as i was thinking (read: scrambling) for an idea for my physics journal i decided to toss my lighter around for a bit. up and down, up and down it went until i finally dropped it on my foot. considering the lighter wasn't very heavy it didn't cause much pain. it did, however, give me an excellent idea for my journal.
my lighter was making a very nice parabolic shape as it was being tossed up and down and i noticed how its velocity and acceleration changed each time i threw it. i tried to then make the speeds about the same when i threw the object up and down. i also noticed the increase in acceleration and velocity as i increased the height at which i threw my lighter. all of these reminded me of the kinematics we discussed in class just a few days earlier. i would have tried to find the speed at which the lighter was moving by taking the total distance covered by the lighter on its way down from my ceiling to the floor and then dividing by the amount of time it took to reach my floor, but then i realized that it was the weekend and i really just did not want to do that right now.
2 comments:
hey, i get the feeling yours will be a very amusing blog to read... i'm looking forward to more randomness..., but be accurate at all times.
example, you wrote: "i also noticed the increase in acceleration and velocity as i increased the height at which i threw my lighter."
while, the V(initial) did increase, the acceleration did not increase! it is constant regardless of the V(initial) and overall height attained.
by the way, where's the pic for my visually-oriented mind?
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