11/30 qod

If your tires lock up when you travel at a high rate of speed on an icy road, what kind of friction exists between the tires and the icy road?

--ch

11/29 Monroe

Nothing was turned in today, however we did get back the group fci diagnostic test (in one of the four group member's folder.) Then Coats-Haan checked the force law practice problems and we compared them to the keys. She proceeded to comment on our class' good attendance, concluding that coming to school is very important and that could be a factor for our grades on tests. After most were done checking the homework, we were allowed to either continue checking the homework, look over the fci diagnostic test, or work on the Newton's law test review.  The reason she gave us time in class to do this was to insure that we were comfortable with the material, so if we had any questions she was open to answer them. Our homework was to complete the Newton's law test review and study for tomorrow's test. Also a reminder that the Pendulum Lab Report is due on tuesday the sixth.
QOD: Your policy on conversion factors are that students should be able to convert within the system and anything else, if needed to be known, will be given on the test.

11/29 qod

What is my policy about conversion factors on tests?

--ch

11/28 Miley

Today was the first day back from break, so nothing was due or turned in. In class we were given two assignments as a group, the inertial pendulum and to retake the diagnostic test. Most groups began with the pendulum lab. The objective of this lab was to remove the gravitational force from a mass and see its effect on the period. We did this by timing the amount of time it took different weights to cycle 20 times. Do to the dangerous nature of this lab, we had to carefully tape the weights and ensure that the pendulum wouldn’t break. Most groups recorded this data down for the lab report that will be due on December 6^th. The next thing we worked on was the diagnostic test. As a group we had to retake the diagnostic test for correctness and to ensure that the members in our group understood the questions. When completed, this was turned in for a grade. Our homework was the Force Law Practice Problems. Mrs. Coats-Haan also reminded us to pick up the Newton’s Law Test Review Guide if you hadn’t already.

QOD: If you were on the space shuttle, what is one way that you could determine the mass of an object?

Similarly to the inertial pendulum lab, we could tape the object to the pendulum and time how long it takes the mass to make 20 cycles. We would repeat this process and take the average time, just as we have done in the lab.

11/28 qod

If you were on the space shuttle, what is one way that you could determine the mass of an object?

--ch

11/22 qod

Which toy was your favorite?  How was its behavior different when it was in orbit than when it was on the Earth's surface?

--ch

11/21

In physics on November 21, we played with toys.  But before that we checked the Spring homework assignment assigned on Friday as well as watched Homer Simpson eat potato chips in space.  We learned why people experience weightlessness, or rather microgravity, in space.  This "microgravity" is experienced during free fall because the velocity of an object falling is equal to the acceleration due to gravity.  That is why satellites orbit earth, they fall around it.  What we did with the children's toys is prepared a presentation to explain how they operate and how Newton's three laws apply to them.  In our class period, we had a slinky race down the stairs although the stairs were too wide for the slinky to move down. 

-Ethan Leonow

11/21 qod

What is microgravity?  Where can we experience it?  Why do we experience it there?

--ch

11/18 qod

What is the first thing you should do when you solve a spring problem and how does this help you determine the sign of the spring force?

--ch

11/17 QOD

Is the spring force constant or does it depend on how far it is stretched or compressed?  Support your answer with evidence.

--ch

11/16 qod

What are the 4 different ways we could solve the simultaneous equations in tension problems and why are matrices the best way?

--ch

11/15 qod

Why do rockets have stages?

--ch

11/14 qod

How does Newton's 3rd law apply to your balloon helicopter?

--ch

11/11 Chao

            Today obviously was a very special day. Just look at the numbers. People screaming wishes and all that just proves it’s special. Well, today in physics was pretty special too.

            Of course, with every special day, the beginning starts out slow, mundane, and routine. Checking the board, we held tight to our papers filled with homework problems (none of which were just old problems with altered numbers) and did not think about the number of trees (or saplings) we potentially affected by using the  paper. Carbon graphite is virtually able to obtain anywhere so we didn’t think about that either. Actually, on second thought, it still takes certain requirements to obtain graphite. So we should probably be feeling a little guilty. But hey, it was for physics. A good purpose.  

