have room to sit. I had to sit up and change my angle of push because the chair wasn't moving at first. This is because inertia, objects at rest want to stay at rest unless acted upon by some unbalanced outside force. When I attempted to push the chair, friction due to gravity caused the chair to resist my force and bite the ground. Gravity is constant and it holds the chair on the x-axis. In order for me to push the chair I had to push level to the ground and slightly harder. This is an example of how something in the real world can be related to physics. I never really thought of it this way but Newtons laws are pretty accurate.

This week we started a new unit on Newtons Laws of physics. In class we learned various terms such as inertia, newtons, net force, and also new equations that we need to solve problems. In the picture about I am pushing down on a little box. I am applying force on to the box pushing it down on the table, but it is not moving down nor is box or table about to break. The more force I put on the box the more force it pushes towards me. This is a balanced force, the table supports the box. Whenever I put more force on or take away the table returns the equal amount of force. The result, the box still hasn't moved, but if I keep applying force to the box to the point where the box its self cannot return, the box will break and that becomes an unbalanced force. Obviously in this situation the box will break before I apply enough pressure for the table to break, because the table can return more force than I can push, but if I use other methods to try and break the table, at the breaking point, it also becomes an unbalanced force. This type of balanced force happens a lot and we dont realize it, when we rest on things, lean on things, sit on chairs, and just applying pressure to anything, there is always a counter force that balances things out.

The blogposts for the first quarter are all in. This last extra credit blogpost was to interview a parent and show them what the blogposts are and what the requirements of, and what we have to do them for. From my first blogpost to my last I shortly explained the purposes of each blogpost and briefly talked about what it was on and gave some examples. I explained that each blogpost had to be relative to what we learned that week and it needed a picture and a minimum of 100 words. I briefly explained the pictures and examples and later on talked about what kinematics vectors, and 2-D kinematics are.

Vectors are measurements of direction and magnitude, and they are always measured relative to something. Equivalent vectors have the same direction and magnitude. For example, a vector drawn (as an arrow) 45 degrees above east or (NorthEast) with a magnitude of 3 m/s, is equal to any other vector anywhere that is pointing in the same direction and going the same speed. If I threw the ball at 45 degrees into the air at 20 m/s relative to the ground. You would need to find horizontal and vertical velocity to find out how long the ball is in the air and how far it travels. The way you figure it out is using 2-D kinematics, or in other words kinematics on both the x and y axis. This is a relation of vectors. Taking something this simple( throwing a football) and relating it to physics to find out the properties of the flight of the ball. I think that there is a lot to talk about and explain about vectors and 2-D kinematics but this is just one example to what it actually is and what it can help you do. The picture above is just a drawing of a question. To help us solve problems it is required to draw a picture of it so we can see what is happening.

The new unit we are starting this week is on 2 dimensional kinematics and vectors. 2-D kinematics is basically kinematics on both the x and y axis. To figure out problems you need measurements on the x and y axis. Its the same "plug in and calculate" idea but with quantities of the x and y axis. For example, Something traveling from the ground into the air at a certain angle then back down to the ground. You would have vertical and horizontal velocities, forward acceleration and downward acceleration and so on. Vectors are drawn as arrows. You can solve these by graphing or trigonometry. A vector has magnitude (size and unit) and also direction, unlike a scalar unit. I compare these to transportation, such as cars, boats, and aircrafts. These things can all be measured with a vector unit, they have a magnitude and direction (ex. 40 m/s east)

Last Unit2: Everyday Travel

A few weeks ago, our class finished up the unit on kinematics. Included in kinematics is motion, distance, displacement, and speed. When you are riding in a car, you are in the middle of physics. Here is a picture of the odometer and speedometer in the car. The speedometer shows the speed at anytime during travel. You may be going down the freeway at 60 mph, then hit traffic, and youre stuck for five mintues. Finally traffic opens up and you reach your destination with a final time of 40 minutes. Average speed equals total distance travelled over total time, so if you travelled 15 miles in 40 minutes, the average speed would be 37.5 mph. Although you may have been going 60 at some points because of the stop in traffic the average speed turned out to be 37.5 mph. The odometer shows total distance travelled since it got on the road. If you leave your garage and travel 15 miles then return and park in the same place, your displacement is zero because you are back to where you started. This is how distance, and speed play a key role in something we do everyday. It might not have much meaning but it is there and is around us everyday.