10/17 Wheeler

Today in Honors Physics, the class of brilliant students (and a brilliant teacher, by the way), we learned a new concept. A concept about the interworkings of projectile motion. I know, it sounds pretty scary. But, guess what? If you completed the Hewitt Chapter 3 questions and the cartoon guide questions that were assigned on Friday for homework (which were due today), you already have a head start on understanding the interworkings of projectile motion. And, to make your day even brighter, the concept is really only half new because just like we used ROXY to find vectors, we can use ROXY to find the initial horizontal and vertical components of velocity. I found that to be pretty exciting, particularly since my brain tries to slack off when it comes to learning new concepts on Mondays (and sometimes on Tuesdays, just because they follow Mondays). Now, I know you are having a hard time keeping your composure because you are so excited about the interworkings of projectile motion, but for homework, we are assigned the first sixteen problems from the worksheet "Detailed Analysis of a Projectile Problem," which we even had time to finish in class. Yes, in class. All of the problems, too. Not just half, all of them. I was jumping for joy, similar to the way Coats-Haan looked when she was looking at the picture of Julius Sumner Miller holding a rifle in his lab that was embedded in her notes presentation. She was probably just as excited, if not more excited, than I was about going home with no homework. Anyways, during this notes presentation that Coats-Haan gave us, we (obviously) took notes and we also tried a few examples to help us understand the concept. A highly emphasized point in the presentation is that horizontal and vertical velocities are indepedent of each other. Neglecting air resistance (NAR), the horizontal component velocity is constant. Also, NAR, the vertical component velocity is only affected by gravity. I just love this whole "NAR" thing--it shortens the amount of words needed to convey the concept, and it also is the first three letters of "narwhal." NAR is cool in my book. Moving on to the question of the day now...

QOD: Does the horizontal or vertical component of velocity affect time more?
Answer: Well, it is sad to say it, but I am not entirely sure what the answer is. However, I believe it is the vertical component of velocity because it is affected by gravity, which accelerates at -9.8 m/s squared. The horizontal component is not affected by gravity, it remains constant (NAR).