Physics Blogger

Reflection: On the last post, I mentioned the second set of labs that were completed and the results we got in class. This week's focus was on the results of the labs. Although we were able to derive the equations for the energy equations together as a class, I still struggled as an individual. When deriving equations, we can figure out the missing variable of equations on one side if we know the units on the other. When it comes to working on that and trying to solve for the missing variable, I still feel hazy about it. What I tried to do was cancel out the units that were present on both sides, and if that worked, I was hoping to be left with the leftover unit equating to the missing variable that I was searching for. I was able to come up with an answer, however it was incorrect. I rechecked my process and it seemed correct (in my eyes at least), but I still ended up with the same result. When the teacher guided us along, I realized that what I could have done was substitute un

The main focus for last week's topic was energy. Some energy we began focusing on was elastic, gravitational potential, kinetic, and dissipated energy. The main things we did were doing labs focusing on elastic energy and we did energy pie charts. For the labs, the first lab was about how the length of a spring affects how much force is applied. What we did was we grabbed a slinky and started stretching it with two force-o-meters on both ends. From this, we plotted the change in length (cm) as the independant variable and then the force (Newtons) was the dependant variable. From the data, we found out that the relationship between the length and force is directly proportional and is a positive linear relationship. Each spring will have its own positive linear relationship because each spring is affected by its own ability to stretch from its material type. As for the second lab, the experiment was to apply an elastic force to a cart on a flat surface and at an upward angle. The re