            Coats-Haan with her efficiency maximizing at second period already had keys laid out on the desks for us. While checking our answers to page 127 #10 – 17 and musing over our pg. 73-4 and pair checks received back in our blue folders, Coats- Haan looked to see that we completed our homework (mine already littered with red pen corrections). She also remarked how she heard that Carlie was a talkative person despite her quietness in Physics (or was it her dreaming? I don’t remember. I need sleep.).

            After a few questions and remarks and quiet murmurs and probably a few more rounds of “Baa Baa Black Sheep” in Coats-Haan’s head, we commenced with our special task of the day: doing a POGIL with our new groups! Sending a person from each group whose name was at the beginning of the alphabet to grab the folders, Coats-Haan instructed the rest of us to take out pages 80.1-80.6 in our lab manuel. 80.1-80.4 is our POGIL; 80.5-80.6 is a forces diagram worksheet that is homework. Don’t worry: the pages are not split up into 10ths of a normal piece of paper. Coats-Haan simply just added more pages to the lab manuel but could not change the page numbering.

            The POGIL was about forces and how different types of forces act on an object. There’s gravity (which acts downward on an object), normal force (which is always perpendicular to the surface and upwards, only exerted if there is a surface beneath the object), tension (which is instigated when an object is hanging from a rope or string and is always oriented upwards), and friction (which is instigated by motion and acts in the direction opposite of the motion). Certain situations dictate when each force acts. For example, if an object is at rest and suspended, there is no normal force or friction acting upon it, only tension and gravity. On the other hand, if an object is sliding down an inclined plane, there's gravity acting straight downwards, normal force acting perpendicularly upward, and friction acting in the opposite direction. 

Stop signs dotted the page as we worked our way through the POGIL, sorting disagreements on the direction of normal force and on the application of tension. At 9:13 exactly (I know, not 11:11, that would have been cool), Coats-Haan stopped us and went over 80.3, the page with all of the diagrams. We had to draw the forces that each object exerted. Halfway through explaining the diagrams, the bell suddenly rang, ending our special day with POGIL.  Coats-Haan will finish explaining Monday. Still, do the homework. It’s important.

Question of the Day:

How is the normal force oriented to surfaces?

The normal force is oriented in a way that is always perpendicular to the direction of the surface and upwards, I believe. For a flat plane, the normal orientation is straight up, 90^o, stock straight. For an inclined plane, the angle of the normal force is slightly different but still in the general upwards direction. 

11/11 qod

How is the normal force oriented to surfaces?

--ch

11/10 Back

As I walked into Honors Physics for second period on November 10, 2011, I checked the all-knowing white board to find out where my homework from the previous night was to be placed. It instructed me to turn page 73-74 from the lab manual, which I did in the blue second period folder. Next on the board was to check the problems (we never do the questions) from page 127 in our textbook. We had been assigned to complete problems one through nine. After a short questioning session on the assignment, CH had our class take additional notes on Newton's 2nd Law of Motion. Well, actually, there were no extra notes. However, CH pointed out, we did have two problems from the example sheet to work out. After discovering how to be FOXY in physics (we learned by examining three forces that were acting on an object and applying ROXY with forces),) CH gave us a pair check to complete with our lab partners. It was a momentous occasion, being the first pair check since the infamous seat change (FSD4L!) As we worked our way through the pair check, which turned out to be pretty simple, CH handed back our quarter tests. As my table members and I rifled through our tests, however, we could not figure out why we had gotten two questions wrong. I brought the two questions to CH, and she decided that we were right, her key was wrong, and we all deserved two extra points on our exam grades. After the discovery of these mistakes, we began to work on our homework, the problems 10-17 on page 127 in the textbook. We all promised CH to actually do the homework and not just turn in the old homework with altered numbers.


QOD: If you have several forces acting in multiple directions on an object, how do you determine the object's acceleration?
In order to determine the objects acceleration, you set up a ROXY table. However, you must replace the R with an F, for force. Then, you proceed as if the table used ROXY. You add the separate x and y components and then use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the magnitude of the acceleration. You then take the inverse tangent of the two components to find the angle at which the acceleration lies.

