My Physics Blog

In addition to my interests in chemistry, I have a huge interest in physics as well. Therefore, I have also created a physics blog and have written many postings on various physics topics including kinematics, dynamics, electricity, and conservation laws. You might also find a few posts on other interesting topics such as an image of a wormhole created by graphing equations.
 
Well, without further ado, come enjoy a few snippets of My trip through Physics: Will I survive?!?!? 
Below is a list of the posts in my blog with a link to each post. The most recent posts are at the top of this page. Enjoy!!!!


Cambridge College Programme General Relativity and Superstring Theory Essays
In this post I have two essays that I wrote during the Cambridge College Programme during the summer of 2010 on General Relativity and Superstring Theory.  Even though they are on topics that are different from kinematics and dynamics, they are topics that I love wholeheartedly and are very interesting to me.


A Wonderous Wormhole - Honors Geometry Picture Graphing Project 
Wouldn't it be amazing if wormholes actually existed? Would they pose scientific advancement or the end of the world as we know it?  This post contains an image of a wormhole and a spacecraft that I created by creating equations, graphing them, and restricting their ranges or domains.  



AC/DC - Not the band!?!?
This post contains a description of energy and electricity and also helps to explain three different types of circuits: series circuits, parallel circuits, and complex circuits. With each description I used a virtual simulation from the University of Colorado to help illustrate the circuits and give some quantitative data to verify the descriptions. 



A “Green” Idea: Optical Phenomena with a Green Laser 
When it comes to optics, lasers make optical phenomena exceedingly easy to see.  Because the photons emitted by lasers are in phase, their light is extremely directional, making a narrow "beam."  When thinking of ideas for the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest, lasers instantly came to my mind. In this post I present the picture that I created and give a short description of what is seen in the photo. 


March 14th: Pi Day and Einstein's Birthday Celebration: A "Mysterious" Quote 
March 14th is a special day for two reasons. First, it is Pi Day (3/14), a day to celebrate the mathematical constant π in all of its glory.  Second, it is Albert Einstein's birthday, a noteworthy day on its own.  To celebrate this momentous occasion, I have created this post with a discussion of one of my favorite Einstein quotes and have included a "pi treat."



"The Fastest Ice on Earth" - Conservation of Momentum in Short Track Speed Skating 
Sports can be extremely interesting to view in terms of physics.  In this post, I discuss some of the physics (especially the conservation of momentum) involved in short track speed skating, one of the prominent sports in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  To help explain this topic, I have created a Prezi (a sort of digital napkin) to use in my description.  


Reflection: Energy - The Fuel of the Universe 
Energy is such a crucial element in modern society, so much that it can influence diplomatic policies and world affairs.  Energy, however, can take on many forms.  In this post I discuss a few of the things that I learned during this unit on energy, my problem solving skills and stumbling blocks during this unit, and some examples of energy and energy transfer in everyday life. 


Extra!! Extra!! Read all about it! Finally the secret behind the death-defying "Sphere of Fear" explained! 
This post contains a Prezi that discusses some of the physics involved in the death-defying "Sphere of Fear" that is well known in so many carnivals and extreme sports arenas alike.  The post and Prezi discuss some of the history behind the “Sphere of Fear" and also the forces that are in play when the cyclists are performing their amazing stunts.  I have included many FBDs, diagrams, and videos to help in understanding my explanations. 


Reflection: Newton's Second Law of Motion including Friction 
Even though Newton's laws of motion are some of the most basic concepts that any physics student would learn about early in their studies, they are some of the most important.  For this post, I created a Prezi that talks about some of the things that I learned concerning Newton's second law of motion including different elements about friction, some concepts I found difficult, and my problem solving skills during the unit.



Physics Carol 
To help celebrate the Christmas season, I wrote a couple of spoofs on some well known Christmas songs.  I created a new version of "Winter Wonderland" that talks about my physics class and a new version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" that talks about Newton's second law of motion.  I put my first song into a Christmas-y Glog with a version of the original soundtrack.


Reflection: Newton's First Law of Motion 
In this post, I made a Glog that discusses Newton's first law of motion and translational equilibrium.  I wrote about a few concepts that I learned during this unit, a few problems that I experienced in my studies, my problem solving skills during this unit, and various examples of Newton's first law being applied in everyday life. 


Content: Pixton - Reindeer Flight School
The post contains a Pixton (a comic strip) that I created as a fun way to learn about kinematics, especially projectile motion.  In my comic, Santa's new recruit reindeer are learning how to fly.  Before takeoff, however, they must learn some of the basic concepts of projectile motion and kinematics! 


Content: Glog- Santa's Fun with Objects in Motion 
This post and winter Glog discusses various concepts of kinematics including gravity, individual components of motion, and numerous equations on kinematics. Hopefully, this is a good explanation that helps to develop an understanding of projectile motion at an angle. 


Fun Game with Santa as a Projectile 
Just for fun, in this small post I put a link to a "fun" game in which the player and Santa's elves can slingshot Santa through the air.  Put you physics knowledge of kinematics to the test and have some "fun" at the same time!  


Content: Blabber- Santa and Rudolph discuss projectile motion 
For this post, I created a few Blabbers (voice-over cartoons) of Santa and Rudolph.  In these cartoons, Santa and Rudolph discuss basic facts regarding projectile motion after Rudolph's first day in reindeer flight school. 


Content: The Night Before Christmas - Physics Style 
This post contains a link to a Glog that contains my physics version of "The Night Before Christmas." Next to the poem, I have included some of the major equations that are used when solving problems in kinematics.



Content: Projectile Motion- Santa's Knowledge 
In this post, a Voki (virtual avatar) of Santa states how, in order for his reindeer to fly, they must overcome their acceleration due to gravity.


Wordle: Feeling like a Mega Physics wordle has to be made 
This post contains a Wordle (a word collage) with many of the words that are commonly used when discussing physics skills, kinematics, and dynamics.


My first wordle!! It has to be about physics...Duh! 
This post is a little experimentation; it is my first Wordle. It has to include a few concepts of physics!



Ben Voki 
This is the first post I have ever made. It is a strange Voki of Benjamin Franklin talking about one of his most famous inventions.


I hope that you enjoy "My Trip through Physics," and with any luck you will gain some useful knowledge for the future while having some great fun!! Thanks!!!!