What I Learned This Semester

This semester I honestly learned a lot more than I thought I would’ve. I wasn’t too nervous about taking physics because I’ve always liked science classes. I learned that my teacher teaches the concepts of each unit and it’s up to us as students to apply them to problems as well as everyday life. I really liked the momentum and energy unit. Because both have law of conservations, it made the whole concept really easy to understand. I’m a bit upset at myself because I could’ve done much better first quarter with the kinematics units. Now that I look at the problems and equations I feel really dumb for not being able to understand them. The second quarter was much better for me and I feel like I better applied/prepared myself for the tests and quizzes. Altogether I really look forward going to physics class. The learning environment is fun when it needs to be and I still learn a lot, which is perfect. I am really happy I got the teacher that I did because I feel like all my friends with the other physics teachers are suffering big time when I feel excited about physics. This semester I learned a lot about.

The Law of Conservation of Momentum

Momentum is inertia in motion. The Law of Conservation of Momentum is momentum cannot be neither created nor destroyed. This means that the momentum put into something is equal to the momentum that will come out of it. By the two being equal to each other, it means that momentum is always conserved. Even when other external forces act upon an object, there is always an opposite force that makes the momentum of the object equal. Both force and momentum are vector quantities and that the momentum conservation principles apply separately to each coordinate direction. Impulse is the change in momentum.

What is a force?

A force is defined as a push or pull. It is also defined as something that accelerates objects. If a single force acts on an object, its acceleration is found to be in the same direction as the force. If more than one force acts on an object, its acceleration is the direction of the vector sum of the forces. A normal force is perpendicular to the surface and is only acting upon an object when the object is on top of a surface, not in mid air or anything like that. The normal force occurs because when an object is upon a surface it causes a small force upon the surface of the countertop, just as the countertop does the same to the bottom of the object.

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Energy, in a physics sense, is defined as the ability to work. Work is the force placed on an object multiplied by its displacement or distance. Anytime the energy of something changes, it’s called work. There are two types of energy also. The first type is potential energy. Potential energy is energy stored in a system due to its position. My Hello Kitty toy shows potential energy because I was cranking the lever, which caused stored energy, or potential energy inside of the toy. The other type of energy is kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is energy in motion or something that is moving. Hello Kitty shows kinetic energy in the next picture because she is in the middle of moving sideward’s after I cranked the lever.