Unit 1-Motion

In this unit of physics I learned about motion. The first thing I learned about was Newtons first law of motion, the law of inertia. This law states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. It also stays that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. We learned a lot about inertia through riding the hovercraft. We learned that inertia is directly related to mass and that the more mass something has the more inertia it has. Another thing we learned more about through the hovercraft lab was velocity. Velocity is the speed and direction of an object at any given time. The units for velocity is m/s. An object can only have a constant velocity if it has an unchanging speed and is going in only one direction. This means that if an object is rounding a corner, even if it maintains the same speed throughout the whole curve, it does not have constant velocity. The formulas we used for velocity were, for how fast, velocity(v) equals distance(d) over time(t). Or, v=d/t. The formula we used for how far was distance(d) equals velocity(v) times time(t). Or, d=vt. Another thing we learned about constant velocity is that when an object has constant velocity it means the net force is zero meaning it is in equilibrium. Net force is the force that is on an object. For example, if a person pushes a box with 200 newtons of force and the friction on the box is only 150 newtons, the net force of the box would be 50 newtons in the direction that the person is pushing. The last thing about motion that we learned about is called acceleration. Acceleration, though this sounds confusing, is how fast something is getting faster. For example, if a car is speeding up with a constant acceleration of 5 m/s^2 and it starts with a speed of 10m/s, then it will go an extra 5 meters for every second. The formula we learned for this was velocity(v) equals acceleration(a) times time(t). Or, v=at. This is the formula we used for acceleration when trying to determine how fast something was going at any of the given variables. The formula that we used for how far something had gone at any given variable was distance(d) equals one half acceleration(a) times time squared. Or, d=1/2at^2. 

What I have found difficult about what I have studied is really grasping the concept of inertia and understanding that something can be moving and will never ever stop unless some sort of force gets in its way or makes it stop. I also had a lot of trouble understanding the concept of acceleration and that it is a rate of how fast something is getting faster. The last concept I had trouble with was that of the different velocity and acceleration rates on an inclined plane.

The way I overcame these difficulties was actually through the labs we did in class. The lab with the marble helped me a lot with acceleration and incline confusion because I could physically see how the marks between each second got farther apart on an inclined plane as compared to them being exactly the same length apart on a flat plane. The way I understood inertia, the moment it clicked for me, was during the lab in the hovercraft when I saw that it would truly stay in the same place or travel until it hit the wall unless someone was there to stop it. 

My problem solving skills and effort towards class have been pretty good in my opinion. I don't really talk a lot in class but I think I ask questions when I don't understand something and I put it a lot of effort towards completing each assignment and understanding it once I complete it. I try really hard to do all the homework which I think helps a lot because it always helps me understand the concept that we are learning at that time. This is because it gives me a chance to really work it out for myself and I think that I have been putting a lot of effort towards homework so far. I am not really a "blogger" per say but I do try to include everything in each blog post and explain to my "readers" that I really know the material and that I could teach it to them. I think my use of creativity is lacking a little bit just because the only thing that I use to help me understand concepts is the labs. Though those help me to completely get a topic I think I could probably think outside the box and come up with my own ideas instead of using the ones from the textbook. I do, however, think my self-confidence in physics is pretty high because I know that even if I don't understand something right then I will eventually get it through all the different things we do to really dissect each topic.  I think communicating both by my spoken and written words could probably improve when it comes to spoke. As I said earlier I do not like to speak in class much at all but I think with the voice thread that is a really good way to get my voice heard because it is simply explaining that I know a topic and in class I normally don't have questions anyway.

My goals for the next unit is to be more creative when thinking about different ways concepts could apply to everyday life and to speak in class more. Also to not make the mistake I did on the trip problem again and really read over everything carefully until I fully understand what I am being asked.

The connections that I can make through situations in the world is, similar to the football question that we had on the test, a connection to soccer. The bigger people are put on defense while the smaller, slimmer, and faster people are put up top at forward. This is because the law of inertia shows us that the more mass a person has the more inertia. Therefore, a smaller person has a much easier time beginning to run toward the goal then a bigger person. Likewise, a bigger person is much harder to stop moving but also harder to start moving. This is why each person is put in a particular position. Another connection I can make to real life is to acceleration. Almost all kids love to get down on their backs and roll down a really steep hill. As kids, we view it as fun, but now that I've taken physics I am able to see why what happens happens. When you start rolling you move rather slowly, but you gradually get faster and faster until it feels like you are barely touching the hill at all. I now know that this is because you are accelerating and a constant rate. I also know that the only reason you slow down at the end of the hill is due to the friction between the ground and you.

This is a video I made with two other people in my class that, hopefully, should help clarify the concept of velocity.