I'm guessing that I was one of the last to see Lion King (my sister and I saw it today). Anyway, while I was simply in awe of the performance, I noticed that there was alot of physics at work. The giraffes (stilts and all) needed to keep their center of mass over the support area of the stilts. The center of mass would have been a little below the actor's actual body, and further up (closer to his chest) because of the long headdress. The stilts need to be spread out to ensure a greater support area to bear the center of mass. If the actor had altered his cetner of mass in any way, he would most likely not be able to stand (or he'd fall)...

The hammock can support up to four people because of the tension in the ropes connected to the two trees. The tension equals the force of the person's (my sister) weight. The tension isn't able to keep the hammock completely straight, so there is always the dip in the strings. The system itself is fairly stable until either the ropes wear down and no longer can take the weight and force of the people using the hammock, or the trees connected to the hammock also can't support it. When someone uses the hammock like a giant swing, their motion becomes a part of a vertical circle. At the bottom of the swing, the force is the greatest.

As a part of the RYLA camp last weekend, this board was a part of an activity for the campers as well as some of the staff. To break the board, the participant uses the force of their weight along with the grain of the board to ensure a quick and easy break. The person's weight and the potential energy from the starting position of the person's hand that eventually changes into kinetic energy as the person goes through the motion and through the board. In addition to the force placed upon it by the person's weight, there is also the momentum of the hand as it reaches the stationary board, and since the board has less mass, it experiences a greater change in velocity.

Since Friday afternoon, I have been at RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) camp up above Hawaii Kai. Sorry I wasn't able to get a post out sooner (I just got home at 5pm). My team Brown (Tootsie Rolls) went through many different events meant to raise trust and teach us about leadership and teamwork. One of the high ropes courses that our team completed on Sunday was this rock wall. In this picture, Davis (grey shirt) and Cynthia (blue shirt) have just reached the top. They were able to reach the top of the rock wall because of the force they exerted with each step as well as the tensions in the ropes. The combination of the vertical forces equals the downward force of their weights. The camp directors (who held the support lines) used both their own weight and the friction between the rope and the pulley to help the climbers.

During Spring Break 2007, I went on the California College Tour and we visited the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco. Apparently, the weather forecast was a bit off (they said it would be unusually sunny and warm). The Golden Gate Bridge is a famous example of a suspension bridge, using cables and pillars to support pedestrians (like me) and vehicles. To balance out the force of gravity on the bridge, suspension bridges rely on the tension in the cables and the compression of the pillars. The cables will eventually form a parabola shape. The net force of the system is 0, since the weight of the bridge cancels with the tension of the cables and the compression of the pillars.

Yes, I'm tired right now. However, in Physics, I think I'm beginning to understand a lot more than before. It just took me awhile to fully understand the graphs and the free body diagrams ( a bit longer than I would have liked...). The class demonstrations and the labs really helped me understand the materials a lot better. For me, looking over the solutions for the quizzes was good for review for the test (although i should have studied more...) I'm looking forward to the rest of the year and hope that i can improve...

Senior Camp

This post is reallcreated nd I'm really really tired right now. The video above was taken today of the beach right outside the pavillion. I tried to get a video of the people swimming when the wave came, but the waves weren't coroperating. These waves were created by the movement of the winds over the ocean, and thus they are called wind waves. The waves are effected by the distance they travel: the farther they travel, the more energy they have. When the wind blows over the water, it transfers energy to the particles in the water and then those particles transfer the energy to other particles which makes the wave. The wave breaks when it comes near the shore which destroys the base of the wave, making it crash on the shore. Although the base "stops moving", the crest continues forward, an example of Neweton's Third law of motion. The crest continues forward because there was no outside first to counter the constant motion of the surface water.

During the summer, my sister (Janelle) and cousins (Kelsi-Ann and Staci) decided to use their trampoline as a water feature, putting the sprinkler directly under it. When they jumped on the trampoline, it propelled them upwards. They were in free fall for a couple of seconds, gravity being the only force. As they come down and hit the trampoline, it pushes back with an equal and opposite force, which once again pushes them upwards. This is an example of projectile motion since gravity is the only force acting on them. It is also an example of Newton's third law of motion, where every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If they didn't push off as soon as they landed, their second jump wouldn't be as high as the first.

This image is from my last trip to Mount Hood, Oregon in 2005. In the parking lot, my cousin, my sister and myself threw a chunk of snow in the air. This snowball became a projectile as soon as it left our hands. Gravity took hold of the snow, creating a parabolic motion not seen in this photo. The angle that we threw it at was greater than 45 degrees and the snowball's vertical velocity was greater than its horizontal velocity. The snowball didn't go very far, falling back down a few feet from where it started.

Balloon Toss

This picture is from Father's day 2005 at my uncle's home on the North Shore. The water balloon toss shows the parabolic motion of the projectile. From the moment the balloon leaves our hands, it is controlled by gravity, creating the parabolic shape. At this point in the picture, the balloons have just about reached the top of the parabola, where the speed is the least. Only horizontal veolcity, which pretty much stays constant, is present at this point. Depending on the initial horizontal velocity, the vertical and horizontal displacement, the balloon may or may not make it to the other person. Another factor was the weather, which remained rainy and windy throughout the day, changing the path of the projectile slightly.

Journal 3

These last 2 and 1/2 weeks in physics have been enjoyable, and yet it is still hard for me to grasp some of the concepts. The labs have been fun and interesting, but the technology used is confusing (computers tend not to like me). I hope over time I can get over this problem. I'm worried about the tests and the quizzes, especially the parts that ask about specific concepts (kinda confused with some concepts).

These images are from October 30, 2004 during the "40 days of rain". The atmosphere around the islands was unstable, forming a thunderstorm over much of the southern portion of Oahu. The thunderstorm was locked into place due to the terrain. Manoa in particular was hit hard. These images were taken soon after Manoa stream overflowed its banks, pushing cars and other debris aside. The cars continued to move with the rushing water, until an outside force (the tree) stopped it. Newton's first law could be applied to the debris found throughout the valley.

Sorry for such a late post! The image to the left is a picture from Crater Lake, Oregon, is the deepest lake in the United States, the seventh deepest in the world. This lake was formed when the volcano, Mount Mazama, erupted, causing the mountain to collapse onto itself and settling in the lava chamber below. The hole was then filled with spring water, rain and melting snow, which slowly seeps through the bottom of the lake close to the northern portion of the lake. The deep blue color is a result of light entering the lake as it gets absorbed by the water, only reflecting back the deepest blue. Red, orange, yellow, and green are absorbed first as sunlight enters the lake. The depth of the lake only adds to the blue color that we see. The lake is a closed ecosystem, as no stream runs into or out of the lake, and so all fish have been introduced at one point in time.

Lunar Eclipse

This short video clip is of the lunar eclipse that occurred Monday night over the Hawaiian Islands. Beginning at 10:52 pm, the moon faded out of view as it passed into the Earth's shadow, only to emerge over an hour and a half later. Lunar eclipses can occur 2 or more times a year. Depending on the position of the moon in realtion to the Earth, different forms of the lunar eclipse can be seen, from a tinting of the moon to a full eclipse as seen above. This "total eclipse" is seen when the moon falls directly behind the Earth and within it's shadow. The moon can take up to 6 hours to enter and exit the Earth's shadow. At certain times during the eclipse, the top of the moon seemed to have taken on a slight reddish color. This color comes from the refracted sunlight that makes its way through the Earth's atmosphere, and so most eclipses are not totally black.