Newtons Second Law Resource

This is about a pilot explaining gravity forces on someone while they are in a jet.  This shows off Newtons Second Law in a vey interesting way, because it shows not only the equations, but also what happens if gravity is changed.

Blog Reflection

        In this unit I learned about the most basic rules governing movement, such as inertia, which is the property of objects that any object that is in motion wants to stay in motion and any object at rest wants to stay at rest.  I also learned that velocity is a factor of both speed and direction, and if an object has a constant velocity than it must be at equilibrium, which is also synonymous with saying that it’s net force is zero.  Net force is the total amount of force acting on an object, so if I push with 50 newtons is one direction and someone else pushes with 50 newtons in the opposite direction the net force will zero.  Acceleration is when the net force is not zero, which means that the force pushing the object is enough to overcome the objects inertia and the friction of the object.  Acceleration can be achieved through multiple methods, but the one that we looked at in class was if a ball rolls down a ramp, and we discovered that it doesn’t matter if the acceleration is increasing, decreasing or constant the objects speed is always increasing.  The acceleration of an object can be measured with the formula A=V/T, for acceleration equals velocity over time.  Velocity can be calculated with the formula V=AT, for velocity equals acceleration times time.  Distance is measured with D=AT^2, for distance equals acceleration times time squared.

The most difficult thing about what I have studied is keeping all of the formulas straight in my head, sometimes I get them confused.  Also, some of the concepts that we look at are very confusing, such as the concept of friction always giving off equal force to that the object is being pushed with.  I overcame these difficulties by assuming that it is true at first, and then spending a while to work over the concepts in my head until I get an idea of how it would work out that way.  The thing that made the lightbulb click was when I realized that equilibrium is the same whether or not the object is moving, so any net force greater than zero would accelerate the object rather than keep it moving.  My goal for the next unit is to get an A by doing all of my assignments on time.

There are many connection is between what we are studying and real life, because what we are studying is the rules that govern real life.  History is a much more interesting comparison, because inertia can apply to nations and governments just as much as it applies to bodies in motion.  For example, a nation at war, once it has started winning it is very difficult to turn around the course of the war, which could be an example of “inertia” applying to war.  Another example is politics.  If a motion or a candidate starts gaining popular support, based off of what I know it will take an effort to turn the process around.  Another example of nations trying to continue doing what they are currently doing is that the U.S. keeps going to war in other countries.