Mythbusters Test Projectile Motion Guns & Bullets style

I know we're not supposed to use internet pics but I don't own a gun and didn't have a chance to go to a gun range or anything so please forgive me. Over the weekend, I watched an episode of Mythbusters in which they tested the textbook physics case that states that a bullet fired from a gun and a bullet dropped at the same time would hit the ground at the same time. Projectile motion tells us that the vertical component of motion is independent of horizontal motion. Thus, theoretically, both bullets would hit the ground at the same time. However, a documented testing of this example has never been done (according to the Mythbusters crew). After some small-scale tests, the Mythbusters tested this theory. It took a while to get their rig set up but when it was finally ready, the first attempt was perfect and proved successfully that physics mumbo jumbo actually applies in the real world. I thought this was a cool episode and yeah, it worked.

Symphony

Sorry there's no picture but my camera or computer was going nuts. Anywho, on Sunday, I went to the Honolulu Symphony's performance of The Story of Babar at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. While there, I just happened to notice some physics in the performance. I noted that all instruments create music using vibrations. Whether its a violin, a drum, or a tuba, it is the vibration of air that makes music. This vibration showed a couple of concepts like Newton's laws. The strings don't make any noise if nothing is done to them obviously. However, when they do begin to vibrate, it takes a while for the strings to stop. The cause of the vibration, the friction between the strings and the bow, and the vibration of the air, caused by energy being transferred from the strings to the air, all demonstrate a transition of energy and that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Music is full of physics.

Crash

So over the weekend I got into a car crash. Don't worry, it wasn't a big deal, just a really, really, really slow one. And I wasn't even driving (this time). The jolt I received did jog my brain into thinking about physics just a little. My mom is trying to back out of a parking stall on our way home and she hits another car. The owner was nowhere to be found so we left a note and took a picture of the license plate. The crash, while small, did sorta throw me around in my seat. It was this being thrown around that made me think about physics, acceleration specifically.

As cars accelerate, the people riding the cars do as well. However, we're not part of the car, meaning we're independent of it. An example of this is speeding up and slowing down. When speeding up, one feels as though they're being pushed into their seat. This is because your body is moving at a slower speed. Thus, when the car speeds up, it's almost as if you're bumping or crashing into it and the car is pushing you rather than you just riding in it. Then, you feel normal again because your speed equals your car's. This applies especially to slowing down. Anyone who's driven or rode in a car can attest that when slowing down, one feels as if they're being pulled forward. This is because the driver or passenger is moving faster than the car. Thus, when the car slows down, the driver's body continues to move at the same speed. Thus, the people in the car bump or crash into their seat belts, which slow them down in conjunction with the car until they are at the same speed. As the cars collided, the car decelerated suddenly and, because I'm moving faster than the car, I kept going and felt as though I was being pushed into my seat.

The National Pastime

My younger brother is the guy in the picture above. He's in 8th grade and just got into Iolani this year. He used to play in the Wai-Kahala Bronco League. On Labor Day, his team had a little get together/beach picnic at Ala Moana Beach Park. This gathering sort of reminded me of them playing baseball as I went (or was forced to attend) many of his baseball games. And of course, I had to think about the way physics played a big part in the sport.

From throwing to catching to batting to running, baseball is all about physics, especially the many concepts we've learned in the first couple of chapters. Displacement, velocity, acceleration, and gravity all have a big part in the game. Balls go from the pitcher to the catcher. Displacement increases as the ball gets farther from the pitcher or decreases as it gets closer to the catcher. The ball accelerates as the pitcher begins the windup and thus the ball's velocity increases. And when the catcher catches the ball, a sudden negative acceleration brings the velocity back to zero. And the whole while, gravity causes the ball to fall closer to earth the entire way. Baseball is full of physics that I didn't really notice but now I do.