11/10 qod

If you have several forces acting in multiple directions on an object, how do you determine the object's acceleration?

--ch

11/9 Armour

In Class: Today in Honors Physics, we took notes on Newton’s first and second laws of motion, watched a JSM video on Newton’s Second law and we did a corresponding worksheet to the video.  Today in class I got scared because Coats-Haan called me out for not know the difference between weight and gravity and wasn’t really paying attention so I had no idea what she was talking about.

Notes:

Classical Mechanics

·         Describe what happens to things as small as an atom to as big as a galaxy

·         Apply in a non-accelerating reference frame(which is the definition of an inertial reference frame)

Force

·         Push or pull

·         Something that causes an object to accelerate

·         4 types of forces: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear

Newton’s 1^st law

·         If no forces act on an object, it will have zero acceleration

Inertia

·         The tendency of a body to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion

·         The first law is sometimes known as the law of inertia.

Mass

·         Is a measure of the inertia of an object

·         Is not the same thing as weight

·         Can only be defined in terms of how we measure it.

·         Is an additive scalar property

Mass Units

·         SI: kilograms

·         cgs: grams

·         English: slugs

·         Pounds are a unit of weight, not a unit of mass

Newton’s 2^nd law

·         ΣF=ma

·         a= acceleration (vector)

·         m= mass

·         ΣF= vector sum of all the forces acting on the body

Units

·         ΣF=ma

·         SI units: Newton= Kg x m/s²

·         cgs units: dyne= gram x cm/s²

·         English units: pound= slug x ft/s²

Papers Back: Inertia ball, JSM Inertia: Newton’s First Law, Diagnostic Test

Assignments:  Newton’s 2^nd law on pages 73-74 in the lab manual and page 127 #1-9 in the textbook

Turned in: page 63 (take home lab) and pages 71-72 from our lab manual

QOD: How are mass and weight different?

Mass is the amount of matter an object has and is a measure of the inertia of an object, while weight is the measure of the force of an object when exposed to a gravitational force.

11/9 qod

How are mass and weight different?

--ch

11/4 qod

Explain how Newton's first law applies to one of the many demonstrations today.

-ch

11/3 Shah

           On this relaxed morning of Thursday November 3, 2011, we did not have anything to turn in since it was the first day after exams. However, due to Coats-Haan unparalleled grading speed, our exams were waiting for us in our folders.
            As we sat down, we were overwhelmed with various papers and packets, including the blue bonus sheet for 2^nd quarter, a fci diagnostic (which is homework), and a farewell sheet. Yes, today was the last day we spent with our team from first quarter. We all wrote thoughtful comments about our team members, cherishing our last few moments with them. As we began to get new seats, Coats-Haan said she was about to cry because of Jeff, Charlie, Ethan, and Trevor’s group. They had a little team huddle thing going before they split.
            After we all settled down in our new seats, Coats-Haan gave instructions on the inertia ball activity we had to do in class today. We would be maneuvering a heavy bowling ball through a course that looked somewhat like a tootsie roll. The goal was to move the ball along the path as quickly as possible without 1) knocking the ball off the path 2) hitting the surrounding 2 liter pop bottles 3) touching the ball with your foot or 4) overshooting the box in the end, all while attempting to get the fastest time.
            After a plethora of students attempted this difficult task, Jeff ended with the fasted time of 36 seconds, Alexis had the slowest time of 96 seconds, and Carlie had the greatest penalty time of 24 seconds.
            Random fact of the day: so today in physics history votes were counted electronically for the first time in the U.S. presidential election in 1964 and the largest road accident in history occurred when a tanker in Afghanistan overturned and killed 176 people (although I don’t understand how the second fact correlates with physics).
            For homework tonight, we had to complete the fci diagnostic test, a relatively short 30 multiple choice question test. However, remember to answer using 1-5 instead of a-e, because the packet was set up weird and it’s just too time consuming to change it.
            For the question of the day: We had to apply a force to keep the bowling ball on the inertia ball track in the beginning to get the ball to initially move, when we were turning the corners, and at when we needed to slow down or stop the ball.

11/3 qod

When did you have to apply a force to keep the bowling ball on the inertia ball track?

--ch