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.