Blaire Kingsley's Blog

Western Culture

bkingsleyphysics — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:41:49 +0000

1) The fundamental principles/assumptions of western culture are reason, individualism, happiness, rights, capitalism, science, and technology. Also, development and maintenance of advance civilization. You are among people who try to live their lives out of what makes sense, thinking things through, and making logical decisions based on reason. I also believe in the right to individualism and the right to have your own opinion without imposing it on other people. I agree with most of these fundamental principles, however I do not completely agree with capitalism. I do think it is important that people have the right to own private property and run their own businesses. Yet, I do not believe that money should rule all. I do recognize that our life is full of material benefits which purchased by money, but I think it’s dangerous that profit takes priority over people.

2) Some of the most important people in the development of western culture, according to this website, are Mary Wollstonecraft, Isaac Newton, Martin Luther King, William Shakespeare, Charles Darwin, Wright Bothers, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington.

3) He showed that nature follows rules or patterns and is predictable, not mysterious and chaotic. Newton’s laws show the power of human reason to understand and be sure about the laws of nature and the universe. According to the website, this helped start the age of enlightenment. Also, he inspired intellectuals to use reason to learn in every realm.

Physics Outline

bkingsleyphysics — Wed, 05 May 2010 10:24:02 +0000

Introduction – A still film camera is made of three basic elements: an optical element (the lens), a chemical element (the film), and a mechanical element (the camera body itself).

The lens

- The job of the lens, the real image, how it works

• Different shaped lenses (how distance effects each)

• Light

- Focus

- Zoom

- Aperture (Shutter Speed)

The film

- How film works (chemical reactions from light)

• Sensitivity of film

• ISO when higher or lower

- How they were able to create digital film

• ISO when higher or lower

The camera itself

- SLR Cameras

• how it is built

• how the structure effects how the picture is

- Point-and-shoot cameras

• how it is built

• how the structure effects how the picture is

How to Build A Pinhole Camera (with demonstration)

- physics background

- materials

Unit 4, HW 3 Ocean Tides and Blackholes

bkingsleyphysics — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:21:18 +0000

Ocean Tides

- ocean tides are caused by the gravitational pull from the moon

- the earth is bulging and sinking as it spins around

- spring tide: higher-than-average high tides and lower-than-average low tides

- spring tides are at new moons or full moons

- neap tides don’t have much a difference between the high and low tide

- land masses, friction, and the shape of the ocean floor are other factors that make ocean tides more complicated

- the tides in fjords are really different

- we have magnetic tides from our ionosphear

- there is a side of the moon we never see

Black Holes

- inverse relationship

- if it shrinks small enough, not even light can escape – there for nothing can get out and its a black hole

Unit 4, HW 2 Gravity

bkingsleyphysics — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:45:35 +0000

page 161-164

- law of universal gravitation: everything pulls on everything else; in a simple way that only involves mass and distance

- according to newton: any body attracts any other body with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance separating them

- force ~ (mass1 x mass2) / distance^2

- when distance goes up, force becomes weaker

- when mass goes up, force becomes greater

- f = G x (M1M2) / d

- G = 6.67 X 10^-11(NxM^2/kg^2)

- the mass of the earth was calculated once scientists knew G

- the distance between a 1 kilogram mass and the center of the earth is earth’s radius, 6.4 x 10^6 meters. When you plug these numbers into the formula you see that earth’s mass = 6 x 10^26 kilograms

Physics Project

bkingsleyphysics — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:00:18 +0000

1. My project topic (and title) is “The Physics of Photography: How a Camera Captures an Image”

2. I chose this project because I’ve always been interested in photography, and I’ve wondered how anyone thought of inventing a device that could capture images.

3. My goal for this project is to understand how physics comes into the art of photography, including gaining a better understanding of light and color; how amount of light and shutter speed work together; how film works and how depth of field, resolution, focus, and zoom happen.

4. My finished project will be a PowerPoint presentation on the principles of the physics of photography with graphics and photographs, along with a pinhole camera demonstration. I will make the pinhole camera.

5. Here are three properly referenced web sites:

http://www.practicalphysics.org/go/Guidance_93.html?topic_id=2&guidance_id=1

http://www.goalfinder.com/

http://www.z-oc.com/blog/2007/08/the-pinhole-camera-and-the-basics-of-camera-building/

HW 8

bkingsleyphysics — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:49:25 +0000

I’m thinking I want to explore the physics of photography for my final project. Alternatively, I might choose to learn about the physics of music.

http://www.bookrags.com/research/photography-wop/

HW 4: Angular Momentum

bkingsleyphysics — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:34:47 +0000

The angular momentum of an object is constant until an outside force acts upon that object. Angular momentum exists throughout the mouse trap car since the angular momentum is equal to zero. Once torque acts upon a certain part of the car, however, momentum changes. The torque applied causes the rotational velocity to increase, changing the rotational inertia. The more angular momentum that is created in the axles, wheels, and lever arm of the car, the more rotational velocity it will have, giving it the optimum range for distance. The rotation inertia of an object is the concept that an object will continue moving at a constant speed until an outside force acts upon it. Angular momentum can be used to measure the rotational inertia and can cause the inertia to change.

HW 1: Circular Motion and Rotational Inertia

bkingsleyphysics — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:32:10 +0000

2. Torque = Lever Arm X Force

t = .5 m x 50 N

t = 25 Nm

4. Centripetal Force: F = mv^2/r (radial distance)

F = 75 x 9 / 2

675/2 = 337.5

HW 8: Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

bkingsleyphysics — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:07:13 +0000

An elastic collision is any collision where kinetic energy is conserved. An inelastic collision is a collision where kinetic energy is not conserved. This is because the kinetic energy changes form and can increase or decrease.

HW 7: Elasticity

bkingsleyphysics — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:13:03 +0000

At first, when there is no load on the spring the energy is potential. Once the weight (mass) is put on it, there is kinetic energy and elastic energy. Once it stops stretching, there is just potential energy again. Once we take the weight off, the process is reversed (kinetic and elastic energy). Finally, when the compression is finished it is back to potential energy.