Hovercraft (Because even the word sounds awesome)

If Physics didn't already have my vote as the coolest science class EVER, (Sorry Mrs. Lawrence.... I think that has a good bit to do with the lack of math), it would have earned it today. 

Why, you ask, has this glorious title been bestowed upon this class after only THREE days?

One word.... HOVERCRAFT... as in that cool thing below

Well, ours was a lot less.... pink, but nonetheless, this blog is dedicated to this cool thing and what it helped me learn about the scary word from my last post, Inertia.

a. Riding a hovercraft was, in one word, bizarre. It felt a lot like ice skating without ever having to worry about balance. Without the friction of wheels or any other surface it was a smooth ride at a steady speed, almost as if you wouldn't recognize you were moving if you didn't know.

b. The hovercraft reinforced what I already knew about inertia, and taught me what net force and equilibrium felt like, giving the whole learning experience a hands-on feel, and who doesn't love hands-on science?

c. Acceleration, another one of those words that you think you know and then BAM! Physics come's in to ruin your perception of the universe, in a good way of course. Acceleration depends on mass and the force with which an object is pushed into moving. 

d. Constant Velocity? Only in equilibrium.... nothing much to say there.

e. Tying this answer back into the one from letter "c", some people had a higher mass than others, meaning more force had to be used to get them to move and to stop them. 

I know this was supposed to be concise, and I guess, for me, it was. But for the rest of you I made up for it by answering the questions in color!

Inertia! Wait... What?

I'm back, and although I'm still searching for a word that rhymes with Physics, this post is here to explain more easily this little scientific property we know as Inertia.

It looks pretty scary doesn't it, especially written in those huge red letters. But guess what? It isn't! The video below is a basic, but amazing description of Newton's First Law.

Class was informative, and the experiments we did were fun, but I was wondering about all the real world implications of this nifty thing called Inertia. The boy on the train made that possible (although I've never actually ridden on a train).

Objects tend to "keep on doing what they're doing" unless disturbed.

And our bodies, like any other object, don't want to stop. Therefore, when the train moves, he jerks backward as his body resist the urge to move,  and when the train stops he moves forward because his body continues moving!

Physics Intro, YAY!

Are there any words that rhyme with Physics?

I'm pretty sure there aren't any, which ruined my idea of a rhyming title, but never fear, I’m still on the lookout for the perfect word.

What do I expect to learn in Physics this year? There are a lot of things in science I will confess to not understanding; string theory, the history of the atom, or anything involving chemistry.  But Physics, unlike the rest of those, explains why things work, which is what I want to learn.

1.       Inertia- it’s one of Newton’s laws but really, I’ve never understood its practical application, how does it help seat-belts save our lives in a car crash? Why does a ball roll for as long as it does on a flat surface? It’s all so confusing!

2.       Gravity- It’s one of those things we’ve all come to accept, some guy had an apple dropped on his head and boom, the law of gravity was born. But why does it work the way it does on earth? Why does it change and what factors can affect it?

3.       Conceptual Physics- Physics is scary, I was positive I wasn’t going to survive more than a day with all the math I’d heard about doing. So I’m curious as to what the difference is between the Physics we’re terrified of, and the Physics we’re going to learn in this class.

Why do I think studying Physics is important?

Science is the study of the world around is, it is new, it is groundbreaking, and it is essential to life as we know it today? Therefore Physics, like any other science, is important because it helps us live better in our world. Understanding of Physics is a necessity for Athletes, Musicians,  and even trash men. Physics is everywhere!

What questions do I have about Physics?

1. What is its history? Why was it discovered?
2. What makes a conceptual science different than any other?
3. What do you love about Physics? What made you decide to teach it?

What goals do I have?

1. I want to learn to love a science, I want to be more interested in what makes up the world around me.
2. I want to not only understand and do well grade wise, I want to be an active participant.
3. I want to gather a firm understanding of what Physics is and how it applies to my life.