Normal Yet Different Day

    In physics a day ago, Mr. B gave us some labs to do in our groups that were tied to speed, direction, velocity, and (something new) acceleration. Mr. B said that this was a lab that our class would refer back to again and again. For the lab, we used the bumblebee carts and ramps. Our group would have to model questions given to us in a packet. We'd make predictions on the time vs. position graph, velocity graph, and acceleration graph. Next, we would see the information that was recorded by the motion censor. Half of the time our predictions were right and half of the time our predictions were wrong. Most of the time the mistakes we made were fixed, but a good portion of the mistakes I did not know why they were mistakes. I'll have to ask Mr.B for help.

3… 2… 1… ACTION!

   The air is thick and weighing on your lungs. The skyscrapers seem desolate and hollow. The rare pedestrians seem desolate and hollow. The ground, a cement slab, reaching beyond the horizon. The clouds brace together, amassing to overtake the sunlight. Nothing gives the impression of life. Nothing rustles but for the moans of metal. The city anticipates a spark, an ignition of vitality. Anticipates action. Something must break tempo. Something must be the change.

   And Suddenly,

   a hum can be identified through the air waves, passing through barriers of iron and glass. It vibrates, encircling me on both sides, all the more approaching with every second that passes. Soon, the prospects appear on both sides of the spectrum. Two massive automobiles racing towards each other. But it is immediately noticed that one of the contestants is not as confident, the chicken of the two, internally debating if life is sacred enough to not be squandered upon such a rash decision. It truly was not do or die. 
  The cars dig up the concrete while inching nearer and nearer. 
  The silence is palpable.
  Emotion is tense.
  Livesontheline.
  Destruction
  IS 
  ABOUT 
  TO

  At the last second, one of the cars pulls off the course of devastation and barley slides by, choosing to grasp life, leaving the anticipating city once more anticipating.


So was the distraughting scene in my physics class today. With the exception of some minor changes. Small buggy cars that traveled a total distance of 400 cm, nonchalantly crossing at 228cm with an inch of space between. Collision was the desired outcome, but the buggies had minds of their own and chose to veer from the plan.

credits

Cast:   car 11

        car 12

Crew(Behind-the-Scene-People-that-made-the-awesomely-cool-close-to-death-experience):

      Sahil

       Collin

          Katherine

      Candy

        Damaris

Special Effects: Apple app

Sound Effects:   Marty

Lighting:  UAIS physics classroom ceiling lightbulbs

Soundtrack:  Intensity and Disappointment

2- 4=|2| ; Not in Displacement

      As a class, we had to complete a packet on velocity vs. time and displacement, and draw on a whiteboard a question, off of the packet, that was assigned to us. Then, we discussed the problems with the class. Not a large number of people talked, but the discussion did clear up a couple questions that I've had. I learned how to write a mathematical expression that shows the relationship between velocity and time. Another thing I learned was the velocity vs. time graph shows the displacement of an object through the distance traveled during an allotted time. Also, I learned that displacement can be negative, not only positive, or absolute value as I had thought. Lastly, displacement does not have to be measured from the reference point. The reference point is just a way to prove that an object was moving in relation to others things in its surroundings. But, displacement can be measured by subtracting final point from initial point. 
   I felt that this was a good day in physics, not trying to say that everyday in physics isn't good.

Catching Speed

I've decided to make a part A and B on this post to recompense for not blogging last week.
         

      Last week, My physics class had a whiteboard discussion on motion maps. It arose a lot more confusion than clarity. I was not very certain of what I knew any longer. Many of my classmates thought that the discussion got us no where. But I think that it arose interest in finding the correct way to make a motion map.

     We did agree that the dot is position and the arrows are velocity(speed and direction).

             Here is what a motion map looks like:

   The next class meeting, we established that the dot represented an object at a certain interval of time. The arrows represented the direction and speed an object was moving. The slower the speed, the shorter the arrows. And vice versa.  For example, take B in the picture. It is going in the positive direction at a higher speed than all the other objects.

     Another big thing we spent some time on was velocity graphs. I learned that they show direction and speed, but it does not matter if they are negative from the reference point if they are moving in the positive direction. Sorry for being vague. This is hard to explain with words, but easier to grasp when some one demonstrates.

   I feel that I am getting better at physics. I'm catching speed.

Dolphin Clicks

      In class today, we talked about the bicyclist worksheet and did an experiment to measure velocity, displacement, and test the graphs on the bicyclist worksheet. The class discussion began with asking which bicyclist was riding faster, A or B? A was the answer because it had a steeper slope comparative to B. The only thing that changed in the graph was the velocity of bicyclist A. Velocity is the speed and direction at which an object moves. In the first graph, bicyclist A was moving away from the reference point, while in the second graph, it was moving back towards the reference point. Somebody in my class identified the two graphs together as absolute value, but I still don't understand why it would be that. 
    Mr. Bataglia clarified some things and told us that if the line goes negative, it just means that it has passed the reference point. That helped explain my question on my previous entry. The second thing Mr. Bataglia told our class was change in position = displacement. So, if a I were to walk ten feet away from this computer and five feet back, my total distance would be fifteen feet, but my displacement from this computer would be five feet.
   Next, we split up into our buses groups and did an experiment based off of what we recently learned. The groups used sonar machines that recorded your position by sending out sonars, computers to see the data, dora (Xplorer), and some wires. The first trial was not successful at all, because we were walking by it, not towards it. But the second trial worked out well. My partner walked way, then towards the sonar machine. The third time she walked at a faster speed making the graph steeper than the second trial. The interesting thing though was that the velocity did not change both times. That stumped my group. It was an interesting experiment. I'm glad our class is revisiting it on monday. Hopefully we'll get an answer about the velocity situation.

