Newton's Laws of Motion

In my most recent journey through physics, I learned about forces. There are six specific kinds of forces: Applied, normal, friction, tensional, air resistance, and gravitational force. I learned how to summarize the forces acting on an object in a free-body-diagram. You can use these diagrams to solve for the sum of the forces in the X or Y axis. Also, I know Newton's Laws of Motion, which further define the actions of said forces.
The first law states that an object at rest and an object in motion will most likely stay at rest and stay in motion, respectively. These objects will also maintain the same speed and direction until an unbalanced force acts upon them. For example, a cat falling from a building that has reached terminal velocity will most likely continue falling at said velocity until it is stopped and caught by a fireman.
The second law states that the acceleration of an object is identical to the net force of the object and inversely identical to the mass of said object. In other words, the heavier an object is, the faster it will accelerate. Imagine a pebble and a boulder being rolled down the same incline plane. The boulder will accelerate faster than the pebble, because it has a larger mass.
Finally, the third law states that when one object acts with a force upon another object, there will be an equal but opposite reaction force from the second object onto the first. One example of this is when a person slams their toe into a door (I just did so a few minutes ago!). The action of the toe slamming into the door receives the reaction force of the door slamming into the toe - by human definition, this reaction is called PAIN.
In addition, I now know how to use the equation Fg = mg to solve for an object's mass and weight. I just need to substitute the provided information into the equation and solve for the missing quantity.
I didn't find too many problems with this section; As a matter of fact, this has been my favorite unit so far! The only difficulty I found was when I tried to write a net force equation for a pulley system. I couldn't understand why only certain forces were included in the equation. I fixed this problem when I highlighted the direction of motion along my FBDs. By following this highlighted path, I was able to identify the forces I need in my net force equation. I also figured out that the forces that went along with the direction of motion were positive, and contradicting forces were negative. This method of highlighting made it much easier to write net force equations!

Vectors and Projectile Motion

In Honors Physics, we just wrapped up our unit on vectors and projectile motion. To begin, I learned that a vector deals with both magnitude and direction. To draw a representation of a vector, I learned to draw an arrowed line. This line's length is drawn to the proportion of the vector quantity, and the direction of the line shows the direction of said quantity. Also, I learned that splitting the vector quantity into x and y components - representing the locations on the x and y-axis, respectively - makes it easier to solve for the vector. During this unit, I found that the component method of vector addition with more than two vectors was the most difficult. It was hard for me to focus on the problem and get it done quickly when I had to write so much information. My problem-solving skills throughout this section were fantastic, because I found solving for the x and y components, resultant and tangent to be very simple. You can see a great example of a vector in everyday life when you look at the acceleration of a car.
The second half of our unit involved projectile motion. First off, I learned how to solve for the vertical and horizontal components of a projectile. The formulas for each component were resolved into distance, velocity, and time. Similar to vectors, I used the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for my resultant velocity. In addition, I learned about projectile motion at an angle, which involves solving for x and y components like before. This section proved to be of little difficulty; The only problem I had was memorized the correct x and y formulas. It was easy for me to solve for the x and y components of the initial velocity and the position, as long as I checked my answers. Often times, I would make silly mistakes that I wouldn't have made if I'd checked over my answers first. I can relate projectile motion to everyday life by thinking about cannons, because cannons project an object at a specific angle and velocity.

Welcome to Planet Acceleration

When you think of acceleration, you probably think of, well, acceleration. It seems like an open-and-closed case, a subject you can learn and move on from, one of those things you don't bother paying attention to. This assumption is completely wrong. Whether you know it or not, acceleration is the only reason you're alive today. Okay, so maybe that's a bit drastic, but acceleration is something you need to know in order to pass Physics class. There are two kinds of acceleration: Acceleration due to gravity, and free-fall. In order to cover both of these topics, I wrote about an alien falling from outer space - free-fall - onto Earth - acceleration due to gravity. Jeremy, the alien, will explain this topic further during his adventure.

Physical Success

This year, my goal is to get an A in Physics. Physics is vital towards understanding my future science classes in both high school and college, and those classes determine my future for the rest of my life - in other words, being a physics expert is incredibly important. There are five main steps I will follow in order to succeed.

To begin, I have to value my class time. No one can expect knowledge to automatically fill their brain; One must actually be prepared to take notes and listen to the teacher. I'm going to bring the supplies I need to learn as well: My assignments, notes, calculator and pencil. My assignments and notes show me what I have learned in previous classes, and I'll use my calculator and pencil to work on new lessons. Also, I will bring my ruler - in Physics, there is a huge difference between a curve and a straight line!

Next, I will read the information given to me. It's important to both listen and see what you are learning, because using more senses makes you remember the information more. Reading the notes can provide you with helpful images and guidelines towards what you're learning. I'm also going to highlight my notes. The highlighter makes the major information stand out, and in pretty colors, too!

A major part to maintaining an A in Physics is carrying out what you learned outside of the classroom. This is done through assignments. Writing your assignments down in a planner is a great way to stay organized. Also, the teacher can post the assignments online; For example, Mrs.Gende uses a Homework Wiki for her students. Another thing about assignments is understanding the topic. If you just copy the answers, you won't learn anything about the topic, and most likely will fail any future quizzes or tests. Have courage and ask questions!

Finally, I am going to be a great problem-solver. First, I'll learn the vocabulary and symbols necessary for each topic. In Physics, it is key to label everything and use the right vocabulary! Second, I will take each problem one step at a time. There are four steps for solving a problem:
Write down the data given and what you're solving for, solve the equation, substitute your answer into the original data, and check. Substituting and checking will verify that your answer is correct. Also, I have to become one with my calculator. We will be graphing often, and especially on our calculators. This means I can't be slow and clueless about how to use my graphing calculator, or I won't get any work done. I also have to label, because labeling is majorly important in understanding graphs.

Overall, I need to be organized, prepared, knowledgeable, and open to communication in class. Organization keeps my lessons and assignments in their proper places, alongside my class tools. Preparedness allows me to take notes, turn in my assignments, and work the class problems. Being knowledgeable of the topics means that I will be able to do my assignments and help others understand Physics as well. Finally, being open to communication makes me ask questions and understand the topic even further, and helps me demonstrate my understanding. With these steps by my side, Physics will be a fun, educationally enriching class, filled with pixie dust and rainbows. Basically, I'll pass the class. Thanks to Mrs. Gende for providing us all with her helpful Physics hints - I'm now confident that I can get an A!