Blog 13

So, I am LDS (or Mormon) and we have temples all around the world.  Recently, I actually got to go inside one of the temples, the La`ie Hawaii one, during its open house last November.  It was my first time seeing the whole temple, and I found it very interesting!  In one of the rooms, known as the "sealing room," couples are married and families are sealed for eternity.  Now, how does this relate to physics? Well, the room has two mirrors on opposite ends of the wall facing each other.  The man and woman stand on both sides of an altar in the center of the room.  The mirrors, according to what we learned in physics will reflect the image of the couple.  Since there are two mirrors, the images will continually reflect.  The continuous reflection is a symbol of eternity because the mirrors will never stop reflecting off each other.  It was such a cool experience to look in the mirrors (haha even though i was just visiting...not getting married :P) because I could see multiple reflections of all the people in our tour group! It was craaaaazy!

Blog 12

This weekend was the Iolani Fair, and the band I'm in, New Breed, entered the talent show!  We played an original song called, "Take You Away."  (We also got first:) eeeeeeep!) Anyways, sooo how does this relate to physics? Well, in class we've been learning about sound waves and frequencies and wavelengths and interference and much much more.  Our band has two vocalists, two guitars, two ukuleles, drums, and a piano (me).  There are lots of sound waves traveling through the air when we play, and the waves interfere with each other, hopefully construvtively, in order to produce a nice sound.  The guitars and ukuleles have sound boards, which allow the waves to have a medium to bounce off of and create a louder sound.  Amplifiers increased the volume of the instruments by increasing the amplitude of each wave!  The vocalists sang and different pitches, or frequencies, throughout the song, creating beautiful sounds.  There is so much physics in music!  It's wild!!!

blog 11

So, I was pondering what I should write my blog about when I was driving home.  I couldn’t think of anything…when SUDDENLY my dad had to turn the lights on because it was getting dark! :o and then I thought about how we learned in class that if you turn the motor off, but keep the lights on, the battery will drain quickly.  However, if you run the motor and keep the lights on then the battery won’t die because of the induced current and voltage in the system.  Also, I thought about how my car has a battery (which provides voltage) but it has a motor too! The motor includes a magnet, and current (from the car battery) which in turn produces motion and helps the car move! When we pulled into our garage, I noticed this huge black machine next to our circuit breaker, aka A GENERATOR! :o The generator uses motion and a magnet to create current through a wire. ;) LOVE YA MRS. CHEN!

ALSO...NOTICE THE TRANSFORMER IN THE BACK? :)

Blog 10

So...last week we scrimmaged KAHUKU for water polo!  During warm up, all of us heard this loud rumbling noise.  Minutes later we saw a flash of lightning and then thunder following after it! :0 All the players were scared because we were in the pool and if lightning were to strike the pool it would probably kill us.  Water is a good conductor, so we'd be in huuuuuuge trouble!  In physics we learned a little about capacitors.  Capacitors are almost like batteries in that there is a voltage difference and lots of charge.  Lightning is almost like a capacitor because the charge on the ground and the charge in the clouds create a voltage difference. The lightning is like the explosion or reaction that occurs when you connect the two plates.  So, unfortunately our coaches made us stay in the pool and play even though there was lightning!  I was soooo scared! But at least we had fun and lightning did not strike the pool!

MY ELECTRIC METER! :O

I'm sad because our energy bill was expensive!!!

Blog 9

On Thursday night we had the Iolani Fair 2011 kick-off meeting!  Before the festivities began, our executive committee helped out with decorating the student center.  One of our jobs was to tie the balloons together and attach them to the tables.  We also got to play with some of the balloons ;D.  Scott kept trying to make people’s hair stand up by rubbing the balloon against their hair and pulling the balloon away.  Now, how on earth does this all relate to physics?!? Well, in physics we’ve been learning about charge and static electricity.  When Scott rubbed the balloon against my head, he was creating a charge by friction.  Also, when he tried to stick the balloon to someone, only the rubbed side would stick because rubber is an insulator and does not conduct electricity well.  Due to this trait, the electrons remained concentrated on one side of the balloon.

Blog 8

Today as I stared into the computer contemplating on what I should write my physics blog about…I heard the garage door open as my mom pulled into the driveway.  Oh my goodness! I thought, CARS ILLUSTRATE ROTATIONAL DYNAMICS!  The wheels of a car rotate, exhibiting rotational dynamics qualities.  In physics we learned that rotational inertia is equal to the mass times radius squared.  Because my mom’s van has a huge mass, it has a very high rotational inertia which means that it is harder to start and stop rotating.  I notice this a lot when I drive because my dad has a very small Rav4, as opposed to my mom’s Sienna.  When I drive my dad’s car, I don’t have to step on the breaks as hard as I do in my mom’s because the rav 4 is lighter and therefore has less rotational inertia, and is easier to stop.  Cars do not only have regular kinetic energy causing them to move, but rotational inertia as well! (Because the wheels are rotating AND moving forward)! Wooohoooo!