Bumblebee Buses

    In Physics, on Thursday, our class split up and did another lab, which I call the bumblebee buses. We had to measure the distance our little bus went during an allotted time from a reference point. Mr.Bataglia made the time the independent variable and the distance the dependent variable. That complicated things slightly. But it worked out in the end. Mr.Bataglia gave our group a second part to the lab and made us start our bus 30cm behind the reference point. We finished that part as well.
   While our class was having a whiteboard discussion, I noticed that our second graph had a y intercept that was negative while multiple other groups had a y intercept of 30. Now I am not so sure we gathered the information correctly. This is probably something I could bring up in the whiteboard discussion.

Dimensional Analysis

    Today in class we reviewed and went more in depth into dimensional analysis, or the factor/label method. This is a very important skill to have as it helps you later on in chemistry and in physics. But, of course, if there is anything you want to improve and become excellent at, it is going to take effort. I have not completely mastered the factor/label method, but with the help of Mr. Battaglia and a few of my classmates, I'll be proficient soon.
    Also, I've been learning how to accept failure, not staying in that state, but learning from my mistakes. Another big thing that has started to change is my switch from perfection to excellence. Perfection is a "place" where you have to ALWAYS be right the FIRST TIME, while excellence is a "place" where you are a risk-taker, knowledgable of failure, but not letting fear hold you down. Progress is slow, but steady.

God Particle

       God Particle
     Today in U.S. Government, my class talked about something completely relevant pertaining to the recent Noble Prize awarded to two scientist who proposed, 50 years ago, the theory that there is a "God" particle that attracts more particles unto itself, hence explaining the creation of earth in the physics form. Scientist in Switzerland proved this theory, and the prize was actually awarded to the two scientist who came up with the theory.  
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   Physics today was not as lovely as it could have been. I received my fiesta back and was lacking in knowledge for all of the questions, with one exception. Even now, I do not feel prepared or at all mastering the concepts. At the moment of explanation, I feel that I comprehend the information, but on returning to class two days later, it is only vaguely familiar. Also, during the class discussions, the people that understand the concepts overpower the ones that do not understand. If a student that doesn't understand does say that they don't get it, or explain what they don't get, again, the overpowering students will give them an answer. But the answer will have no explanation, it'll be just a short reply to help continue the class. I know what this feels like since I have experienced it myself. I am not trying to point out all of the negative points, but just voice my concern for my and others learning. Hopefully, I will retain these concepts quicker and learn more efficiently. 

"Monumental" First

    This is a monumental first for me, because this is the first of many more posts in my 9th grade physics career.  Actually, I'm not a huge fan of technology, so much of this is new to me. But I think that in this age there is no choice but to adapt to change and use it instrumentally for a lot of good things. I am going to warn you (that being myself and Mr.B) that this is going to be a very unprofessional blog. I think that this may even be somewhat of a journal that I can look back on to see my progress. None the less, it will be a place to state my frustrations, findings, and stuff.
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                        
   The first official week of school our class had fun creating and trying to replicate tubes that had four strings that were looped on the inside. The sides were taped, so you could not see the mechanism, but could only make models that did the same thing. Mr.B would not tell us how to make it and told us that this is a perfect representation of the world from a science standpoint, since you can never 'just know the answer'. You can only create models to test what you believe to be true. A lovely experience.

  The second week we started to do laboramas, a term which I had never heard of but quickly became acquainted with. The things we got data on were such simple objects and yet we did whiteboard discussions for forty minutes on blocks of wood. To be honest to myself, they were so painfully dull and confusing that the flame of interest I had in physics was quickly snuffed out. But, Mr.B said not to worry for the tongues will be loosened and the discussions will flow more freely.

   The third week Mr.B gave us a homework assignment that left me in a quizzical state of being. I really like the way he described it:"Confusion is ignorance leaving the brain." This is a good way to make you want to embrace confusion, even though nobody wants to be the one that doesn't "get it." I did the homework with the help of my father and understood some of it, while some of it I didn't know. The next class session I talked amongst some of my group members and we all discovered that we were in the same boat. We wrote down our info onto whiteboards and got some things cleared up. My group left things on hold for the weekend.

   Today we returned and got in group discussions. Our group discussed number 11 and asked multiple strings of questions that could be applied to all three parts of the problem. I have a slight reason to believe that I was one of the dominators,though I don't like to be thought of that, but want to try and include everyone. When we finished the discussion, I was so happy because it was the best small group discussion that I've ever had!!! I was happy. I'm happy thinking of it now. Of course there are still things that need to be revisited and redefined a lot, but a journey always starts a with one step. I shall wait and see what the journey has in store for me.