Forces

Okay guys.  I believe that a huge apology is in order.  I mean, I haven't been blogging for quite some time.  I just want to let you know that I'm trying, and that we can have this blog, right here and now, be our fresh start.  A clean slate if you will.

So, without further ado, back to physics!

Lately, we've been learning about forces.  Truth be told we did start talking about acceleration, but that didn't work out so well.  Instead, our main focus has been centering around force diagrams and all that other stuff that relates to object in motion.  I'll try to sum it up for you all so that it isn't too long.

Types of Forces

Where, oh where to start? I guess it's fair to start off with the kinds of forces.  There are many types, such as tension and whatnot, but our two main focuses seem to revolve around what Mr. B calls "spooky" forces, and contact forces.  Spooky Forces are basically any type of force we don't really understand.  We know that it is doing something, but we don't exactly know how.  These include gravitational force, magnetic, and electrostatic.

By the way, Mr. Battaglia will not let us use the word gravity.  In his eyes, that word is basically like a swear word.  He even considered actually making something like a swear jar for any time you say it.  Instead, we must use the term Earth Force because it comes closer to following Mr. Battaglia's First Rule of Forces which states:  When naming a force, you MUST include the object giving the force and the object receiving the force.

The second main type, contact force, basically just has to do with anything touching or making contact with anything else.  This could include a hammer hitting a bowling ball (Yes, we did do a lab which involved smacking bowling balls with hammers in the gym).

Force Diagrams

I guess this leads me into Force Diagrams.  These are a little odd, but not too difficult.  Basically, you chose an object, let's say a bowling ball, and put it as a dot in the center.  Then, you describe, using arrows, all the forces acting upon that object.  For the bowling ball example, we would make the ball a dot in the center.  If we decided to make the ball speed up by hitting it with a hammer, we would draw an arrow to the right to indicate a force in that direction.  Then, we would also realize that the floor is pushing up on the ball to keep it from falling down (draw an arrow upwards) and that the Earth is also pulling down on the ball to keep it from floating away (draw an arrow downwards).

It's important that you realize that you can't just draw a random arrow.  It must be a certain length and in a certain direction.  Remember, the longer the arrow, the stronger the force.  If we were making the ball speed up, the hammer force (a contact force) would have to be stronger, so its arrow would be long.  As for the Earth force and the floor, those two arrows would be equal to show that the ball isn't moving up or down.   They balance each other out.

Another crucial point to bring up is the idea of a y-axis and a x-axis.  Like a normal graph, these two exist.  They can either balance out and equal zero (total), or one direction can be more or less than another.  In the bowling ball example, the y-axis balances out or equals zero because the Earth force and the floor force are equal.  However, the x-axis isn't balanced in the slightest due to the strong force to the right.

Now, what about a diagonal force?  There's no way we can only have up and down or side to side.  That is true, as far as we know right now.  Our class is actually working very hard to figure out the answer to this. Technically, it doesn't have to be diagonal at all.  A diagonal is actually just a horizontal and a vertical put together.  Think triangle and Pythagorean Theorem.  Two side of a triangle (or legs) can make a hypotenuse so to speak, so we can theoretically take a diagonal apart and turn it into a vertical vector and a horizontal vector, but who knows at this point?

Weight and Mass

We have just started this part of the section, so I don't know for sure, but I'll just put down a hypothesis to show that I am truly thinking.  As far as I know, I think weight and mass are definitely different.  Weight is the measure of how much the Earth or a body pulls on an object (the force exerted onto it).  As for mass, I believe that it is the amount of "stuff" in an object, like its atoms which are made up of protons and neutrons. That is why mass stays the same on whichever planet you are on, but gravity always differs.

Conclusion

I think I at least grasp what is going on. I am a little confused, especially when it comes to dealing with diagonals, but I'm working on it.  I definitely don't remembering doing all of this last year in physics, although I do remember weight and mass.  I think I am definitely liking the class a little better, especially compared to the beginning of the year.  All has been going okay, and I hope this continues.