Dot Physics

The last time I looked at this projectile motion lab, I was confused. My different methods for measuring the launch speed of the ball were not even close to being consistent. So, I am bringing out the big guns – video. I made a video of the ball shot both horizontally off [...]

Thanks to Nick for showing me this video (Check out his blog – Fine Structure):

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One activity my family enjoys is playing in the lake at my parents house. Along with this comes the jumping off the dock. Great fun, and great physics. What is the average force exerted on the jumper when she is slowing down in the water?

I don’t know why I even suggest a new energy source. Fusion power is only a few years away in the future (just like it as always been). This will replace any other sources of energy that we could come up with. But, I can’t help myself, I need to share my idea and save the world. It’s what I do. (call me a superhero is you want).

We can get all of our energy from the rotation of the Earth.

I finally saw the movie Iron Man. It was good. I feel that I am qualified to evaluate the movie. When I was in high school, I was totally into comic books. Mostly Spider-man, but I still have a significant collection of Iron Man comics. Ok, now you know I am not an Iron Man attacker. I will now attack the movie. Sorry, it’s what I do (remember, I already said I liked it). There are several things I could comment on, in fact I recall some other blog talking about the physics of Iron Man.

Here is a video of a guy jumping 35 feet into a pool of water only 1 foot deep.

UPDATE: Apparently, that video went away. Here is another version.

How does this work?

Pre Reqs: Work-Energy

You need to be familiar with work and energy to understand this. If you are not familiar, look at the pre requisite link. Ok? Now, let’s begin.

Suppose a ball moves from point A (3 m, 3 m) to B (1 m, 1 m) at a constant speed as shown in [...]

Pre Reqs: What is a Force

Previously, I talked about the momentum principle. Very useful and very fundamental idea. The other big (and useful) idea in introductory physics is the work-energy theorem. Really, with work-energy and momentum principle, you will be like a Jedi with a lightsaber and The Force – extremely powerful.

Well, [...]

I think it is time for me to talk about energy. My ultimate goal is to give some insight into the many stories about perpetual motion. To do this, I will first talk about the fundamentals of energy.

What is Energy

I started thinking about this, and at first I realized that I did not have a [...]

I was recently re-watching a MythBusters episode and I found something I had wanted to explore previously (but accidentally deleted the episode). Here is a short clip from the “shooting fish in a barrel” episode:

Did you see what I found interesting? That big barrel of water left the floor from being hit by a bullet. The [...]