Weekly Blog 1/28/18 - Newtons Laws of Motion

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Summary 

Newton's first law of motion is the law of inertia. This law states that an object with no force applied to it will never move and when force is applied to an object, it will stay in motion as long as no outside forces cause it to stop. Newton' second law states that force is equal to mass x acceleration (f = ma). But what exactly is acceleration? Acceleration is when you are either speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction. This means that even if you are just standing still and turning in a circle, you are still accelerating. Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

SP 5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

While conducting several experiments on finding the speed and velocity of different cars I had to use lots of math. For example, to calculate the velocity of one of the cars I had to use certain mathematical skills like division and addition to find averages. Using the formula speed = distance/time, I was able to calculate the speed and velocity of all of the cars. Once I had completed that portion of the experiment and collect all of my data in tables I created line graphs to represent my data. 

XCC: Cause and Effect

All of Newton's laws of motion have to do with cause and effect. For example, the law of inertia states how you need to apply a certain amount of force to an object in order to get it moving. This is cause and effect. One way to think about it is if you are biking. On a mountain or road bike, you can shift gears to control the amount of force needed to pedal making you go faster or slower. When you are on a low gear, it takes more force to pedal and set the bike in motion because there is more weight against you. The cause is the force you apply against the pedals and the effect is the motion and movement of the wheels. In addition to this, Newtons third law of motion is also all about cause and effect. In Newton's third law, every action has an equal opposite reaction, the action is the cause while the reaction is the effect.

Weekly Blog 1/21/18 - Speed

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Summary

The formula for finding speed is distance/time. In other words, speed is simply how fast you are going. It is a scalar quantity meaning it only measures magnitude. An example of speed is 31 mph. Velocity, on the other hand, measures speed with direction. It is a vector quantity. Knowing the velocity of objects is very important. We use our knowledge of speed and direction in our everyday life like when you are in a car, turning and driving around the road when you are crossing the street, and more. To keep track of speed and velocity, you can represent them in a graph. You can do this with either a distance-time graph or a speed-time graph.

S&EP 3 - Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

I planned and carried out an investigation when I completed a lab testing out and comparing the speeds of three different cars on a ramp. I first had to identify the controlled variables on a worksheet such as the height of the ramp, material of the ramp, slope, and the length of the track. The variable being manipulated was the car since we took turns sending different cars down the ramp to test their speeds. Once we set up the ramp, I made my hypothesis. My hypothesis was that the green car would travel the fastest and take the least amount of time to get to the end since it was the heaviest. After testing and timing all of the cars and recording my data on a chart, I found that my hypothesis was correct.

XCC: Structure and Function

To record your data and represent motion, you can create a distance-time graph. The function for a distance-time graph would obviously be distance/time which will give you speed. These graphs help you see how long it took for an object to travel a certain distance. The structure of these graphs are the distance plotted on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. It is really important to get the structure of the graph down and the axis' marked and written correctly. For example, if you recorded speed on the y-axis instead of distance on the y-axis the function of the graph would completely change. Now, the graph tells you how fast an object is moving for how long. That would be a speed graph.

Weekly Blog 1/14/18 - Speed, Motion, and Velocity

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Summary

Scalar quantities only measure the magnitude of objects while vector quantities measure both the magnitude and direction. An example of a scalar quantity would be a distance while a vector quantity would be displacement. People often get distance and displacement confused. Distance is the total amount of distance you traveled/moved while displacement is the amount of distance between your start and end point. Another example of scalar vs vector quantities would be speed and velocity. Speed is a scalar quantity while velocity is a vector. In addition to all of this, regarding motion, to determine whether or not something is in motion you use reference points. A reference point is an object used in comparison to another object to determine whether or not that object is in motion.

SP2: Developing and Using Models

I developed and used models to determine and represent the distance and displacement of objects. By using simple math and sometimes the pythagorean theorem, I was able to draw models on graph paper and in formative that represented the direction and distance objects traveled. The models helped me visualize the movement of the object by creating a visual representation of the object's distance and displacement. I also used models when I analyzed and learned about distance over time graphs. I used the graphs to visualize and see the speed an object, distance traveled, and time spent traveling. 

XCC: Stabillity and Change

In distance over time graphs, you are able to observe when the speed of the object is stable, and when it is changing. You can observe this by looking at the slope of the line. When the object is moving at a steady pace, the line will be linear or straight. The higher the slope, the faster the object is moving. In a formative, I analyzed the movement of Tom by looking at a graph and determining the stability and change within his speed and travel distance. The graph was able to tell me how fast he was moving, how long it took him, how far he traveled in what direction, and when he was stable or not.